The Benjamin Franklin class of US ballistic missile submarines were in Navy service from the 1960s–2000s. The class was an evolutionary development from the earlier James Madison class of fleet ballistic missile submarine. Having quieter machinery and other improvements, it is considered a separate class. A subset of this class is the re-engineered 640 class starting with USS George C. Marshall. The primary difference was that they were built under the new SUBSAFE rules after the loss of USS Thresher, earlier boats of the class had to be retrofitted to meet SUBSAFE requirements. The Benjamin Franklin class, together with the George Washington, Ethan Allen, Lafayette, and James Madison classes, comprised the "41 for Freedom" that was the Navy's primary contribution to the nuclear deterrent force through the late 1980s. This class and the James Madison class are combined with the Lafayettes in some references.

Quick Facts Class overview, General characteristics ...

USS Benjamin Franklin
Class overview
Name	Benjamin Franklin class
Builders	General Dynamics Electric Boat Newport News Shipbuilding Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1]
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	James Madison class
Succeeded by	Ohio class
Built	1963–1967[1]
In commission	1965–2002[2]
Completed	12
Retired	12
General characteristics
Type	Nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine
Displacement	Surfaced: 7,325 long tons (7,443 t) Submerged: 8,251 long tons (8,383 t)[3]
Length	425 ft (130 m)[3]
Beam	33 ft (10 m)[3]
Draft	28 ft 6 in (8.69 m)[3]
Propulsion	1 × S5W PWR 2 geared steam turbines (15,000 shp (11,000 kW)), 1 shaft[3]
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) surfaced 21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph) submerged[3]
Test depth	1,300 feet (400 m)[3]
Complement	Two crews of 14 officers and 126 enlisted[3]
Armament	16 Polaris A3 or Poseidon C3 or Trident I C4 missiles 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 13 torpedoes[3]

Close

The Benjamin Franklin-class submarines were built with the Polaris A-3 ballistic missile, and in the early 1970s were converted to carry the Poseidon C-3 missile. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, six boats were further modified to carry the Trident I (C-4) missile, along with six James Madison-class boats. These were Benjamin Franklin, Simon Bolivar, George Bancroft, Henry L. Stimson, Francis Scott Key, and Mariano G. Vallejo.^[1]

Due to the loss of USS Thresher in April 1963, this class was designed to SUBSAFE standards and its equipment was similar to the Sturgeon-class fast attack submarines (SSNs). Previous US SSBNs except the George Washington class had equipment similar to the Thresher-class SSNs.

This class can be distinguished by the fairwater planes' location halfway up the sail; the Lafayettes and James Madisons had the fairwater planes in the upper front portion of the sail.

Two submarines of this class were converted for delivery of up to 66 SEALs or other Special Operations Forces each. In the early 1990s, to make room for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines within the limits set by the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty, the ballistic missile tubes of Kamehameha and James K. Polk were disabled. Those boats were redesignated special operations attack submarines and given attack submarine (SSN) hull classification symbols. They were equipped with dry deck shelters to accommodate SEAL Delivery Vehicles or other equipment.^[1]

The Benjamin Franklins were decommissioned between 1992 and 2002 due to a combination of SALT II treaty limitations as the Ohio class SSBNs entered service, age, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.^[1] USS Kamehameha was decommissioned on 2 April 2002, the last ship of the Benjamin Franklin class to be decommissioned.^[4]

The sail of George Bancroft is preserved at the Naval Submarine Base King's Bay, Georgia. James K. Polk's sail is on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History^[5] in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mariano G. Vallejo's sail is preserved at Mare Island, California, where she was built. The sail of Lewis and Clark is on display at the Patriot's Point Maritime Museum in Charleston, South Carolina.

Submarines of the Benjamin Franklin class:^[1] (Submarines marked with * indicate Trident C-4 ballistic missile conversions.)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Benjamin Franklin class submarines.

• 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