USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641)
 USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) on 1 February 1991 | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Simon Bolivar |
| Namesake: | Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), a hero of South American independence movements |
| Awarded: | 1 November 1962 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down: | 17 April 1963 |
| Launched: | 22 August 1964 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Thomas C. Mann |
| Commissioned: | 29 October 1965 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 February 1995 |
| Struck: | 8 February 1995 |
| Honors and awards: |
5 Battle Effectiveness Awards Battle "E" 1974 Battle "E" 1975 Battle "E" 1976 Battle "E" 1982 Battle "E" 1990 Providence Plantation Award 1974 |
| Fate: | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program begun 1 October 1994; completed 1 December 1995 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Benjamin Franklin class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine |
| Displacement: | 6,494 tons |
| Length: | 425 feet (130 m) |
| Beam: | 33 feet (10 m) |
| Draft: | 32 feet (9.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | S5W reactor |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) surfaced 21 knots (39 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 1,300 feet (400 m) |
| Complement: | Two crews (Blue Crew and Gold Crew) of 14 officers and 126 enlisted men each |
| Armament: | 16 missile tubes, 4 × 21 inches (530 mm) torpedo tubes |
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), a hero of the independence movements of the former Spanish colonies in South America.
Construction and commissioning
Simon Bolivar 's keel was laid down on 17 April 1963 by the Newport News Shipbuilding of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 22 August 1964, sponsored by Mrs. Thomas C. Mann, and commissioned on 29 October 1965 with Commander Charles H. Griffiths commanding the Blue Crew and Commander Charles A. Orem commanding the Gold Crew.
Service history
During late December 1965 and most of January 1966, Simon Bolivar underwent demonstration and shakedown operations. The Gold Crew successfully fired a Polaris A-3 ballistic missile off the coast of Cape Kennedy, Florida, on 17 January 1966, and the Blue Crew completed a successful Polaris missile firing on 31 January. In February 1966, the Gold Crew continued shakedown operations in the Caribbean Sea. In March 1966, Simon Bolivar 's home port was changed to Charleston, South Carolina, where she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 18, and minor deficiencies were corrected during a shipyard availability period. Beginning in April 1966, the Blue Crew prepared for and conducted the first deterrent patrol, while the Gold Crew entered a training period. The Gold Crew conducted the second deterrent patrol, then went into a training period that lasted into early 1967 while the Blue Crew conducted the third deterrent patrol. Simon Bolivar completed her third deterrent patrol in January 1967.
Simon Bolivar like all U.S. ballistic missile submarines had two crews, the Blue and Gold crews. Each crew completed a strategic patrol cycle and then turned the ship over to the other crew. The patrol cycle consisted of the inport maintenance and re-supply period of 3 1/2 weeks at the SSBN refit site followed by a submerged patrol of approximately 2 1/2 months. A crewman who completed a patrol was authorized to wear the SSBN Deterrent Patrol insignia.
During Simon Bolivar 's commissioned period she operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean from three sites: Holy Loch, Scotland; Rota, Spain; and the continental United States, mainly Charleston, South Carolina. Refit sites consisted of a submarine tender, floating dry dock and complexes of piers and warehouses. At the Scotland site, the entire refit site was anchored out in Holy Loch.
During patrols, operations were focused on three main objectives: remain undetected, maintain continuous incoming communications and maintain capability to launch fleet ballistic missiles within fifteen minutes. Ship's crew were constantly trained to meet these objectives under a wartime environment. Additionally, a continual series of damage control drills were conducted during patrols to mitigate ship casualties due to flooding, fire, collision, reactor shutdown ("scram"), missile emergency, radiation, toxic gas, and loss of ship control.
For self defense, warshot weapons, normally MK 48 torpedo designed to sink deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships, were always loaded in two of the four torpedo tubes. Proficiency in target tracking and fire control solution - target course, speed and range - was periodically tested at the Navy's AUTEC instrumented underwater firing range at Andros Island in the Bahamas. Exercise versions of the Mk 48 torpedo were fired at targets that simulated aggressor submarines and surface warships. Both crews of Simon Bolivar regularly demonstrated this tactical proficiency during its operations at AUTEC
Simon Bolivar 's routine of deterrent patrols out of Charleston by her two crews continued until 7 February 1971, when she returned to Newport News for overhaul and conversion of her ballistic missile system to support Poseidon missiles.
Simon Bolivar departed Newport News on 12 May 1972 for post-overhaul shakedown operations and refresher training for her two crews, which lasted until 16 September 1972. By the end of 1972, she had resumed deterrent patrols while operating from the SBBN refit site in Rota, Spain serviced by submarine tender USS Simon Lake (AS-33) as part of Submarine Squadron 16.
During the summer of 1974, Simon Bolivar completed what was to be her final refit at the Rota SSBN site. Departing the site then diving, the ship headed southeasterly for passage through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. She then went to alert status for her 24th deterrent patrol. Following completion of the patrol, the ship traveled westward across the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar and into the Atlantic. Seventy four days after departing Rota and submerging, Bolivar surfaced off the US east coast in October 1974. Simon Bolivar had now been assigned to the Charleston refit site and was again part of Submarine Squadron 18. Submarine tender USS Hunley (AS-31) provided refit and re-supply services. Patrol areas were normally in the North Atlantic.
She was awarded the Battle Effectiveness Award (Battle "E") in 1974 and the Providence Plantation Award for most outstanding fleet ballistic missile submarine in the United States Atlantic Fleet. She also was awarded consecutive Battle "E"'s in 1975 and 1976.
During a 1976 strategic patrol, a crew member experienced a life threatening medical emergency. The ship aborted its alert patrol status, and charted an easterly course for a high speed transit to a medevac point off the UK coast. Upon reaching shallow water of 100 fathoms, the ship surfaced into a raging winter storm with waves breaking repeatedly over the ship, its sail and the harnassed watchstanders in the cockpit of the sail. Bolivar continued a high speed surface run until the evacuation point was reached enabling a transfer of the seriously ill crewman. The Simon Bolivar then returned to open ocean and resumed alert patrol status ending with a return to the Charleston SSBN site. The evacuated crew member survived though he never returned to the Bolivar.
As part of a "warm - cold water" refit exchange program, in 1977 the ship conducted one "cold water" refit from the Holy Loch SSBN site in Scotland with maintenance and supply services provided by submarine tender USS Holland (AS-32). Then departing Holy Loch for her 34th deterrent patrol, upon completion Simon Bolivar returned to the "warm water" Charleston SSBN site to continue its normal refit-patrol operating cycle from the continental US.
In February 1979, following her 40th deterrent patrol, Simon Bolivar entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, for overhaul and conversion of her ballistic missile system to support Trident C-4 ballistic missiles. Upon completion of overhaul she returned to her home port of Charleston in January 1981.
Simon Bolivar continued to make deterrent patrols, undergoing occasional refits at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay Georgia, and was awarded her 4th and 5th Battle "E"'s in 1982 and 1990. She successfully launched a Trident test missile in the summer of 1983.
The ship completed 73 deterrent patrols, equivalent to thirteen years of submerged strategic operations.
Deactivation, decommissioning, and disposal
Deactivated while still in commission in September 1994, Simon Bolivar was both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 February 1995. She was one of the last SSBN's of the original 41 for Freedom.
Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy 's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington was completed on 1 December 1995.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- NavSource Online Submarine Photo Archive: USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN 641), retrieved 25 September 2011
- hazegray.org: USS Simon Bolivar (TEXT), retrieved 25 September 2011
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