- 41 for Freedom
The “41 for Freedom” refers to
United States Navy Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarines that comprise the following classes: the "George Washington", the "Ethan Allen", the "Lafayette", the "James Madison", and the "Benjamin Franklin". These five classes of ballistic missile submarines totaled forty-one ships, hence the nickname “41 for freedom”.Overview
The “41 for Freedom” nuclear-powered submarines were armed with long-range
submarine-launched ballistic missiles to create a deterrent force against the threat of nuclear war with theSoviet Union during theCold War .The
United States Navy created a newhull classification symbol for this type of submarine, the SSBN. The first of the "41 for Freedom" submarines was the USS "George Washington" (SSBN-598) commissioned on30 December 1959 . The last submarine commissioned for the "41 for Freedom" submarines was the USS "Will Rogers" (SSBN-659) which was formally decommissioned and stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on12 April 1993 . Though she was the last built, "Will Rogers" was not the last FBM submarine decommissioned.In July 1992, USS "Kamehameha" (SSBN-642) was converted to a SEAL special warfare platform and was outfitted with a drydeck shelter/swimmer delivery platform. USS "Kamehameha" was decommissioned on
2 April ,2002 , the last ship of the original "41 for Freedom" and the oldest submarine in the United States Navy. Almost 37 years old, she held the record for the longest service lifetime of any "nuclear powered"submarine .See also
*
SLBM
*nuclear navy
*nuclear warfare
*nuclear strategy
*submarine
*submarine-launched missile
*vertical launching system External links
From the Federation of American Scientists:
* [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-598.htm SSBN-598 George Washington-Class FBM Submarines]
* [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-608.htm SSBN-608 Ethan Allen-Class FBM Submarines]
* [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-616.htm SSBN-616 Lafayette-Class FBM Submarines]
* [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-640.htm SSBN-640 Benjamin Franklin-Class FBM Submarines]Navbox
name = Lafayette class submarine
title = "George Washington"-class submarine
list2 =below =
List of submarines of the United States Navy !List of submarine classes of the United States Navy Navbox
name = Ethan Allen class submarine
title = "Ethan Allen"-class submarine
list3 =below =
List of submarines of the United States Navy !List of submarine classes of the United States Navy Navbox
name = Lafayette class submarine
title = "Lafayette"-class submarine
list4 =below =
List of submarines of the United States Navy !List of submarine classes of the United States Navy Navbox
name = James Madison class submarine
title = "James Madison"-class submarine
list5 =below =
List of submarines of the United States Navy !List of submarine classes of the United States Navy Navbox
name = Benjamin Franklin class submarine
title = "Benjamin Franklin"-class submarine
list6 =below =
List of submarines of the United States Navy List of submarine classes of the United States Navy
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