N700033 USS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CLASS SUBMARINE

The Benjamin Franklin-class units were American nuclear-powered submarines carrying nuclear warhead ballistic missiles (SSBN). They were built and launched in 1963-1967. In total, 12 ships of this class were built. A single unit of this type was 130 m long and 10 m wide at the time of launching, with an underwater displacement of about 8,400 tons. The maximum underwater speed was up to 21 knots. The armament consisted of 16 ballistic missile launchers (initially Polaris A-3) and 4 bow 533 mm torpedo tubes, with a torpedo reserve of usually 12. The Benjamin Franklin-class submarines were an evolutionary development of the Lafayette-class units. They had very similar design solutions and main weapons, while the main difference was the significantly better soundproofing of Benjamin Franklin-class ships. This was especially true for underwater swimming at low speeds. Initially, their main armament consisted of Polaris A-3 ballistic missiles (range of 4,600 km), but in the 1970s it was systematically replaced with Poseidon C-3 missiles, and at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, six ships received the missiles Trident I (C-4) with a range of up to 7,400 kilometers. In the 1990s, two ships of this type (USS Kamehameha and USS James K. Polk) were converted into units dedicated to handling special operations. They remained in service in this role until the turn of the 20th and 20th centuries. The remaining 10 Benjamin Franklin-class ships were withdrawn from the line between 1992 and 1995.