The First Nuclear Missile Launched From Submarines - And How It Lead To Polaris

How the US Navy went from a copy of the German V-1 missile to the Polaris missile!
In the 1940's the US quickly started copying the German V-1 missile and after the war developed a submarine able to launch it, but advancing technology delivered the more capable Regulus missile. Submarines were built with special hangars to support this new weapon, and development began on the supersonic Regulus II. But, in a few years Regulus was rendered obsolete as rockets got bigger and nuclear warheads got smaller - the Polaris would become the standard design for submarine launched missiles.
The Regulus would be converted into a target drone for the remainder of its operational life.
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[@michaelchapman1662]

I spent 3 years on the Grayback. The Regulus had a capability to make an autonomous dead reckoning turn after a specified flight time. This allowed us to launch the bird on a course widely divergent from the direction to the target. This meant that we would not have to radiate toward the target. Secondly the bird had a transponder and we kept radar emissions to quick pulses that could be coded with instructions for course correction as needed. With a parabolic antenna the radar beam was relatively narrow and we could run the radar while submerged. When combined with fact that we were in a remote area with few military assets, our chances of survival were better than your report suggested. That said, I always felt that if we launched it would be the end of the world.

[@shaunybonny688]

Thank you for your service, and thank God you never had to launch.

[@Tuning3434]

USS Greyback (SSG-557) stopped deploying Regulus in 1964, that is 60 years ago. I would like to believe you are an 80+ year veteran, reacting on a youtube post within 30 minutes, but I have some healthy doubts if I am honest. I would love to be proven wrong though.

[@lmx1472]

@@Tuning3434 low it mate its cool info cry harder

[@timjen2544]

4:03 4:27

[@shanent5793]

​@@Tuning3434is there anybody under eighty that still watches YT?

[@michael2782]

I was an electronics technician aboard the USS Growler, SSG-577, from 1962 until she was decommissioned in 1964. One small correction - there was never (to my knowledge) any second boat stationed to assist the radar guidance. We, with the Grayback, would take turns on station in the seas off the Kamchatka peninsula and were the only two boats on patrol at that time. Each boat would leave Pearl Harbor while the other boat was returning from being on station after their 3 month tour. I recommend anyone with an interest visit the Growler, currently moored adjacent to the USS Intrepid in New York harbor. Information that was classified to the highest level has been declassified and is on display - including our patrol areas, warhead on the Regulus and so on - blows my mind to see such information open to the public. Also tons of information on Wikipedia.

[@EmperorofMu]

Thank you Sir. That is incredible, but i guess we've got new sub secrets to replace the former.

[@richardvernon317]

Went on the Growler back in late September, The most interesting information I got out of the tour was in the Aft Torpedo Room from a former Torpedo Man who had done 4 boats during his career including the Grower. After explaining what the Navy was looking for in personnel wanting to serve on the boat's by the questions they had to answer on a Questionnaire, he also explained why the people you least wanted to piss off got to sleep in the aft Torpedo room and why. When I asked him if the Torpedo in the Aft room was a Mk 37 and if he thought it was the cause of the loss of the Scorpion. both reply's were affirmative. Best Answer I got to a question however was a follow on, Which weapon in your career was the most dangerous to handle onboard the boat. His Reply was quite literally "FU@KING SUBROC!". Got to see two Regulus 1's on that Holiday as therer is one at the NASM at Dulles as well.

[@P5ychoFox]

I went on the Growler back in 2010. You certainly had to be slim and fit just to move around in there. I’d love to go back to the Intrepid museum to see it again.

[@nyohaku]

Don’t miss the Growler if you come see the intrepid in New York. Deep gratitude and respect to all the vets who put their lives the line and made the sacrifices. I was fortunate to have one stand next to me and describe what it was like seeing from below a kamikaze crash through the deck.

