The atom bombs dropped on Japan at the end of the Second World War opened the door to the nuclear age. Seeing the potential for developing nuclear energy for the US Navy, Captain Hyman Rickover initiated a research programme that culminated in the launch of USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Meanwhile, ballistic missile technology was developing fast but was still reliant on complex liquid fuels. The US Navy partnered with the army to develop a ballistic missile for both services but withdrew when solid fuels became a practical proposition. Under the leadership of Rear Admiral William Raborn, the US Navy set up its own project: the Polaris weapon system. In 1960, the first missile-armed nuclear-powered submarine left on patrol, with forty more to follow in subsequent years. Two years later, when Britain’s Blue Streak and Skybolt plans were cancelled, Harold Macmillan and John F. Kennedy agreed for Polaris to be supplied to the Royal Navy.
At a time of intensive re-examination of the NATO alliance, the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and USA, and Britain’s role as a nuclear power, this is the first comprehensive history of Polaris. It brings together technical aspects, the key characters, and the full stories of the American and British programmes.
By:
John Boyes
Imprint: FONTHILL
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 34mm
Weight: 730g
ISBN: 9781781559314
ISBN 10: 1781559317
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 20 March 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements; Glossary; Foreword One; Foreword Two; Introduction; 1 The Nuclear Age; 2 The V2. Operations, Prüfstand XII and BACKFIRE; 3 The US Navy experiments with missiles; 4 The Germans at White Sands; 5 Raborn’s Special Projects Office; 6 The US Submarines; 7 The Missile; 8 The Holy Loch Agreement; 9 The Poseidon Adventure; 10 The Human Element. Admiral Zumwalt and farewell to foreign bases; 11 The Royal Navy’s path to Polaris; 12 The Skybolt Crisis; 13 The Polaris Sales Agreement; 14 The Royal Navy’s Submarines; 15 The Clyde Bases; 16 Operational Problems; 17 Chevaline; 18 Shakespeare’s leisure companion to the young Prince Hal; 19 The Perils of the Sea; 20 Towards the End; 21Polaris and the Surface Fleet; Appendix I: The US Navy ’41 For Freedom’ and the Royal Navy SM10; Appendix II: Chevaline Launches; Appendix III: Profiles; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.
John Boyes was born in Edinburgh in 1947. Educated at Rugby School, he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1972 and thereafter pursued a career in the motor industry until his retirement in 2005. He has had a lifelong interest in the history of missiles and published his first book on the topic, Project Emily: Thor IRBM and the RAF, in 2008. He is the treasurer of the Royal Air Force Historical Society and financial controller of the Bomber Command Association, responsible for the financial management of its memorial in London.
