George Washington Class Nuclear Submarines

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The George Washington class Submarines

In December 1957, the United States Navy planned to produce a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile ships with long-range strategic missiles. This class was called, The George Washington class.

The plan was to produce the deterrent ships quickly by converting two attack submarine hulls that already existed. The Electric Boat Company was given the job to convert two Skipjack class attack ships. These submarines were the Scorpion (SSN-589), which had been started, and the Sculpin (SSN-560), which had not yet been produced. The new George Washington class ships were basically ships transformed from the Shipjack class, but had a 130-foot missile slot inserted between the submarines’ navigation and nuclear reactor sections.

To produce the first of the George Washington class ships, the Scorpion submarine was altered and made longer to produce what would be the keel of the newly formed ship, the U.S.S .George Washington (SSBN-598). The “SSBN” was used to abbreviate the meaning--ship submersible ballistic nuclear. The George Washington class ships were supplied with nuclear propulsion that made it possible for them to stay underwater for extended periods, (months at a time) without resurfacing. These ships carried 16 Polaris missiles each. The Washington class subs were originally supplied with Polaris A1 missiles on patrol through June of 1964, (except the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, which was changed in October 1965) they were then replaced with Polaris A3 missiles.

After the first two Washington submarines were started, three additional subs were produced in their class. These ships were known as “598” class ships since the originating submarine was the U.S.S. George Washington (SSBN-598).

The George Washington class fleet

The following ships were the only five ships that were produced as part of the George Washington class submarines.

SSBN-598 U.S.S. George Washington – ordered: Dec. 1957, commissioned: Dec. 1959, decommissioned: Jan. 1985
SSBN-599 U.S.S. Patrick Henry– ordered: Dec. 1957, commissioned: Apr. 1960, decommissioned: May 1984
SSBN-600 U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt– ordered: Mar. 1958, commissioned: Feb. 1961, decommissioned: Feb. 1981
SSBN-601 U.S.S. Robert E. Lee– ordered: Jul. 1958, commissioned: Sept. 1960, decommissioned: Dec. 1983
SSBN-602 U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln– ordered: Jul. 1958, commissioned: Mar. 1961, decommissioned: Feb. 1981

Characteristics of the George Washington class submarine ships
Operators: United States of America
Preceded by: U.S.S. Halibut (SSGN-587)
Succeeded by: Ethan Allen class submarine
Completed: 5
Retired: 5

General characteristics
Displacement: Surfaced: 5959 tons
Submerged: 6709 tons
Length: 381.7 ft (116.3 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Propulsion: 1 S5W PWR, 15,000shp, 1 shaft
Speed: Surfaced: 18knots
Submerged: 25+knots
Range: unlimited except by food supplies
Complement: 112
Armament: 16 polaris A1 missiles (W47-Y1 warhead, 600kT, range 2200km) later polaris A3 (W58, warhead 200kT, range 4630km), 6x21in bow torpedo tubes.

End of the George Washington class ship era

The U.S.S. George Washington, U.S.S. Patrick Henry, and the U.S.S. Robert E. Lee were reclassified in the early 1980s to accommodate the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. This action was taken because of mandatory restrictions imposed by the SALT II, also known as the second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Their missiles were removed and they operated in that state until they were decommissioned.

Sources:
http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/George_Washington_class_sub...
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/uswpns/navy/submarines/ssbn598gw.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_class_submarine
http://military.discovery.com/technology/vehicles/submarines/submarines....

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