George Washington-class submarine
George Washington at sea.
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Class overview | |
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Operators | United States Navy |
Succeeded by | Ethan Allen class submarine |
Built | 1958–1961[1] |
In commission | 1959–1985 |
Completed | 5[1] |
Retired | 5[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | SSBN |
Displacement | Surfaced: 5,959 long tons (6,055 t) Submerged: 6,709 long tons (6,817 t)[2] |
Length | 381.6 ft (116.3 m)[1] |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m)[1] |
Draft | 29 ft (8.8 m)[1] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed |
|
Range | unlimited except by food supplies |
Test depth | 700 ft (210 m)[1] |
Capacity | 112 (Crew Only) |
Complement | Two crews (Blue/Gold) each consisting of 12 officers and 100 men. |
Armament |
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The George Washington class was a class of
Development
In 1957, the US Navy began using submarines in the nuclear deterrent role, when a pair of World War II vintage diesel-electric boats,
The commissioning of George Washington on 30 December 1959, the first submarine Polaris launch on 20 July 1960, and her first deterrent patrol November 1960 – January 1961 were the culmination of four years of intense effort. The Navy initially worked on a sea-based variant of the
Construction
The Navy ordered a class of
The George Washington class were essentially Skipjack class submarines with a 130 foot (40 m) missile compartment, inserted between the ship's control/navigation areas and the nuclear reactor compartment. Contrary to some popular accounts, the Skipjacks were not literally "cut in half" to become ballistic missile submarines. The Scorpion had only been under construction for two months at Electric Boat in
The George Washington class carried the
Withdrawal from strategic role
By the end of 1979, to make room within the limitations imposed by
George Washington's sail is preserved at the Submarine Force Library and Museum at Groton, Connecticut.
Boats in class
Submarines of the George Washington class:[10][12]
Name and hull number | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Period of service | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George Washington (SSBN-598) (ex-Scorpion) |
General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut | 1 November 1957 | 9 June 1959 | 30 December 1959 | 24 January 1985 | 25.0 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1998 |
Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) | 27 May 1958 | 22 September 1959 | 11 April 1960 | 25 May 1984 | 24.2 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1997 | |
Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600) | Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California | 20 May 1958 | 3 October 1959 | 13 February 1961 | 28 February 1981 | 20.0 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1995 |
Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) | Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia | 25 August 1958 | 18 December 1959 | 15 September 1960 | 1 December 1983 | 23.1 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1991 |
Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602) | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine | 1 November 1958 | 14 May 1960 | 8 March 1961 | 28 February 1981 | 20.0 | Disposed of through Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, 1994 |
See also
- 41 for Freedom Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines
- Fleet Ballistic Missile
- List of submarines of the United States Navy
- List of submarine classes of the United States Navy
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "SSBN-598 George Washington-Class FBM Submarines". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
- ^ "Regulus 1". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ a b Friedman, pp. 192-195
- ^ a b History of the Jupiter Missile, pp. 23-35
- ISBN 0-7382-0532-X.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 193-199
- ^ a b Polmar and Moore, Cold War Submarines, p. 119
- ^ Bauer and Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy,p. 286
- ^ a b Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 610-611
- ^ Farley, Robert (18 October 2014). "The Five Best Submarines of All Time". The National Interest.
- ^ "Missile Submarines of the Cold War". California Center for Military History (dead link 2015-05-07). Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
References
- Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- Gardiner, Robert and Chumbley, Stephen, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995, London: Conway Maritime Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Polmar, Norman; Moore, K. J. (2003). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac. ISBN 978-1-57488-594-1.