Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is the U.S. Navy's solid-fuel Subroc (Submarine Rocket), the first guided missile capable of underwater launch, guided airborne trajectory, and underwater detonation. It was therefore very complex and underwent an extensive development program from 1955 until it became operational in 1965. Subroc could either be used as an underwater-to-air, underwater-to-underwater, or surface-to-underwater weapon and carried a nuclear warhead.

It was fired from a standard torpedo tube, then rose to the surface, flew for 25-50 miles before re-entering the water with its rocket motor already ejected, then homed in on an enemy submarine. It went out of service in 1987. This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1966 by the U.S. Naval Ordnance Lab.

 Display Status

This object is on display in Rockets & Missiles at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Rockets & Missiles
Object Details
Date ca. 1965 Country of Origin United States of America Type CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets Manufacturer Avco Corportation
 Dimensions Overall: 20 ft. 6 in. long x 1 ft. 9 in. diameter, 4085 lb. (624.84 x 53.34cm, 1852.9kg)
 Materials Motor section, steel or cast iron; torpedo or warhead section, steel
 Alternate Name Subroc Antisubmarine Missile Inventory Number A19660031000 Credit Line Transferred from U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.