Thousands protest at launch of super-sub

Press, 9 April 1979, Page 8

Thousands protest at launch of super-sub

NZPA Groton, Connecticut About 3000 anti-nuclear protesters, some draped in black shrouds, chanted and sang on Saturday as the United States Navy christened the U.S.S. Ohio — the most powerful nuclear submarine ever built and the first equipped with Trident missiles. The American First Lady, Rosalynn Carter, and Admiral Hyman Rickover, considered the father of the United States nuclear Navy, were among the dignitaries on hand for the ceremony at General Dynamic’s electric boat shipyard. The police arrested 230 demonstrators who tried to block the shipyard’s main gate and charged them with disorderly conduct. Thirtyseven who declined to give the police their names were also charged with resisting arrest.

Protesters lined the streets near the shipyard, but huge

construction bays hid them from view of the estimated 20,000 guests at the christening and their quiet demonstration could not be heard. Senator John Glenn called the 24-missile Ohio the “most formidable strategic-weapons delivery system ever devised.” The 100 metre submarine will have more than ten times the fire-power of the United States Navy's first ballistic missile submarine launched 20 years ago. Each of the Trident missile’s multiple warheads is reported to have five times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb.

Annie Glenn, the senator’s wife, christened the Ohio with one swat of a bottle of champagne while the submarine’s 154-man crew stood at attention on the deck.

The vessel had been placed in the water earlier this week because it was too large to launch at the ceremony, authorities said.