Table of US Ballistic Missile Submarine Forces
1960-69 | 1970-79 | 1980-89 | 1990-99 | 2000-12 | Notes

1. USS George Washington (SSBN 598) first deployed with Polaris A-1 SLBMs on 15 November 1960.

2. USS James Madison (SSBN 627) first deployed with Poseidon C-3 SLBMs on 31 March 1971. On 10 June 1985, the White House announced that the US would dismantle a ballistic missile submarine to remain within the SALT II ceiling on MIRVed missiles. The USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN 635) was subsequently deactivated on 16 September 1985. It was converted to a moored training ship to train personnel in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. The first training class began in early 1990. On 27 May 1986, the White House announced that the US would dismantle two more SSBNs. These were the USS Nathan Hale (SSBN 623) and the USS Nathaniel Greene (SSBN 636), retired on 3 November 1986 and 16 December 1986. The FY 1988 DOD Authorization Act specified that no money be authorized to overhaul USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN 619). It was retired on 1 April 1988. The USS John Adams (SSBN 620) was deactivated on 1 October 1989 and the USS James Monroe (SSBN 622) on 14 October 1989. As a result of President Bush's September 27, 1991 announcement all remaining SSBNs that carried Poseidon SLBMs were taken off alert. The other twelve SSBNs that carried the Trident C-4 SLBM were retired by the end of 1993.

3. USS Ohio (SSBN 726) first deployed with Trident I C-4 SLBMs on 1 October 1982.

4. The Polaris A-1 was on active duty from 15 November 1960 to 14 October 1965.

5. The PolarisA-2 was on active duty from 26 June 1962 to 9 June 1974.

6. The Polaris A-3 was on active duty from 28 September 1964 to 25 February 1982.

7. On 31 March 1971 the USS James Madison (SSBN 627) deployed for patrol with 16 Poseidon C-3 missiles. The Poseidon SLBM would eventually be deployed on 31 SSBNs, after which 12 were retrofitted with Trident I SLBMs and deployed between October 1979 and June 1983. As a result of President Bush's September 27, 1991 announcement all remaining SSBNs that carried Poseidon SLBMs were taken off alert.

8. On 20 October 1979, the USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN 657) deployed with Trident I C-4 SLBMs. The twelfth and last Lafayette/Franklin class SSBN to be retrofitted with Trident I C-4s, the USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN 633) deployed on 3 June 1983. By the end of 1993 the l twelve SSBNs that carried the Trident I SLBM were retired.

9. On 11 November 1981 the USS Ohio (SSBN 726) the first Trident submarine deployed with Trident I SLBMs. A total of eight Ohio-class SSBNs, based in the Pacific at Bangor WA, would deploy with Trident I SLBMs between 1981 and 1986.

10. On 29 March 29 the USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) went on its first patrol with Trident II SLBMs.

11. Single Mk-1 (Navy) reentry vehicle. The W47 Y1 (600 kt) nuclear warhead entered Phase 6 (Quantity Production Unit in June 1960, the date the first warhead was produced by the Atomic Energy Commission. The Mk-1 (Navy) was also on the Polaris A-2 with the W47 Y1 warhead and the W47 Y2 (1.2 Mt) warhead.

12. Up to three W58 (200 kt) warheads on the Mk-2 (Navy) multiple reentry vehicle (MRV). The W58 nuclear warhead entered Phase 6 (Quantity Production Unit in March 1964, the date the first warhead was produced by the Atomic Energy Commission. The MRV was a precursor to the MIRV, where the warheads could not be independently targetable. Because the area in which the warheads can be targeted is limited many tables count the multiple RVs as one warhead. For purposes of estimating warhead production they should be counted separately.

13. Up to ten W68 (40-50 kt) warheads on the Mk-3 MIRV. The maximum number of reentry vehicles that have been flight-tested on the Poseidon C-3 SLBM is 14. Loadings per missile prior to withdrawal of ten Polaris SSBNs probably averaged nine warheads; see testimony by Paul H. Nitze, Senate Armed Services Committee, SALT Hearings, Part 3, p. 897. After withdrawal Poseidon SLBMs were selectively uploaded: see House Armed Service Committee (HASC), FY 1982 DOD, Part 3, p. 156; House Appropriations Committee, FY 1982 DOD, Part 7, p.544; HASC, FY 1983 DOD, Part 4, p. 118. The W68 nuclear warhead entered Phase 5 (FPU) in May 1970, the date the first warhead was produced by the Atomic Energy Commission.

14. Up to eight W76 (100 kt) warheads on the Mk-4 MIRV. The maximum number of reentry vehicles that have been flight tested for the Trident I C-4 SLBM is seven. The figure of seven reentry vehicles for the Trident I C-4 is based on the maximum number of reentry vehicles actually released during flight-tests of the missile as of 1 May 1979. If simulated releases of reentry vehicles had been counted as flight-tests of reentry vehicles, as is the case for simulations occurring after 1 May 1979, the figure for the Trident I C-4 would have been eight, which is the largest number of reentry vehicles for which the missile is designed and with which it will be deployed; see Annex to Letter from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to the President Transmitting the SALT Treaty, June 21, 1979 in ACDA, Documents on Disarmament 1979, p. 263. The nuclear warhead entered Phase 5 (FPU) in June 1978, the date the first warhead was produced by the Department of Energy.

15. Up to eight W88 (475 kt) warheads in a Mk-5 MIRV. The nuclear warhead entered Phase 5 (FPU) in September 1988 and Phase 6 in June 1989. Only some 400 warheads were manufactured before Rocky Flats and the rest of the production complex ceased operation at the end of 1989 and the beginning of 1990.

last revised 11.25.02