The UUM-44 SUBROC (SUBmarine ROCket) was a type of

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

-launched

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

deployed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as an anti-submarine weapon. It carried a 250 kiloton thermonuclear warhead configured as a

nuclear depth bomb A nuclear depth bomb is the nuclear equivalent of the conventional depth charge, and can be used in anti-submarine warfare for attacking submerged submarines. The Royal Navy, Soviet Navy, and United States Navy had nuclear depth bombs in their ...

Development

SUBROC was one of several weapons recommended for implementation by

Project Nobska Project Nobska was a 1956 summer study on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) for the United States Navy ordered by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke. It is also referred to as the Nobska Study, named for its location on Nobska Point nea ...

, a 1956 summer study on

submarine warfare Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and mine countermeasures. Submarine warfare consists primarily of diesel and nuclear submarines using torpedoes, missi ...

. Development began in 1958, with the technical evaluation being completed in 1963. SUBROC reached Initial Operation Capability (IOC) aboard the attack submarine ''Permit'' in 1964. When SUBROC reached IOC, the US Navy's admiral in charge of weapons procurement stated that SUBROC was "…a more difficult technical problem than

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

Operation

SUBROC could be launched from a 21-inch submarine torpedo tube. After launch, the solid fuel rocket motor fired and SUBROC rose to the surface. The launch angle then changed and SUBROC flew to its destination following a predetermined ballistic trajector