[@watcherzero5256]

It did require a second boat/ship or chase plane to provide a guidance beam, the USN employed a dedicated squadron of FJ Fury to perform the role which would be dispersed to carriers in the vicinity of the deterrent patrol but if no carrier was nearby a suicidal frigate/destroyer or a second submarine was required.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

3:51 the test pilots flying at a few meters from the missile and the ground in this shot are impressive. Absolutely mad lads

[@stusue9733]

That almost beats "spitfire low pass", if only they had had someone standing there. lol

[@stonedfish99]

@@stusue9733saying “F**K ME! F**K Me!” As the spit flies over 😂

[@MeppyMan]

Was going to post same. Replayed that snippet a few times. Amazing.

[@silentblackhole]

I paused to say the same thing!! It's almost like he's showing off to the camera man lol

[@mikkosaarnivala]

Even crazier - the two technicians/engineers standing right next to the missile when it launches at 3:29 😬

[@SpeedrunnerG55]

3:52 at some point a plane flies so low its no longer a plane and it just becomes a pod racer. ground effect is insane

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

The Halibut got a second life working for the CIA. That giant missile hangar on the front deck became a "bat-cave" for deploying all sorts of remote controlled underwater vehicles. Some carried special pods that clamped onto undersea telephone cables and listened to phone calls with a magnetic pickup. There were ROVs designed to cut into a sunken ship, go inside and retrieve stuff. The sub could hold position long enough to excavate a hole into the ship and saw out a safe or rig a weapon for lifting. Some companies have ROVs like that today, but back in the 60's this was James Bond kind of stuff. You should do a video about Halibut.

[@mikefochtman7164]

Had a shipmate that served on her. He was like, "I signed papers that say I'll go to Levonworth if I talk about it. So don't ask." Read the book "Blind Man's Bluff", they have some declassified stories about her.

[@keithhooker2709]

“Blind Man’s Bluff” is an amazing book!

[@billpugh58]

Yes we know, there are plenty of books and documentaries about it.

[@basslinedan2]

That footage of the missile landing alongside the chase planes is incredible

[@HansLasser]

It is really low flight!

[@basslinedan2]

@@HansLasser right? And crowded! 😄

[@singer732]

When you were showing the nozzle gimbals I was reminded of an event at Aerojet's plant near Sacramento. Polaris rocket motors were tested horizontally using only the thrust of the rocket to keep the missile in the test stand. During one test firing the gimbals were moved to full deflection and the missile (Motor only, no guidance or payload) backed itself out of the test stand and went airborne. As it spun and twisted it traveled over McDonell-Douglases plant (right next to Aerojet) and crashed there. McDonnell-Douglas messaged Aerojet that any further attacks would be answered with their Downrange Pillbox, which was a retired Army Tank. Improved hold-downs were installed before the next test.

[@CuriousMarc]

Fascinating, as always! And the Polaris guidance computer, designed by MIT / Draper and built by Raytheon, will become the starting point for the Apollo Guidance Computer. It shares modules that are similar looking to the AGC. But much no ICs of course…

[@scottmanley]

As part of the program they also developed the AN/UYK-1 computer for the submarine, which was needed to process sensor data and navigation signals to ensure they knew where the submarine was at launch. A big part of the technical requirements for the hardware was that it had to be small enough to fit through submarine hatches.

[@phatphracker]

I think most people take for granted the huge engineering leaps Polaris conducted. In less than 5 years we went from crude surfaced cruise missile launches to shoot weapons into space from under the ocean and hitting within 2km of accuracy. Way before GPS and even before the first manned space flight. Being a submariner, I can guarantee this conversation happened on onboard before the first launch test. "Hey, do you think this is going to work?" ... "50/50 we blow up the boat" ... "I'll take those odds. 50 buck we live through this." There no surer bet than the one you'll never have to pay if you loose.

[@acefox1]

4:06 That footage of the Ruguls landing with those escort jets was incredible! I’ve never seen that! 👏👏👏👏 Thank you for sharing that.

[@briancox2721]

I don't know about Polaris, but the modern Trident missiles launch submerged and never get wet. They are loaded into the missile tube in capsules with steam generators in the base. On launch, super heated steam pushes the missile out of the tube and it rides in the bubble of dry steam all the way to the surface. It ascends fast enough to breach completely out of the water. A simple inertia switch senses when the missile begins to fall back towards the water. The guidance computer then fires the first stage solid motor, sending the missile downrange.

