Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski
Radio Call Sign: November - Tango - Foxtrot - Mike

Benjamin Franklin (SSBN 640)

Benjamin Franklin Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 25 May 1963, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT; Launched, 5 December 1964; Commissioned, USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN 640), 22 October 1965; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 23 November 1993; Final Disposition, disposed of through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, 21 August 1995, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 7,250 t., Submerged: 8,250 t.; Length 425' ; Beam 33'; Draft 32'; Speed, Surfaced/Submerged 20+ kts; Complement 120; Test depth 1,300'; Armament, 16 missile tubes, four 21" torpedo tubes; Propulsion, S5W Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor, two geared turbines at 15,000 shp, one propeller.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		SizeImage DescriptionSource
Benjamin Franklin60k Benjamin Franklin. Copy of painting by Joseph Duplessis, ca. 1794-1802. From the George Washington Bicentennial Commission. NARA FILE #: 148-CC-11-3. USN photo # HD-SN-99-01724,WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 65, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
Benjamin Franklin26kCommemorative postal cover marking the launching of the Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), 5 December 1964. Courtesy of petloveshack.com.
Benjamin Franklin122kCommemorative postal cover marking the launching of the Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), 5 December 1964. Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Benjamin Franklin22kCommemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), 22 October 1965. Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Benjamin Franklin81kBenjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), underway off the Hawaiian coast, 1966.USN photo.
Benjamin Franklin67kBenjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), emergency surfacing maneuver, ST. Croix VI in 1966.Federation of American Scientists (fas.org).
Benjamin Franklin26kBenjamin Franklin (SSBN-640), bow view at dock, St Croix VI in 1966.Courtesy of John Hummel.
Benjamin Franklin25k Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) class boat underway, date & location unknown. Courtesy of FAS (Federation of American Scientists). Photo i.d. courtesy of Jeff Morris.
Benjamin Franklin488k Aerial port bow view of the nuclear-propelled-strategic missile submarine Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640) underway on 1 Sep 1985. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-SC-85-11073, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.& submitted by Bill Gonyo.
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.
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.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
FAS - SSBN-640 Benjamin Franklin Class FBM Submarines
Back To The Main Photo IndexBack To the Submarine Index
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster.
This page created by Joe Radigan and maintained by Michael Mohl
© Joseph M. Radigan © NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.