View source for George Washington-class submarine

{{Short description|United States Navy class of fleet ballistic missile submarines}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS George Washington (SSBN-598) underway at sea, circa in the 1970s.jpg|center|300px|USS George Washington]]
|Ship caption={{USS|George Washington|SSBN-598|2}} at sea
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''George Washington'' class
|Operators= {{naval|United States}}
|Class before=
|Class after={{sclass|Ethan Allen|submarine|4}}
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=1958–1961<ref Name=FAS>
 {{cite web
 |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-598.htm
 |title=SSBN-598 George Washington-Class FBM Submarines
 |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]]
 |access-date=2012-10-18
 }}</ref>
|In service range=
|In commission range= 1959–1985
|Total ships building=
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=5<ref Name=FAS/>
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=5<ref Name=FAS/>
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=  [[Nuclear marine propulsion|Nuclear-powered]] [[Fleet ballistic missile submarine|ballistic missile submarine]]
|Ship displacement=Surfaced: {{convert|5959|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}
Submerged: {{convert|6709|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1">{{cite book | last = Friedman | first = Norman | title = U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History | publisher = [[United States Naval Institute]] | year = 1994 | location = [[Annapolis, Maryland]] | pages = 196–200, 244 | isbn = 1-55750-260-9 }}</ref>
|Ship length={{convert|381.6|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|29|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship depth=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*1 [[S5W]] [[Pressurized water reactor|PWR]]<ref Name=FAS/>
*2 geared [[steam turbine]]s ({{convert|15000|shp|abbr=on}}),
*1 shaft<ref name="FriedmanSubs1"/>
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed=*{{convert|16|kn|km/h}} surfaced
*{{convert|22|kn|km/h}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1"/>
|Ship range=unlimited except by food supplies
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|700|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship complement=Two crews (Blue/Gold) each consisting of 12 officers and 100 men.
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*16 [[Polaris missile|Polaris A1/A3 missiles]]<ref Name=FAS/>
*6 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21-inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s, 12 [[torpedo]]es<ref name="FriedmanSubs1"/>
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The '''''George Washington'' class''' was a class of [[Nuclear power|nuclear-powered]] [[Fleet ballistic missile submarine|ballistic missile submarines]] deployed by the [[United States Navy]]. ''George Washington'', along with the later {{sclass|Ethan Allen|submarine|5}}, {{sclass|Lafayette|submarine|5}}, {{sclass|James Madison|submarine|5}}, and {{sclass|Benjamin Franklin|submarine|5}} classes, comprised the "[[41 for Freedom]]" group of submarines that represented the Navy's main contribution to the [[nuclear deterrent]] force through the late 1980s.

==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, {{USS|Tunny|SS-282|6}} and {{USS|Barbero|SS-317|6}}, converted to be able to carry a pair of [[SSM-N-8 Regulus|Regulus cruise missiles]], began operating deterrent patrols. These two were soon joined by a [[Grayback-class submarine|pair of purpose built diesel boats]], and a nuclear powered boat, {{USS|Halibut|SSGN-587|6}}. However, the use of Regulus in the deterrent role showed a number of limitations; as a [[cruise missile]], it was vulnerable to interception by fighter aircraft, it was limited to [[subsonic flight|subsonic]] speed, and had a range of less than 1000&nbsp;km, while the largest of the Regulus armed boats could carry a maximum of five missiles. Additionally, the submarine had to surface to launch a missile, and the missile was guided by a radio signal transmitted from either ship, aircraft or ground station.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/r/regulus1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110235139/http://www.astronautix.com/r/regulus1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 November 2016 |title=Regulus 1 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=astronautix.com |access-date=10 November 2016 }}</ref> To overcome these limitations, the Navy turned to [[ballistic missile]]s.

