Benjamin Franklin-class submarine
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: |
General Dynamics Electric Boat Newport News Shipbuilding Mare Island Naval Shipyard |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | James Madison |
| Succeeded by: | Ohio |
| Built: | 1963–1967 |
| In commission: | 1965–2002 |
| Completed: | 12 |
| Retired: | 12 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 425 ft (130 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | S5W reactor |
| Armament: | 4 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes 16 × vertical tubes for ballistic missiles |
The Benjamin Franklin-class submarine was an evolutionary development from the James Madison class of fleet ballistic missile submarine. Having quieter machinery and other improvements, they are considered a separate class. A subset of this class is the re-engineered 640 class starting with USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654). The Benjamin Franklin class, together with the George Washington, Ethan Allen, Lafayette, and James Madison classes, comprise the "41 for Freedom."
The Benjamin Franklin-class submarines were built with the Polaris A-3 ballistic missile, and later converted to carry the Poseidon C-3. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, selected units were further modified to carry Trident-I (C-4) ballistic missiles.
Two submarines of this class were converted for delivery of special warfare units ashore. In the early 1990s, to make room for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines within the limits set by the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty, the ballistic missile tubes of USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) and USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645) were disabled. Those boats were redesignated special operations attack submarines and given attack submarine (SSN) hull numbers.
USS Kamehameha was decommissioned on 2 April 2002, the last ship of the Benjamin Franklin class to be decommissioned.
Boats
Submarines of the Benjamin Franklin class:[1] (Submarines marked with * indicate Trident C-4 ballistic missile conversions.)
- USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) *
- USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) *
- USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642)
- USS George Bancroft (SSBN-643) *
- USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
- USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645)
- USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654)
- USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) *
- USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)
- USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) *
- USS Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) *
- USS Will Rogers (SSBN-659)
See also
Media related to Benjamin Franklin class submarines at Wikimedia Commons
- 41 for Freedom Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines
- Fleet Ballistic Missile
References
- ↑ http://www.submarinehistory.com/FleetBallisticMissileSubmarines.html California Center for Military History
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