By the early 1960s, the recent leap in submarine technology had opened an entirely new front in the global nuclear standoff situation, and this front was darker and deeper than any previous threat.In the past, the Americans strived to identify where the Soviet siloes and launch sites were located to intercept any attempt if the worst came to pass. Similarly, supersonic interceptor fighters were on standby to stop enemy strategic bombers from reaching the population centers in the west.But nuclear-armed fission-reactor-powered submarines were a whole new story, as they could wander the depths of the oceans for months in almost complete silence. Moreover, they could already be operating off American coasts, preparing to unleash their nuclear hail storms at any moment.An enemy warhead would take only mere minutes to reach its target at that distance, making an interception almost impossible. A whole new approach was needed, and thus the NR-1 was born.The American submarine would be the smallest nuclear-powered submersible in the world, a tiny silent hunter that would scour the seas in search of the much larger Soviet nuclear vessels. With few options left, the US backed the project as the only way to successfully track the Soviet underwater menace and its possible cataclysmic implications…