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 [[US Army]] [[PGM-19 Jupiter|Jupiter]] [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]], projecting four of the large, liquid-fueled missiles per submarine.<ref name="Friedman, pp. 192-195">Friedman, pp. 192-195</ref> Rear Admiral [[William Raborn|W. F. "Red" Raborn]] was appointed by [[Chief of Naval Operations]] Admiral [[Arleigh Burke]] to head a Special Project Office to develop Jupiter for the Navy, beginning in late 1955.<ref name="Friedman, pp. 192-195"/><ref name="heroicrelics.org">[http://heroicrelics.org/info/jupiter/jupiter-hist.html History of the Jupiter Missile, pp. 23-35]</ref> However, at the [[Project Nobska]] submarine warfare conference in 1956, physicist [[Edward Teller]] stated that a compact one-megaton warhead could be produced for the relatively small, solid-fueled [[Polaris missile]],<ref>{{cite book | last = Teller | first = Edward | title = Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey in Science and Politics | publisher = Perseus Publishing | year = 2001 | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | pages = [https://archive.org/details/memoirstwentieth0000tell/page/420 420–421] | url = https://archive.org/details/memoirstwentieth0000tell/page/420 | isbn = 0-7382-0532-X | url-access = registration }}</ref> and this prompted the Navy to leave the Jupiter program in December of that year. Soon Admiral Burke concentrated all Navy strategic research on Polaris, still under Admiral Raborn's Special Project Office.<ref name="heroicrelics.org"/> The problems of submerged launch, designing a submarine for 16 missiles, [[inertial navigation system|precise navigation]] for accurate missile targeting, and numerous others were all solved quickly.<ref>Friedman, pp. 193-199</ref> By comparison, the contemporary [[Soviet Navy|Soviet]] {{sclass2|Golf|submarine|5}} and {{sclass2|Hotel|submarine|0}} ballistic missile submarines only carried three missiles each; the Soviets did not commission an SSBN comparable to the ''George Washington'' class until 1967 with the introduction of the {{sclass2|Yankee|submarine|1}}s.

==Construction==
The Navy ordered a class of [[nuclear-powered submarine]]s armed with long-range strategic missiles on 31 December 1957, and tasked [[Electric Boat]] with converting two existing [[attack submarine]] [[hull (watercraft)|hulls]] to [[ballistic missile]]-carrying boats to quickly create the deterrent force. To accomplish this conversion, Electric Boat persuaded the Navy in January 1958 to slip the launch dates for two {{sclass|Skipjack|submarine|4}} fast attack submarines, the just-begun {{USS|Scorpion|SSN-589|3}} and the not-yet-started {{USS|Sculpin|SSN-590|3}}. On 12 February 1958, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] authorized funding for three ballistic missile submarines.

The ''George Washington'' class were essentially ''Skipjack''-class submarines with a {{convert|130|ft|m|adj=on}} missile compartment, inserted between the ship's control/navigation areas and the nuclear reactor compartment. Contrary to some popular accounts, the ''Skipjack''s were not literally "cut in half" to become ballistic missile submarines. ''Scorpion'' had only been under construction for two months at Electric Boat in [[Groton, Connecticut]] before she was reordered as {{USS|George Washington|SSBN-598|3}}.<ref name="Moore, p. 119">Polmar and Moore, ''Cold War Submarines'', p. 119</ref>  Material and equipment ordered for ''Scamp'' and ''Sculpin'' were used to build {{USS|Patrick Henry|SSBN-599|3}} and {{USS|Theodore Roosevelt|SSBN-600|3}} at Electric Boat and [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]], respectively. [[Newport News Shipbuilding]] and [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]] built {{USS|Robert E. Lee|SSBN-601|3}} and {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|SSBN-602|3}} without any components ordered for ''Skipjack''-class submarines.  The original hull classification of the first three units was SSGN(FBM) (Guided Missile Submarine, Fleet Ballistic Missile) which was changed to SSBN on 26 June 1958.<ref>Bauer and Roberts, ''Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy'',p. 286</ref><ref name="Moore, p. 119"/>

The ''George Washington'' class carried the [[Polaris missile|Polaris A1 missile]] on their patrols until 2 June 1964, when she changed out her A1 missiles for Polaris A3s. The last member of this class, ''Abraham Lincoln'' swapped out her A1s for A3s on 14 October 1965.

