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Use of Submarines and Nuclear Weapons in the Cold War

By Doorframen

  • Sonar Tracking Technologies

    Sonar Tracking Technologies
    Huge advances were made in the field of sonar technologies for submarines. Submarines were able to detect each other as well as undersea missiles from hundreds of feet away.

  • Submarines and Ballistic Missiles

    Submarines and Ballistic Missiles
    The US Navy starts trying to launch ballistic missiles from submarines.

  • First Soviet Nuclear Bomb

    First Soviet Nuclear Bomb
    The Soviet Union tests its first nuclear bomb. It is the second country to develop nuclear weapons after the U.S. This is the beginning of the nuclear arms race, and the Soviet Union is now a legitimate competitor of the U.S.

  • First Nuclear Submarine

    First Nuclear Submarine
    First nuclear powered submarines were used. They could travel at a speed of 15 knots ( about 17 mph, which was fast for the time!). She was called the “Nautilus” and moved faster than the torpedoes of the time.

  • First Soviet Nuclear Submarines

    First Soviet Nuclear Submarines
    The Soviet Union began using nuclear submarines, copying from the US. Many Soviets may have died from radiation poisoning on the early boats.

  • An Extremely Powerful Nuclear Weapon

    An Extremely Powerful Nuclear Weapon
    The Soviet Union tests the world’s most powerful nuclear weapon. The 58 megaton weapon was nicknamed Tsar Bomba.

  • SALT Treaty

    SALT Treaty
    The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) was signed by former President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. It limited many country’s nuclear powers in order to prevent mass destruction. They did this by putting a limit on the amount of arms and nuclear weapons that nations could use.

  • Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)

    Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
    Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) were discussed. They were planned by US and Soviet leaders, but couldn’t be put into action until 1991, when it was signed. The signing occurred just before the Soviet Union separated, which created more complications.

  • Possible Nuclear Abolition?

    Possible Nuclear Abolition?
    The leaders of both the US and the Soviet Union discussed whether or not they could attempt to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely.

  • START II

    START II
    The START II Treaty was ratified. In addition to many other limitations, START II restricts the amount of missiles that can be on a submarine.