Cold War
Wolfpacks fell out of use during the Cold War; modern submarines have far better weapons and underwater speed than those of World War II, so there is no need for them to operate in large groups. Instead, the United States Navy deploys its attack submarines on individual patrols, with the exception of one or (rarely) two attack submarines in each carrier group. American ballistic missile submarines have always operated alone. (Soviet ballistic missile submarines operate in well-protected bastions.)
However, with the opening shots of the Iraq War in March, 2003, the term "wolfpack" was brought back into use to describe the fleet of American and British nuclear submarines which operated together in the Red Sea, firing Tomahawk missiles at Iraqi targets. USS Providence was the first boat to fire its entire load of missiles and earn the nickname "Big Dog of the Red Sea Wolf Pack."
Read more about this topic: Wolfpack (naval Tactic)
Famous quotes containing the words cold and/or war:
“That which in mean men we entitle patience
Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“... children do not take war seriously as war. War is soldiers and soldiers have not to be war but they have to be soldiers. Which is a nice thing.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)