USS Ethan Allen class of submarines

The Ethan Allen class of submarines was the first U.S. Navy submarines designed specifically to fill the role of fleet ballistic missile submarines. They were members of the "41 for Freedom," the submarines that served as the background of the U.S. submarine nuclear deterrence corps during the Cold War.

The Ethan Allen class was ordered as a follow-up to the George Washington class of submarines, the first group of ballistic missile submarines in the American inventory. The namesake of the class was ordered in July 1958, with her keel being laid down in September 1959. Over the next four years, the four other members of the class-USS Sam Houston, USS Thomas A. Edison, USS John Marshall and USS Thomas Jefferson-were completed. By early January 1963, all five were commissioned and on active duty. The Sam Houston, named after the hero of the Texas Revolution, was the first president of the Texas Republic in addition to being governor of Tennessee and Texas and a senator from Texas; he and Winston Churchill are the only two foreign heads of state to have had U.S. Navy vessels named in their honor. The Thomas A. Edison holds another unique distinction, as she was the only submarine to have carried a Steinway grand piano throughout out her career.

When the members of the Ethan Allen class were commissioned, they were armed with 16 Polaris A-2 missiles. On May 6, 1962, the Ethan Allen took part in the only completed strategic nuclear missile test in American history. She fired a Polaris missile that detonated 11,000 feet over the waters of the South Pacific, as planned.

During overhauls in the early and mid-1970s, the five members of the Ethan Allen class were upgraded to carry the Polaris A-3 weapons system. When the Polaris system was phased out in favor of the newer Poseidon missile system later in the decade, the Ethan Allen class submarines were too small to accommodate them. Because of this, and a desire to meet the requirements of the SALT I treaty with the Soviet Union, their ballistic missile tubes were removed and the submarines were re-designated as attack submarines in the early 1980s.

This transition led to the rapid decommissioning of the Ethan Allen, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas A. Edison. The Sam Houston and John Marshall, however, underwent major overhauls and were rebuilt to serve as special operations platforms capable of carrying swimmer delivery vehicles and as many as 67 special operations personnel inside.

The John Marshall, the last of the class, was decommissioned when she was taken out of service in July 1992. All five members of the Ethan Allen class entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Wash., and have been scrapped.

Class overview

Builders: General Dynamics Electric Boat
Newport News Shipbuilding
Operators: United States
Preceded by: George Washington-class ballistic missile submarine
Succeeded by: Lafayette-class ballistic missile submarine
Built: 1959 - 1963
In commission: 1961 - 1992
Completed: 5
Retired: 5

General characteristics

Type: Ballistic Missile Submarine
Displacement: approx. 7,900 tons submerged
Length: 410 ft 4 in (125.1 m)
Beam: 33.1 ft (10.1 m)
Draft: 27 ft 5 in (8.4 m)
Propulsion: S5W reactor - two geared steam turbines - one shaft
Speed: 16 knots surfaced, 21 knots (24 mph/39 km/h) submerged
Test depth: 1,300 ft (400 m)
Complement: 12 Officers and 128 Enlisted (two crews Blue and Gold)
Armament: 16 fleet ballistic missiles, 4 x 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

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