[Aktungbby]

OH NO correct away! I had considered MIRV's incl the Poeidon C-3 but couldn't get the count:

The A3 was the first Polaris to have multiple reentry vehicles. The Polaris program started development in 1956. USS George Washington, the first US missile submarine, successfully launched the first Polaris missile from a submerged submarine on July 20, 1960. The A-2 version of the Polaris missile was essentially an upgraded A-1, and it entered service in late 1961. It was fitted on a total of 13 submarines and served until June 1974.(1). Ongoing problems with the W-47 warhead, especially with its mechanical arming and safing equipment, led to large numbers of the missiles being recalled for modifications, and the U.S. Navy sought a replacement with either a larger yield or equivalent destructive power. The result was the W-58 warhead used in a "cluster" of three warheads for the Polaris A-3, the final model of the Polaris missile.

The confusion thus arises: If the USS Madison even had the latest W-58 version in 1974 as of the collision date, and if that: 'three war heads' per silo-thus I assumed the "lesser of two weevils" (this being a Naval forum) and went with a dramatic Newspaper typo error on the assumption: 'Ya gotta sell papers'..assuming the W-58 makes it 48 warheads imho. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-27_Polaris <(enlarges)Transfer of a Polaris missile between USS Proteus and USS Patrick Henry at Holy Loch