[@davidcole217]

Trident missile. Triton was a dual reactor radar picket submarine

[@richardvernon317]

All the US SLBM worked that way from Polaris onwards. The Original Polaris had packing around it to seal the tube. When it was found that the packing wasn't required, it was removed and the bigger Poseidon C-3 and Trident C-4 followed in the same tube. Trident D-5 needed a bigger tube and thus boat.

[@willlokeer5469]

Man...I earned my fish over 15 years ago on a Boomer, but I still remember having to learn the entire SLBM launch sequence in about this level of detail but with a few more additions that we can't talk about here. XD

[@normanrussell5963]

@@willlokeer5469 33 years for me. Man does time fly.

[@Linuxpunk81]

I was never on a boomer or ssgn after they converted 4 Ohio class but I was on all 688i with the VLS system and when I was on the USS San Juan SSN 751 we launched 28 tomahawks during the 2003 Iraq compaign. Most of them where launched horizontally from the torpedo tubes but the VLS launches dropped the front end of the boat down a few feet and felt pretty wild.

[@kenknowlton3085]

Thank you for your service!

[@zeke7237]

I was on a 640 class Poseidon boat in the late 70s, and we did an "Operational Test" launch of 4 C-3 missiles off the coast of Florida. When 30 tons of missile leaves that tube in less than a second, the recoil was intense (not to mention the immediate roll to the launching side as the tube filled with water)

[@Pwnulolumad]

That sounds so sketchy lol

[@icaleinns6233]

@@Pwnulolumad You have no idea what it felt like. And this was done 150' down.

[@richardaldom741]

I don't recall a significant roll during launch, although when we did it it was after an upgraded hovering system had been installed on the Thomas Jefferson. I found it to be kind of ho-hum.

[@icaleinns6233]

@@richardaldom741 I don't recall a roll, either, but I do remember significant vertical movement. Like "WHOA! Hang on to the rail!" type stuff.

[@normanrussell5963]

I don’t recall a roll but boy did the 740 wiggle. Had a great view standing watch in MCUL. Never launched a C4 from the 657 but what a noise the countermeasures made in control!

[@karlbrundage7472]

Loving all of the commentary from Submariners. Remember: There are only two kinds of ship- Submarines...... and targets. Also, the motto of the Ballistic Missile Boats: "We hide with pride" Motto of the Attack-Boat force: "Ain't no slack on a fast attack... It's big, it's black and it never comes back" (alluding to the "fluid" nature of SSN tasking. As an example, my boat once stayed on assignment beyond the planned operation until we literally ran out of food, then coffee, which prompted the Captain to radio-in that crew was ready to mutiny)

[@normanrussell5963]

I’m having a few flashbacks of Boomer life myself. I can still feel the Noggabutt from 6 hours sitting at the NCC in NavCtr on those orange nogahide chairs. Oh, and the motto we prefer is “4 knots to nowhere”

[@willlokeer5469]

or the slightly more derisive "We're the Chicken's of the Sea" XD. Been off the boat over a decade, but still get the occasional "Boat Dream"@@normanrussell5963

[@TanyaLairdCivil]

@4:00 I love the idea of a nuclear cruise missile with landing gear. I have this image of a missile being launched, reaching its target, and politely landing and coming to a complete stop before it detonates its warhead.

[@ronjon7942]

Hilarious!

[@johnladuke6475]

It might even have to circle a few times before getting permission to land.

[@michaelchapman1662]

There were two versions of Regulus: practice missiles that were red, had landing gear and a remote piloting system that let chase planes fly it after it finished its mission; and the tactical version that was blue and had neither landing gear nor the remote piloting function, but had a chin making space for its thermonuclear warhead.

[@tbjtbj7930]

That would be the Canadian version

[@petervanderwaart1138]

There was a story that the phrase "in the ballpark" was created when some admiral was asked about the accuracy of the Polaris missile. He said if you aimed one at Yankee Stadium, it would land "in the ballpark".

