Polaris missiles would have been deployed to these ships by americans only in the event of war. Would there been US or Italian crew to operate the missiles, that I don't know....
Are there any surface vessel that can launch nukes?
- Thread starter F40Racer
- Start date
I had never heard that. How did they fit them on board? I'd assume they went quite a ways below deck.
Just had a look at the one photo I have and the polaris tubes were installed right aft about 70-80ft from the stern in the aftermost deckhouse, in place of 'y' turret. A little further forward (X turret position) was a twin arm Terrier SAM launcher and guidance radars. 'A' and 'B' 6inch turrets were replaced by two twin 135mm mounts. According to Conways All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-82 part 1 she did test fire a Polaris missile but never carried one operationally. She was reconstructed to this standard 1957-62 and paid off 1972, her place as fleet flagship was taken over by Vittorio Veneto which in turn relinquished that role to the current Garibaldi.
BLUEJACKET
Banned Idiot
There were reports that NK could put their IRBMs on some merchant ships, get within range and strike the US- if diesel submarines could do it, why not surface ships that are even bigger?
Pointblank
Senior Member
Because they are on the surface and easy to detect. And I don't think the North Koreans have yet to master smaller IRBM's, as the current known North Korean IRBM's are fairly large, and I would have extreme doubts as to whenever or not you can hide them with ease on a merchant ship. On top of that, due to the sanctions against North Korea, ships leaving North Korea are most likely inspected by naval warships that are enforcing the sanctions.
For a little historical perspective, here's some pics of the Italian Navy's cruiser Garibaldi with her four Polaris tubes astern.