After leaving Charleston, we started driving south through Georgia on our way to visit our family in South Florida, but this drive is never a quick trip since we don’t like to be on the road for more than 6 hours a day.
Florida family
We had a nice, long stay in Florida since Martin County’s Phipps Park Campground is one of our favorites. It sits along the Okeechobee Waterway and is a 55-acre conservation and campground area.
We arrived on a Wednesday, but the family was sick from a virus going around the area.
One of the reasons we came to visit so early in October was because the grandsons wanted us to see them play sports. We made it in time for the basketball tournaments.
We both came down with the virus so appreciated the days when we could just rest and get well.
submarine base
After saying good-bye to our family, we drove north up the coast. We spent another night with Jay and Rhonda and then drove into Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.
Per Wikipedia, “USS George Bancroft, a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of George Bancroft, United States Secretary of the Navy and the founder of the United States Naval Academy.” It was launched on May 20, 1965, after almost 2 years of construction. The Bancroft’s length was 425 feet.
The George Bancroft (SSBN-643) went ballistic on April 24, 1982, when a navy Trident missile was launched from the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine. (Navsource website)
What does the letters and numbers mean after the name? The SS denotes submarine, the B means ballistic missile, and the N denotes that the submarine is nuclear powered.
campground
In Florida and South Georgia, the word “hammock” was first used by early inhabitants to mean “a cool and shady place.” Later, settlers of Florida used the word “hummock” to indicate areas that were slightly higher in elevation from the rest of the land. Now you know another meaning for the word hammock in this part of the country. It took me awhile to get used to this definition.
Inside was the Navy creed that was written in 1775:
This exchange didn’t have as much as the other exchanges we’ve visited, but other stores (like a Walmart) are close by so sailors and their families had more options for shopping.
military look at the base
So what are “strategic weapons”? This is what I found on the Britannica website, “any weapons system designed to strike an enemy at the source of his military, economic, or political power. In practice, this means destroying a nation’s cities, factories, military bases, transportation and communications infrastructure, and seat of government.”
What’s the difference between strategic and tactical weapons (in this case, nukes)? “Tactical nukes are relatively smaller and less dangerous than strategic ones. They can be used in a limited capacity on the battlefield. While, on the other hand, strategic nukes are ones with devastating power, and the ability to turn an entire city or a country into ashes.”
Okay, now let’s look at the information supporting these strategic weapons. The display honors the 6 generations of individuals who have worked on fleet ballistic missiles. Thousands have served on the government/contractor teams since the 1950s.
1958 – Polaris
In September 1958, Congressional and Presidential approval was announced to construct a facility to support the Fleet Ballistic Missile Weapons System’s Polaris missile program. Construction began on the facility in December 1958.
The U.S. Navy’s fleet ballistic missile weapon program had been operational since November 15, 1960, when the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) deployed on patrol with a full load of 16 tactical Polaris A-1 missiles. These missiles, assembled and checked out at the Naval Weapons Annex and loaded aboard the submarine by Annex personnel, proving the operational capability of the facility. The facility was re-designated the Polaris Missile Facility, Atlantic, in July 1964.
1971 – Poseidon (C-3)
The Poseidon (C-3) missile was an improved version of the Polaris. The principal contribution of the Poseidon to weapon system efficiency was its flexibility. It provided the capability for delivery of multiple reentry vehicles on widely-spaced and separate targets. The missile was larger and had a much greater payload capacity. The Poseidon (C-3) became operational in March 1971, when the USS James Madison (SSBN-627) began its initial operational patrol with 16 tactical C-3 missiles.
1972 – Trident I (C-4)
To offset increasing gains in the Soviet Union’s anti-submarine warfare capability, the Trident I (C-4) program was approved by the president in December 1972 for inclusion on the list of defense projects of the highest priority. The next February, the Secretary of the Navy announced the selection of Bangor, Washington, as the initial base for Trident operations. The C-4 missile had an increased flange and payload due to technological advances in propulsion, microelectronics, and materials. The first C-4 missile was assembled at the Polaris Missile Facility, Atlantic (Charleston), and deployed in October 1979.
1981 – Trident II (D-6)
In October 1981, the Secretary of Defense directed the Navy to fund an advanced development program for the Trident II (D-6) missile with a late 1980 initial operational capability. Primarily among the performance objectives were improved accuracy and increased payload. In March 1983, Director of Strategic Systems Projects proposed that the strategic weapons facility, Atlantic, be established at Kings Bay, Georgia (here), to support the Trident II program. The 6-year Trident II development program met all performance requirements under the original budget estimates with the outload of 24 tactical D-6 missiles on board the USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) on March 1989.
I had only heard about these missiles, but didn’t know what they were or how they were different. Glad to go to see this exhibit. Tomorrow we’re going to go to a submarine museum close by in St. Marys. There’s so much in the museum and town have we’ll have to breakdown the information there into 3 posts.