[@1TakoyakiStore]

My late grandfather worked on both the Polaris and the Triton missile programs through Lockheed (he missed the Jupiter program). He never talked about his work much so I have no idea what part he played but it involved mechanical work. One of the few times I remember him talking about it he mentioned being on a British Submarine during testing in the 70's. He retired in the 80's. My father still has his retirement present that his coworkers gave him, a picture of a Polaris rocket launching with the signatures of all his coworkers.

[@dbell95008]

I may well have worked with your grandfather!

[@nicholasmaude6906]

One reason why the Polaris A1 and A2s W47 warheads were so compact, Scott, is that the warhead's secondary used large amounts of Oralloy.

[@scottmanley]

Yes and we know this because UK declassified some documents.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

@@scottmanley Stuff like this - nuclear-weapons.info/images/tna-ab16-4675p63.jpg ? Also a lot of information has been revealed in the late Chuck Hansen's excellent CD-ROM "Swords of Armageddon" ( www.uscoldwar.com ) which is the best source of declassified material available. If you don't own a copy I strongly recommend you purchase a copy.

[@robertmandell526]

The Halibut, along with several other nuclear boats, was a top secret intelligence gathering boat. Their missions were SCI level, such as tapping Soviet telephone cables buried on the bottom in the Sea of Okhotsk. An ATT designed mega tap was manhandled right on top of the cable and recorded all military uncoded voice and data to and from the prime eastern sub base. Only the work of Aldrich Ames gave it away, and the Soviets went right to it and lifted it. It's in a Soviet era museum now. Read Blund Man's Bluff, about these deep dark boars and their missions.

[@christopherreed4723]

Fantastic book. I was going to mention USS Halibut's long career post-Regulus myself.

[@phatphracker]

H-boat might have started it but they don't call the PUC the Parche Unit Commendation for nothing.

[@josephledux8598]

Indeed. Anyone, if this subject interests you, read _Blind Man's Bluff_ and read it _now_. I guarantee you that you won't be sorry. It's probably the most exciting, most suspenseful nonfiction book I've ever read. It's far more entertaining than Clancy's pathetic juvenile fiction and it's all real.

[@richardvernon317]

@@josephledux8598 Scary rides on the USS Sea Wolf to boot. First read that book in 2001.

[@matthewnewton8812]

Blind Man’s Bluff is one of the best books about the Cold War that I’ve read. It eschews the usual speculative pontificating and focuses/zooms right in on actual real world events and you can just tell that the authors must have spent untold hundreds of hours interviewing dozens upon dozens of people, each of whom had one small piece of the story, to be able to build such an amazing look into what went down back then. Also- the amazing thing about that underwater wire tapping machine is how the thing worked. It was capable of detecting the small electromagnetic signals that “leaked” out of these undersea cables, and it essentially functioned like a receiver in reverse- it reverse engineered what the voice and/or sound data must have been that created the variations in that electromagnetic signal. Such a brilliant idea. Also I’m relatively sure I recall reading in that book that if the soviets had ever discovered the wire tap, some of the parts inside said “Made in California”!! Wild stuff.

[@themustardfarmer]

Wow, look how close to the ground the wing tank of the DT-33 gets at 3:57

[@noelwade]

@Scott - Fun fact: my grandfather was deeply involved in this evolution from a policy & politics standpoint. He worked with senior members of the military, Congress, and US Presidents to convince them of the strategic value of ballistic missile submarines. His son (my father) attended the Naval Academy and was recruited by Adm. Rickover to serve in both fast-attack and the very missile subs that his dad had advocated for (carrying Poseidon missiles by that time). Thanks for telling this amazing story from a technical standpoint!

[@dbell95008]

I started my career as the A1 and A2 Polaris were being phased out, and the C3 (first Poseidon) was in development. We still had a long series of A2's in assembly, test and deployment, fulfilling older contracts. One test area that was brought to mind by your description of the the thrust vectoring system was a heavily sound-proofed hydraulics chamber. The primal SCREAM of multi horsepower DC pump-motors the size of (skinny) Thermos bottles was incredible! Those nozzles could be shifted in a small fraction of a second, which required alot of energy...

[@johnvanderpol2]

Funny, Curios Droid had today a video on the internal navigation that was used in the Polaris nuclear missile.