==Withdrawal from strategic role==
By the end of 1979, to make room within the limitations imposed by [[SALT II]] for the {{sclass|Ohio|submarine|0}} ballistic missile submarines, and performing shortened patrols of six weeks due to reduced reactor fuel, ''Theodore Roosevelt'' and ''Abraham Lincoln'' offloaded their missiles at the newly established Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor, Washington.  Eventually their missile compartments were completely removed and they were decommissioned by the end of 1982.<ref name="Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 610-611">Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 610-611</ref> For the same reason, by 1983 ''George Washington'', ''Patrick Henry'', and ''Robert E. Lee'' had their missiles removed and were reclassified as attack submarines nicknamed, "slow attacks", a role in which they served briefly in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, prior to being decommissioned by early 1985.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-five-best-submarines-all-time-9728 | title=The Five Best Submarines of All Time | first=Robert | last=Farley | work=[[The National Interest]] | date=18 October 2014}}</ref>

''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:<ref name="Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 610-611"/><ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.submarinehistory.com/FleetBallisticMissileSubmarines.html
 |title       = Missile Submarines of the Cold War
 |publisher   = California Center for Military History (dead link 2015-05-07)
 |access-date  = 2012-10-18
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20130927221928/http://www.submarinehistory.com/FleetBallisticMissileSubmarines.html
 |archive-date = 27 September 2013
}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! Hull number
! Name
! Builder
! Laid down
! Launched 
! Commissioned
! Decommissioned
! Fate
|-
| SSBN-598
|{{USS|George Washington|SSBN-598|2}}<br />(ex-''Scorpion'')
|rowspan=2|[[General Dynamics Electric Boat]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]
|1 November 1957
|9 June 1959
|30 December 1959
|24 January 1985
|Disposed of through [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], 1998
|-
| SSBN-599
|{{USS|Patrick Henry|SSBN-599|2}}
|27 May 1958
|22 September 1959
|11 April 1960
|25 May 1984
|Disposed of through [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], 1997
|-
| SSBN-600
|{{USS|Theodore Roosevelt|SSBN-600|2}}
|[[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]], [[Vallejo, California]]
|20 May 1958
|3 October 1959
|13 February 1961
|28 February 1981
|Disposed of through [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], 1995
|-
| SSBN-601
|{{USS|Robert E. Lee|SSBN-601|2}}
|[[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.]], [[Newport News, Virginia]]
|25 August 1958
|18 December 1959
|15 September 1960
|1 December 1983
|Disposed of through [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], 1991
|-
|SSBN-602
|{{USS|Abraham Lincoln|SSBN-602|2}}
|[[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]], [[Kittery, Maine]]
|1 November 1958
|14 May 1960
|8 March 1961
|28 February 1981
|Disposed of through [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], 1994
|}

== See also ==
* [[List of submarines of the United States Navy]]
* [[List of submarine classes of the United States Navy]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Bauer |first1=K. Jack |last2=Roberts |first2=Stephen S. |title=Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants |publisher=Greenwood |year=1991|location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=0-313-26202-0}}
* {{DANFS}}
* 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}}.
* {{cite book |last1=Polmar |first1=Norman |last2=Moore |first2=K. J. |title=Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines |publisher=Potomac |year=2003|location=Dulles, Virginia |isbn=978-1-57488-594-1}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|George Washington class submarines}}
* [http://www.navsource.net/archives/08/06idx.htm NavSource SSBN photo gallery index]

{{George Washington class submarine}}
{{US submarine classes after 1945}}

[[Category:Submarine classes]]
[[Category:George Washington-class submarines| ]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States| George Washington class]]