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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


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James Madison (SSBN-627)


Lafayette Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 5 March 1962, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 15 March 1963; Commissioned, USS James Madison (SSBN-627), 28 July 1964; Decommissioned, and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 20 November 1992; Final Disposition, disposed of through NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program), 24 October 1997, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 7,325 t., Submerged: 8,251 t.; Length 425'; Beam 33'; Draft 29'; Speed, Surfaced 16 kts, Submerged 21 kts; Depth limit 1,300'; Complement 140 (each crew, blue and gold); Armament, 16 missile tubes; four 21" torpedo tubes, forward, MK 14/16 Anti-ship Torpedo MK 37 Anti-Submarine Torpedo, MK 45 ASTOR Nuclear Torpedo MK 48 Anti-Submarine Torpedo ; Propulsion, S5W nuclear reactor two geared steam turbines, 15,000 SHP, one propeller.
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James Madison275k James Madison was born at Port Conway, Va., 16 March 1751, and graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) in 1771. He was a member of the Virginia Council of State, and in 1780 became a member of the Continental Congress. An early advocate of increased Federal power under the Articles of Confederation, Madison served in the Virginia House of Delegates 1784-86 and was instrumental in securing passage of Jefferson's religious freedom bill. He played an influential role in the movement which led to the Constitutional Convention, drafted the "Virginia Plan" which became the core of that document, and worked tirelessly for its adoption. A first-rate thinker and writer on political theory and practice, he was the author of 29 of the famous Federalist Papers.
Madison served in the House 1789-97 and proposed the first 10 amendments to the Constitution which became the Bill of Rights. Later, as leader of the Jeffersonian Republicans, he drew up the Virginia Resolves and condemned the Alien and Sedition Acts. After being Secretary of State under Jefferson 1801-09, he was elected President. His first term was marred by the unpopular War of 1812 and his administration was marked by a trend toward nationalism.
President James Madison, died 28 June 1836, but continues in fame as one of the Nation's most important thinkers and statesmen.
Photo from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 & submitted by Bill Gonyo. Photo added 02/05/08.
James Madison113kJames Madison (SSBN-627) ready for launch with Secretary of the Navy Paul H. Nitze at the podium flanked by Admirals Galantin (left) and Grenfell (right) on 15 March 1963. Photo courtesy of history.navy.mil & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
James Madison16kCommemorative post card marking the launching of the James Madison (SSBN-627), 15 March 1963.
Photo courtesy of Richard Leonhardt.
James Madison123kCommemorative post card marking the commissioning of the James Madison (SSBN-627), 28 July 1964.
Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
James Madison75k Photo from the deck of the Redfin (SS-272) in the VA. CAPES OP area off Virginia, early 1960's. The James Madison (SSBN-627) fired a MK-14 torpedo at us, and we recovered it, then some of our guys went over in small rubber boat to ride her for a while.
Photo courtesy of John Hummel.
James Madison73k James Madison (SSBN-627) having a Poseidon missile lowered into a missile tube at Charleston, South Carolina, 22nd March 1971.
USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst.
James Madison415kA view of the 13th demonstration and shakedown operation launch of a Trident I missile from the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine James Madison (SSBN-627), 5 Jun 1982.
Defense Visual Information Center photo # DF-SC-83-06049, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
James Madison703k A starboard bow view of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine James Madison (SSBN-627) underway, 17 Jan 1986.
Defense Visual Information Center photo # DN-SC-86-02379, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
James Madison129kBows on view of the James Madison (SSBN-627), underway, date and place unknown.
US Navy.
James Madison121k This photo was issued by the James Madison (SSBN-627) and the Mare Island Project Team to mark the inactivation of the ship at Mare Island. She was inactivated at the yard from 18 Feb 1992 until 8 Dec 1992.
USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Reactor Compartments83kTrench 94, Hanford Site, Washington, 1994. Hull sections containing defueled reactor compartments of decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines are put in disposal trenches. Once full, the trench will be filled with dirt and buried. The compartments are expected to retain their integrity for more than 600 years. USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.
Sunfish20kSunfish (SSN-649) top left, James Madison (SSBN-627) top right, Spadefish (SSN-668) bottom left, and Finback (SSN-670) bottom right, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 31 October 1997 awaiting scrapping.
Courtesy of Don Sheldon.
Spent Fuel569kSealed reactor compartments are shipped by barge out of Puget Sound Naval Base down the coast and along the Columbia River to the port of Benton. There the radioactively-contaminated hull sections are transferred to special multiwheeled high-load trailers for transport to the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. Pictured below is the burial ground for spent fuel of the following 77 nuclear reactor submarines as of March 2003:
Patrick Henry (SSBN-599),
Snook (SSN-592),
George Washington (SSBN-598),
Scamp (SSN-588),
Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601),
Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618),
Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600),
Dace (SSN-607),
John Adams (SSBN-620),
Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602),
Barb (SSN-596),
Ethan Allen (SSBN-608),
Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610),
Pollack (SSN-603),
Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685),
James Monroe (SSBN-622),
Skipjack (SS-585),
Nathan Hale (SSBN-623),
Plunger (SSN-595),
Shark (SSN-591),
Lafayette (SSBN-616),
Sam Houston (SSBN-609),
Jack (SSN-605),
Haddo (SSN-604),
Tinosa (SSN-606),
Guardfish (SSN-612),
Permit (SSN-594),
Queenfish (SSN-651),
Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631),
John Marshall (SSBN-611),
George C. Marshall (SSBN-654),
Flasher (SSN-613),
Guitarro (SSN-665),
Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617),
George Washington Carver (SSBN-656),
Tecumseh (SSBN-628),
Halibut (SSGN-587),
Will Rogers (SSBN-659),
Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655),
Daniel Boone (SSBN-629),
Greenling (SSN-614),
John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630),
Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633),
Skate (SSN-578),
Sargo (SSN-583),
Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657),
Sturgeon (SSN-637),
Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640),
Swordfish (SSN-579),
Seadragon (SSN-584),
Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634),
Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641),
Hammerhead (SSN-663),
Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) ,
Tullibee (SSN-597),
Lewis & Clark (SSBN-644),
Pargo (SSN-650),
Seahorse (SSN-669),
Gurnard (SSN-662),
Flying Fish (SSN-673),
Gato (SSN-615),
Puffer (SSN-652),
Seawolf (SSN-575),
Baton Rouge (SSN-689),
Bergall (SSN-667),
Whale (SSN-638),
Henry Clay (SSBN-625),
James Madison (SSBN-627),
Finback (SSN-670),
Spadefish (SSN-668),
Sunfish (SSN-649),
George Bancroft (SSBN-643),
Grayling (SSN-646),
Pintado (SSN-672),
Tunny (SSN-682),
Archerfish (SSN-678),
& Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624).
USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.

View the James Madison (SSBN-627)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
ussjamesmadison627.com
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS James Madison (SSBN-627) Photo Album
FAS - SSBN-616 Lafayette-Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines

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