[@DJ_Andreas]

Thanks for showing that the point Mugu missile Park is actually an awesome stop. It's too bad they're not maintaining the signs and that some of the displays are missing

[@richardaldom741]

We in the submarine navy call the "tower" the sail.. love your videos, Scott. Thanks for providing the content!!

[@ddthames]

My dad worked on and operated the range radar at Point Mugu during the Regulus testing in the early 50s. He had several stories from his duty there.

[@adamdapatsfan]

This was a minor point in the video, but seeing color footage of the pulsejets in Project Loon was pretty incredible!

[@aldunlop4622]

I used to build Airfix kits in the 1970s, one of the first models I built was a Polaris submarine, complete with a cutaway so you could see the missiles inside.

[@jonwesick2844]

I had that one, too. When I was 5 or 6, I had a model of a submarine with a Regulus missile. It was motorized and my dad helped me build it.

[@stonedfish99]

@@jonwesick2844great memory to have that

[@MikesTropicalTech]

I think I had that one too. One missle tube had a spring in it that would launch a missle when you pushed a small button.

[@davidbono9359]

There was a minor controversy in the US in 1961 when the Revell model company released a scale model kit of the USS George Washington. The model had a cutaway view with some interior details that the model designers had found by researching public sources, and some of the details were just educated guesses. Apparently the model was fairly accurate (despite it having 8 missile tubes instead of the actual 16), and Admiral Rickover worried that Revell had somehow obtained classified information (they hadn't), and the model might disclose some military secrets.

[@ronjon7942]

Haha, I remember seeing it at the hobby shop, I was probably around 8. I was intrigued but it was WAY over my allowance budget, but it wasn’t a heartbreaker as I was infatuated with aircraft by then.

[@MsZeeZed]

1:50 - The island is Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It was a German base for submarine and ship listening posts in WWII. When a V1 prototype landed there with a dummy warhead in August 1943 (it cannot be the often misquoted summer 1942 as the Fi 103 wasn’t tested until winter 42), a Danish Naval officer photographed and measured it passing these details to British Intelligence, changing the course of Allied WWII rocket research. Hasagar Christiansen was captured & tortured for doing this, but the Danish resistance organised his escape to Sweden and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his defiance of the Nazis.

[@kevinh2955]

My Uncle was the navigator on the USS Tunny after Regulus (he was on during the Vietnam war). The large 'hangars' came in handy for SEAL teams and their equipment. Being a diesel (small) boat - they could get into some pretty tight areas. He took me of a tour of the USS Silversides (another Gato class boat). Was very interesting to see.

[@kentonian]

So many cool ideas have been tried but nearly always goes back to pointy things going straight up

[@blurglide]

I'm always shocked how fast we went from no balisitc missiles from launching them thousands of miles out of a submerged nuclear submarine. What was that....like 15 years? Holy shit!

[@markhickox1379]

Scott, As an engineer in naval surface launching systems at NSWC PHD in Port Hueneme. I would like to see you do a segment on Naval Tactical Anti-Air missiles from Telos, Tartar, and Terrier up to the current day SM3/SM6 missiles. I wonder if the public affairs office at NSWC PHD could help you in such an endeavor. This command was founded by President Kennedy when a test ksunch he attended failed. We make sure tactical missile systems e work as advertised.

[@tehice23]

OMG!! That flyby landing escort at 3:40 is just, EPIC!

[@uncleop22]

Nice summary. My dad was the engineering officer on the GW for the first launch, and sub-sequently was her CO. Thanks from this Navy Brat!

[@SRFriso94]

Other fun fact about the USS Scorpion: the US Navy didn't actually know exactly where the wreck was until 1985, when they funded an expedition to find it. That expedition was led by Robert Ballard, and he struck a deal with the Navy that if he had time left over after finding the Scorpion and the Thresher, he could use it to go looking for the Titanic.

[@nugget0428]

Those pilots at 3:50 😅 epic

[@hackneo64]

The regulus is still featured on the missile technician rating badge today. Still have my badges with chevrons when I was a MT on the west coast in Bangor Washington.

