An undersea chess match
on a global scale

To tell the undersea story, the Navy is expanding upon
the successful "Fast Attacks and Boomers" exhibit featured
at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
from 2000 to 2003.

As post-war tensions grew between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the two countries began an arms race. The Cold War Gallery will tell the pivotal - yet little understood - role that the Navy played in deterring a nuclear attack on the United States.

At the heart of this strategy, the Navy's ability to launch retaliatory missile attacks - first from aircraft and later submarines - assured the Soviet Union that any attack on America's homeland would not go unanswered. Year after year and decade after decade, naval personnel worked selflessly to maintain a credible deterrence, until the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed under the weight of its vast military machine.

Visitors to the Cold War Gallery will learn how, under the leadership of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the Navy pioneered nuclear propulsion and the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program became a reality. With displays tracing the history from Polaris and Poseidon to the Trident missile program, visitors will see first-hand the actual missiles and supporting technologies, as well as exhibits detailing the day-to-day lives of the warriors who kept us safe.