Trident A-sub runs gantlet to reach West Coast base

The Trident submarine USS Ohio slipped through inland waters toward its new home base with Coast Guard cutters running interference through a flotilla of antinuclear protesters, blasting boats with firehoses to clear the way and arresting defiant militants.

The nuclear submarine, en route to be fitted with multiple-warhead missiles, entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca an hour after the channel was closed to maritime traffic. About 50 protesters in two dozen small boats took to the water in an attempt to block the submarine from its home base.