[@paulhaynes8045]

I get an unexplainable amount of pleasure from the fact that Scott pronounces the 'h' in what and where and when!

[@judgeomega]

amazing how those tiny thrust vectoring rods could withstand the power of those huge missiles

[@normanrussell5963]

The early failures of the C4 were due to the water jet that follows the missile out of the water impacting the nozzle and breaking the rods.

[@Peter_S_]

I knew a sailor who did 'dive & drive' on a modified nuclear sub. They no longer had missiles and they delivered SEALs to the coastal waters of 'other nations' where they accomplished 'tasks'.

[@DavidVerch]

You can say it was the Parche it is not a secret.

[@stoerenungeheuer543]

In my family there was a submarine driver which ship was hit and sunk, he escaped and survived. Other family members said he could not stand being nearby water after this.

[@tomhenry897]

What about other unknown subs

[@Peter_S_]

@@DavidVerch wrong boat. Lots of subs are equipped to carry SDVs.

[@danielbraun5524]

Thank you for stopping at Pt. Mugu and showing the rocket garden. It kinda made me home sick & Miss Southern California.I grew up on that base and China Lake. Going to work and learning from the enginers was a fond childhood memory. ❤

[@backwashjoe7864]

Congratulations on the anniversary Scott!

[@life_with_bernie]

Back in the early 70s when I was a Navy Gunner's Mate, my best friend was a Hull Tech from Louisiana. His father was one of the engineers who helped develop Polaris and Posiden. I got a chance to spend Christmas with his family in Norwich, England (his dad was then working for a shipbuilding company in Belgium and the family was living in England) and I was fascinated with some of the stories the man shared about various aspects of the programs.

[@georgeburns7251]

Outstanding presentation. Thank you

[@petehafner3844]

Thanks so much you always have such interesting videos ❤

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty interesting history, Scott! Thanks!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊 And happy holidays!

[@frankgulla2335]

Thanks for hte great video with excellent clips and vids.

[@milolouis]

Another banger. Thankyou Scott :)

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Great video, Scott...👍

[@gtv6chuck]

Very interesting. I used to see the Grayback when it was based at Subic Naval Base in The Philippines, after it had been converted to a cargo/special forces submarine. I was an Air Force dependent at Clark Air Base and we'd go to Subic to go to the beach at Subic, so I would see it sailing occasionally. Thanks for teaching me about the Regulus system.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

0:21 that F-14 in the background on the stick, I'm the guy who permently downed it for delamination on portside intake. When the Grumman airframes tech's came down to the washrack took one look and said yep that bird will never fly again.

[@Bill_the_Red_Lichtie]

Again an awesome video. Looking forward to the Greyback and Growler video(s).

[@bholdr----0]

@2:26... That is super strange seeing an USN (or is still USAAF? Or USAF?) roundel on a V-1. ...Though the Olive Drab is almost even stranger! Great vid!

[@hydra70]

Fun fact: that polaris missile test mentioned is the only live-fire test of a nuclear armed ballistic missile that the US has ever performed. There's been a lot of static nuclear tests, and a lot of unarmed missile tests, but only that one armed missile test.

[@larsmathiesen8999]

It was actually in the Baltic sea on the island of Bornholm that V-1´s from peenemunde was noticed by the Danish resistance and the allied was notified about this new weapon. And the allied began to photo reconnoiter Peenemunde and later bomb the place.

[@bbbenj]

Very interesting, many thanks.

[@anthoneyking6572]

WOW Scott I see you sparked off a load of Interesting stuff not just your Vlog but the comments too are Awesome Great Vlog and awesome replies guys Thanks

[@littleshopofelectrons4014]

I remember building a model of the Regulus as a kid in the early 1960s. I had no idea that it carried a nuclear warhead. I just thought that it looked cool.

[@gpbarth]

When I was working for Pan Am at Cape Canaveral in '68-'69, the Navy was testing the "new" Polaris Poseidon missile, and we had several land-launched tests before the missile was installed on a submarine (which I remember was the George Washington) for its first sea launch. I was actually on board the sub at Port Canaveral during the installation of test equipment to be used during the launch.

