Protesters Arrested as Powerful Trident Submarine Is Launched

The Tennessee, a nuclear-powered Trident missile submarine destined to become the Navy’s most powerful weapon, was launched Saturday as 58 anti-nuclear protesters were arrested.

About 400 demonstrators took part in the nonviolent protest, and police carried away those who obstructed entry to the Electric Boat shipyard, a division of General Dynamics Corp. and sole builders of the Trident subs.

Police Sgt. Richard Chmiel said the arrested protesters were charged with creating a public disturbance, an infraction that carries a $68 fine.

More than 1,000 guests huddled in makeshift shelters inside the shipyard on the Thames River in southeastern Connecticut, where strong gusts pushed the wind chill factor to 13 degrees below zero.

The Tennessee will be the first Trident submarine to be fitted with Trident 2, or D-5, nuclear missiles. The new missile will be the most potent in the Navy’s arsenal.

The D-5 and its predecessor, the C-4 that was first deployed in 1979, were developed by Lockheed Corp. The D-5, however, will have a range of more than 6,000 miles, compared to more than 4,000 miles for the C-4, and it will have 10 to 15 separate warheads.

The Tennessee will join the fleet in 1989, after a lengthy test period for the missiles, the Navy said.

“I assure you this event will not go unnoticed, for this ship . . . is the lead ship of the most powerful deterrent our nation has ever put to sea,” said Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, commander of the Atlantic Fleet.

Opponents of the D-5 claim its deployment will be destabilizing.

“This is the first Trident in a series aimed at creating a fleet which carries missiles accurate enough and powerful enough to destroy every single Soviet missile in silo,” Joan Cavanagh, a spokeswoman for the Coalition to Stop Trident, said in a statement. “The creation of this first-strike weapons system exponentially increases the threat of nuclear war. . . .”