41 for Freedom
USS Woodrow Wilson, a Lafayette-class submarine that formed part of the "41 for Freedom" force
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
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| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Succeeded by: | Ohio class |
| Built: | 1 November 1958 to 20 March 1965 |
| Completed: | 41 |
| Active: | 0 |
| Lost: | 0 |
| Retired: | 39 |
| Preserved: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 381–425 ft (116–130 m) (depending on class) |
| Beam: | 33 feet (10 m) |
| Draft: | 31 feet (9.4 m) |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Test depth: | In excess of 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement: | 14 officers, 140 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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41 for Freedom refers to the US Navy Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) submarines from the George Washington, Ethan Allen, Lafayette, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin classes. All of these submarines were commissioned 1959-1967, as the goal was to create a credible, survivable sea-based deterrent as quickly as possible. These submarines were nicknamed "41 for Freedom" once the goal of 41 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) was established in the early 1960s. The 1972 SALT I Treaty limited the number of American submarine-launched ballistic missile tubes to 656, based on the total missile tubes of the forty-one submarines, in line with the treaty's goal of limiting strategic nuclear weapons to the number already existing.
The "41 for Freedom" nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) were armed with submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to create a deterrent force against the threat of nuclear war with any foreign power threatening the United States during the Cold War.
The United States had deployed nuclear weapons aboard submarines for the purpose of deterrence since 1959, utilizing the SSM-N-8 Regulus cruise missile. However, this was intended to act merely as a stop-gap, as the Regulus was limited both by its size - the greatest number of missiles capable of being taken to sea was five aboard USS Halibut - range and speed, with the intention that the main element of the US Navy's contribution to the strategic nuclear deterrent be a ballistic missile armed submarine.
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