[@barthchris1]

My father was on SSBN 634 Stonewall Jackson. Did missile testing at Canaveral during that time period. Last name is the same as well.

[@CLipka2373]

I love intros that segway to the video proper with the words "I'm gonna have to make a video of it"

[@fraser21]

I wonder what the odds are that any of this early Cold War stuff would have ever worked. It feels like there’s a lot of points of failure, all relatively untested. If things went hot sometime in the 50s, it would be interesting to see how many nukes ever made it to their targets and detonated successfully.

[@Baigle1]

The smart design of intaking the high pressure stagnation zone and exhausting along the trailing low pressure zone, how it should be- 🤤

[@ThatOpalGuy]

GREAT VIDEO!

[@billotto602]

An officer onboard the USS Scorpion was from my church in Joliet ILL. I was 8 or 9 when she was lost but I remember how it affected all the ladies in our church. RIP shipmates. Fair winds & following seas. 🫡 🇺🇸

[@kamakaziozzie3038]

Whenever one has the opportunity, Pt. Magu is an amazing place to visit. I live close by so been able to view several airshows there

[@oopsiesh]

really enjoyed this

[@davidgenie-ci5zl]

A friend of mine worked at Lockheed on the missiles, he once and a while had to go on the sub to do work when they were loaded with warheads. He always had an armed Marine watching over him when working on an armed missile.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

Nice report.

[@RCAvhstape]

There is a video, possibly by Mark Felton, which describes the German plan for submarine launched ballistic missiles. A U-boat would tow a sort of barge behind it which contained a V-2 missile. This barge would've been a missile silo turned on its side. When it was time to launch, the barge would ballast itself to pitch up 90 deg into launch position. Never got close to making it happen, of course. But people in the 1940s were thinking ahead of the tech at the time.

[@hairy-one]

Book recommendation; 'My Tank is Fight!' which asks the 'What If' all the proposed ideas like this were put into practice, like the Maus, or this, or the German man in space. Entertaining, easy read or audio book.

[@elcapitantommy]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXm4dImVeqmCfKssi=CmWjuYCf7IZAN3Yc German V1s on subs

[@donaldwiller9238]

Great job 👏

[@neves5083]

Love these first gen cold war techs

[@theyard6958]

Happy Anniversary Scott and Wife!🥂🎉🍾🚀

[@CodyBelichesky]

So happy to see you at the Mugu missile park! It’s a fantastic spot to planespot everything going into Mugu.

[@bonzogamer6966]

Yay Growler! - visited it twice, before Enterprise. Saw Enterprise at Udvar-Hazy.

[@pixelpatter01]

I worked with a man , Larry S, who was on a submarine during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was quite a few years older than me and has since passed. He told me they surfaced off the coast of a major Russian city at night and put one of these missiles in the launcher and brought the engine to full power. He said he could see the lights of the city. The plan was to launch the missile, submerge and await the blast, then surface and launch the second missile they carried. The Captain said they would not be returning to Pearl Harbor " because it wouldn't be there", and instead they would head south along the coast and put ashore. He said he was never so scared in his life. I had never known we came that close to nuclear war until then.

[@michaelchapman1662]

This story is an imaginative lie. I know this because I was a missile tech on the Grayback and we were on station off the Kamchatka peninsula when the call came to go to battle stations missile, this is not a drill. I was sitting on the wing of the missile while we went through the hours long checkpoint cycle to the point where we were at 2 minutes to launch. The next step was to surface, open the hangar door, ram the missile out on the launcher and shoot it. We stayed at 2 minutes and holding for an excruciatingly long time but never went further. As to the lights of a city: no we were off a wilderness area and there were no lights of any kind. And, by the way, Grayback carried 4 missiles so the teller of the tale wasn’t there at all. He was right about one thing: it was the scariest experience of my life.

[@pixelpatter01]

Like I said, I worked with the guy and I'm just relaying the story. Was your experience during the Cuban missile crisis? I'd be relieved to know it didn't happen. Thanks for the information.@@michaelchapman1662

[@normanrussell5963]

@@michaelchapman1662 In my day it was “Man Battle Stations Missile for WSRT with Guidance, spin up all missiles” and a couple of other variations. Glad I never heard “for Strategic Launch”

[@rnedisc]

You guys, holy shit. the clip from 3:50 is some of the coolest aviation footage I've ever seen.

