The Silent Service: PHOTOS

A picture of the USS Ohio. The USS Ohio is an SSBN or "Fleet Balistic Nuclear Submarine". The USS Ohio is the first of the Ohio Class SSBN's. Ohio Class submarines are 560 feet in length and are equipped with 24 long range Trident Ballistic Missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload. These boats are extremely quite, more so than the surrounding ocean. Lore has it that an Ohio class boat has never been tracked by a russion sub.

This is an image of an attack submarine performing an emergency blow procedure. If something goes wrong while a sub is below the surface of the water and a need to ascend quickly arises, an emergency blow is performed. This is done by clearing all the ballasts of their water thus giving the submarine positive buoyancy and a rapid ascent. If you have been following the news recently about the USS Greenville, the sub that hit the Japanese trawler, this is what the crew was attempting at the time of impact. It is easy to see why the Japanese trawler did not have a chance against the sub.

A submarine busts through the arctic polar ice cap. Traversing the arctic ocean is one of the most dangerous tasks undertaken by a submarine crew, but it also provides a quick shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. During the cold war, the arctic cap was heavily patrolled by both Soviet and American subs.

The largest of all submarines ever built, The Typhoon class, built by the soviets during the cold war, carries 20 surface launched ballistic missiles and 30 torpedoes/anti-ship missiles. The Typhoon was designed to patrol under the arctic ice cap and if required to launch, would bust through the ice to carry out its orders. What you see in this picture is only the tip of the ice berg so to speak. A Typhoon is longer then two football fields and over 40 feet wide.

A submrine in dry dock. This submarine is either being overhauled or in the finishing stages of its construction. The hull of a submarine is designed to absorb radar and sonar detection technologies.

A submarine at port undergoing some maintanence. You can see the hydroplanes sticking out on either side of the sail. The white number markings on the front sides of the hull are depth indicators.