Benjamin Franklin-class submarine

The Benjamin Franklin-class submarine was an evolutionary development from the of fleet ballistic missile submarine. Having quieter machinery and other improvements, they are considered a separate class. A subset of this class is the re-engineered 640 class starting with USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654). The Benjamin Franklin class, together with the, , , and classes, comprise the "41 for Freedom."

The Benjamin Franklin-class submarines were built with the Polaris A-3 ballistic missile, and later converted to carry the Poseidon C-3. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, selected units were further modified to carry Trident-I (C-4) ballistic missiles.

Two submarines of this class were converted for delivery of special warfare units ashore. In the early 1990s, to make room for the ballistic missile submarines within the limits set by the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty, the ballistic missile tubes of USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) and USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645) were disabled. Those boats were redesignated special operations attack submarines and given attack submarine (SSN) hull numbers.

USS Kamehameha was decommissioned on 2 April 2002, the last ship of the Benjamin Franklin class to be decommissioned.

Boats
Submarines of the Benjamin Franklin class: (Submarines marked with * indicate Trident C-4 ballistic missile conversions.)
 * USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) *
 * USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) *
 * USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642)
 * USS George Bancroft (SSBN-643) *
 * USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
 * USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645)
 * USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654)
 * USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) *
 * USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)
 * USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) *
 * USS Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) *
 * USS Will Rogers (SSBN-659)