[@corcorandm]

Glad you made it to Pt mugu

[@jeromethiel4323]

Nice A6 intruder. Love that aircraft. At if i am not mistaken, that is the ECM version as well.

[@NormanInAustralia]

Thanks!

[@richb313]

I was on the Tunny SSN 682 the Funny Tunny SS 282 was our namesake had a historic tour in WWII the regulus was fitted well after.

[@PaulG-ru9lq]

I hope you enjoyed your visit here!

[@hypergolic8468]

Interesting to consider the first version / idea for what becane the A4 Skyhawk was to be launched from submarines, very much following on from the pre war ideas many nations had for sub launched air vehicles.

[@JC-yt1pm]

I was on the USS Growler in NYC it was a crazy way to launch missiles.

[@joso5554]

Nice entertaining video on a rarely mentioned early nuclear cruise missile. Quite impractical though. Strategic cruise missiles would ultimately become viable only in the early 80’s with accurate low altitude midcourse navigation update methods, first terrain contour correlation (using ground imaging radar or radioaltimeter) then obviously GPS. Then came ALCM and Tomahawk. As of SLBMs, Polaris knew several versions leading to the improved Poseidon which, I believe, was the actual basis for the UK Chevaline missiles (which carried UK warheads and specific penaid decoys).

[@garybrindle6715]

Several of my avaition, space hobbies rolled into one u tube package and delivered skilfully on target..bullseye......

[@michaelimbesi2314]

The reason that the Navy was so driven to develop sea-launched nuclear weapons was that the future of the Navy depended on it. In the 1950s, it was assumed that any future wars would go nuclear, so any military branch that couldn’t fight with nukes didn’t really need to exist as an independent service, and certainly didn’t warrant spending lots of taxpayer money on new and modern equipment. The US government had already been talking about combining the entire military into one branch since before WWII. It was put on hold for the war, but very nearly happened postwar. If the Navy hadn’t developed nukes, it might not *be* the Navy anymore

[@ThatsMrAwesomesauce]

I loved staying at NAS Pt. Mugu as a young boy scout. The missle park just outside the base and the Seabees museum at nearby Pt. Hueneme are cool places to visit!

[@dimitriisov1262]

Hello Mr Manley

[@sjTHEfirst]

When you mentioned the Matador missile, all I could think of was the movie failsafe

[@acefox1]

Pt Mugu Missile Park! Spent lots of hours watching Tomcats and Phantoms working the pattern there in the 80’s. Seeing that brings back lots of memories. Was just there in 2020. Awesome to see they got a Prowler since then.

[@hawgbreath]

Very interesting, I remember the initial publicity about the Polaris but have never seen a history of the sub-launched missiles prior to it.

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Hey! You're right by my house! The park is a great place to visit, and if you hang out by the fence there you can see some cool aircraft. I saw a Eurofighter a couple of days ago.

[@jasonpoland5507]

Stop by March Field in Riverside to the Base Museum - I was born at March AFB hospital - amazing little collection of aircraft.

[@GoSlash27]

My son has photos that my (then) fiance and I took at that park when I was stationed there back in '91 :D Recognized that old Regulus immediately.

[@DanielGonzalez-ys3fn]

Youre in ventura? Nice. Sorry about the traffic on the way to santa barbara.

[@nathanbasset]

I can’t believe I’ve never seen the V1 with a USAF insignia jeez

[@thegalli]

My dad served on USS Helena, CA75 Heavy Cruiser, in the late 50s. Helena was the first or among the first ship launches of the Regulus.

[@_interficere]

Hi Scott, great video. Also I wander if you saw the latest video over on Smarter Every Day of Destins talk about the Artemis program. I woul love to hear your two cents about it. Cheers

[@malanis]

Missile Park is one of my favorite spots to go to when I'm out towards Oxnard. Very relaxing, and you can watch the military pilots practicing touch-and-gos at NAS Pt. Mugu. Did they finally replace the Sidewinder?