USS VON STEUBEN / LAFAYETTE

USS von Steuben (SSBN-632) was an American nuclear-powered submarine carrying a ballistic missile (SSBN). The keel of this unit was laid in September 1962, launched in October 1963, and commissioned to the US Navy in 1964. The ship was 130 meters long, 10 meters wide, and had a displacement of 8,250 tons. The maximum underwater speed was slightly above 20 knots. The main armament of the unit consisted of 16 Polaris A-3 ballistic missile launchers, then Poseidon C-3, and finally - Trident I (C 4) missiles and 4 533 mm torpedo tubes. The USS von Steuben (SSBN-632) was the sixth James Madison-class ship. Units of this type were structurally very similar to the Lafayette-class units, but constituted their evolutionary development. The main difference was that from the very beginning they were adapted to carrying and firing Polaris A-3 ballistic missiles, and thus had slightly different electronic equipment and a slightly differently built compartment for their main weapons. Generally, however, both types were very similar to each other. USS von Steuben (SSBN-632) was built at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Viriginia state, it owes its name to the hero of the US Independence War - Prussian General Friedrich von Steuben. The unit had its first base in Charleston and it is assumed that in the period from 1964 to the end of 1968 it took part in 11 patrols in the waters (or rather under the surface) of the Atlantic. In 1968, the ship was transferred to the Rota base. In 1970, the replacement of the main armament from the Polaris A-3 missiles to the Poseidon C-3 missiles, which lasted until mid-1971, and in the early 1980s, the unit was rearmed with Trident I missiles. USS von Steuben (SSBN -632) was decommissioned in February 1994, and the scrapping process was completed in 2001.USS Lafayette (SSBN-616) was an American submarine - the leading unit of the class of the same name. Lafayette-class units were nuclear-powered submarines - carriers of ballistic missiles (SSBN), which were probably built between 1962 and 1964. In total, nine units of this class were created. The Lafayette-class ship was 129.5 m long, 10 m wide, and had a displacement of 8,250 tons. The maximum underwater speed is approximately 21 knots. The main armament of units of this class consisted of 16 Polaris or Poseidon ballistic missile launchers and 4 533 mm torpedo tubes. The Lafayette-class ships were constructed as a development of the Ethan Allen-class ships, but were externally very similar to them and had very similar combat properties and performance. For this reason, it happens that Lafayette, Ethan Allen, but also George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison are included in one ship class, which is not entirely accurate. General units of the above-mentioned types were created 41 and very often they are referred to as "41 for Freedom". Lafayette-class units in 1970-1977 were converted from Polaris missiles to Poseidon missiles. The lead ship of this class - USS Lafayette - was built at the General Dynamics shipyard in Groton in 1961-1962. The godmother of the ship was the then First Lady - Jacqueline Kennedy. The unit served on the Atlantic Ocean undergoing a major renovation at the turn of 1968-1969. USS Lafayette was decommissioned in 1991.