Join Master Chief Bill Linné and the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation as we present the story of Vallejo’s own nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. Built at Mare Island during the crucible of the Cold War, the submarine was the most powerful warship on earth built and manned under the highest national priority to address an existential threat to our nation. In 1957, the Soviet leader slammed his shoe on the podium at an international conference and vowed to bury the West. The USS Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN 658) had but one purpose: to prevent a Soviet preemptive nuclear attack. Her mission was to ensure that any attempt at a nuclear first strike by the Soviets would result in an unstoppable Armageddon being unleashed upon them.
Reserve your seat now in Mare Island’s historic Saint Peter’s Chapel to hear Master Chief Linné walk us back to a time when the ballistic missile submarine was our Nation’s most important strategic asset. As the senior enlisted leader on a nuclear submarine, he will describe life aboard one of the most complex and lethal weapons systems of all time and how the Mare Island Ocean Engineering program played a major role in ending the Cold War.
Also on display will be a selection of related artifacts from the MIHPF collection available to view both before and after the lecture. These will include large models of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS Mariano G. Vallejo and a Polaris ballistic missile that she carried.