Slightly more than 250 years ago, the relationship between the American colonies and the British monarch who ruled them, George III, had exhausted itself. The Petition to the King passed by the Continental Congress of 26 October 1774, a document well worth reading this Independence Day weekend, described a state of affairs which reasonable men could no longer tolerate. His Majesty was, like many a king, not a reasonable man, so matters came to a head astonishingly quickly for an age in which news travelled at the speed of a horse.

On 19 April 1775, on Lexington Green outside Boston, Massachusetts, Captain John Parker’s militia and the King’s army disagreed, violently. America was born in fire, and the first eight Americans gave their lives for the cause of independence. Eleven months hence, the British Army and the Royal Navy abandoned Boston, permanently. Having proven its vitality in battle, America declared that “these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States” on 4 July, a quarter of a millennium ago. On 9 September, the name of the new country was changed to the United States.

A great deal has happened since then, far from all of it good. To ensure its continued existence, the United States should rediscover the courage, energy and sense of purpose which carried the nation’s founders from writing a petition to their king to naming a new nation, in less than two years. Given the fact that the U.S. is by far the most powerful nation in the world, this is of decisive importance not just for America, but for all mankind.

America needs to rediscover another thing, which had become its calling card in the 20th century, and with which it is having significant problems in the 21st – large-scale industrial production. Courtesy of Google’s Gemini large language model (LLM), more commonly known as artificial intelligence – without so much as a subscription, merely by accessing https://gemini.google.com/ – here is a list of the commissioning (service entry) of all American nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarines (SSNs) and ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). Note just how severely construction has slowed down in the last 30 years, and how this slowdown compares to the single year 1964:

“The list below traces all 146 SSNs and 59 SSBNs built or currently serving in the United States Navy from 1954 to 2026, chronologically by their first day in active service.

(Note: Early SSBNs that were converted to attack or special operations hulls later in life—like the early George Washington or Ethan Allen hulls—are listed by their initial SSBN commissioning. The four Ohio-class hulls that became Guided Missile Submarines (SSGNs) in the 2000s are listed under their original SSBN commissioning dates.)

The Pioneer Eras (1954–1960)

The dawn of nuclear power, shifting from experimental “one-off” testbeds to the first functional production classes.

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) – September 30, 1954 (World’s first nuclear-powered vessel)

USS Seawolf (SSN-575) – March 30, 1957

USS Skate (SSN-578) – December 23, 1957 (Lead boat of the first production class)

USS Swordfish (SSN-579) – September 15, 1958

USS Sargo (SSN-583) – October 1, 1958

USS Seadragon (SSN-584) – December 5, 1959

USS Skipjack (SSN-585) – April 15, 1959 (First teardrop hydrodynamic hull)

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) – December 30, 1959 (World’s first SSBN)

USS Triton (SSN-586) – November 10, 1959 (Massive dual-reactor picket sub)

USS Halibut (SSN-587) – January 4, 1960 (Built as cruise-missile SSGN, became famous special ops SSN)

USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) – April 11, 1960

USS Scamp (SSN-588) – June 5, 1960

USS Scorpion (SSN-589) – July 29, 1960 (Tragically lost at sea, 1968)

USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600) – February 13, 1961

USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) – September 16, 1960

USS Tullibee (SSN-597) – November 9, 1960 (Experimental turbo-electric drive)

USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602) – December 11, 1960

The Early Cold War Expansion & “41 for Freedom” (1961–1969)

A massive build-up during the height of the Cold War, introducing deep-diving attack submarines and the rapid deployment of the original strategic ballistic missile fleet.

USS Thresher (SSN-593) – August 3, 1961 (Tragically lost at sea during deep-dive trials, 1963)

USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) – August 8, 1961 (First purpose-built SSBN class)

USS Shark (SSN-591) – February 9, 1961

USS........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)