The ''James Madison'' class of submarine was an evolutionary development from the of fleet ballistic missile submarine. They were identical to the ''Lafayette''s except for being initially designed to carry the

Polaris A-3 missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missil ...

instead of the earlier A-2. This class, together with the , , , and classes, composed the "

41 for Freedom 41 for Freedom refers to the US Navy Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarines from the , , , , and es. All of these submarines were commissioned 1959–1967, as the goal was to create a credible, survivable sea-based deterrent as quickly as poss ...

" that was the Navy's primary contribution to the

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...

force through the late 1980s. This class and the ''Benjamin Franklin'' class are combined with the ''Lafayette''s in some references.

Design

In the early 1970s all were modified for 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 ''Benjamin Franklin''-class boats. These were ''James Madison'', ''Daniel Boone'', ''John C. Calhoun'', ''Von Steuben'', ''Casimir Pulaski'', and ''Stonewall Jackson''.

Fate

The ''James Madison''s were decommissioned between 1986 and 1995 due to a combination of

SALT II The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds o ...

treaty limitations as the SSBNs entered service, age, and the

collapse of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. One (''Sam Rayburn'') remains out of commission but converted to a Moored Training Ship (MTS-635) with the missile compartment removed. She is stationed at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA for inactivation.Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p.612.

Boats in class

Submarines of the ''James Madison'' class: California Center for Military History (dead link 2015-05-09) (Submarines marked with * indicate Trident I C-4 ballistic missile conversions.)

References

*Gardiner, Robert and Chumbley, Stephen (editors). ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''. Annapolis, US: Naval Institute Press, 1995. . *Polmar, Norman. ''The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet: Twelfth Edition''. London:Arms and Armour Press, 1981. .
US Naval Vessel Register – List of SSBN BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE (NUCLEAR-POWERED) Class vessels
*

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:James Madison Class Submarine Submarine classes Nuclear-powered submarines Ballistic missile submarines James Madison class

Design

Fate

Boats in class

See also

References

External links