Q&A · 3:17:08-3:20:05

An Ohio-class submarine before Pearl Harbor

A time-displaced Ohio would be more useful as a conventional intelligence, special-operations, cargo, or anti-ship asset than as a nuclear weapon platform.

Question

What if an Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine arrived shortly before Pearl Harbor instead of the carrier in The Final Countdown?

Short answer

It would likely withhold nuclear weapons and become an extraordinary conventional intelligence, special-operations, cargo, and anti-ship platform.

Notes

The crew would probably withhold strategic nuclear weapons from the 1941 world. If able to cooperate openly with the contemporary U.S. Navy, the submarine's sensors, endurance, torpedoes, and possible cruise missiles would make it a uniquely valuable conventional asset. Modern command arrangements would fit awkwardly into a sudden time-displacement scenario.