Nuclear ballistic missile submarines were some of the most important deterrents in the
Cold War. Created to attack land-based targets with nuclear weapons, the subs long-range
missiles kept them beyond the reach of normal antisubmarine defenses. Their mobility made
them difficult to catch and allowed them to threaten a broad sweep of locations.
The George Washington class was followed, beginning in 1963, by the similar but larger Lafayette
and Benjamin Franklin classes.
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