USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657)
USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) commencing a hard turn to starboard, possibly during her sea trials off the United States East Coast sometime before December 1966.
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History | |
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United States | |
Namesake: | Francis Scott Key (1779–1843), author of the words to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" |
Ordered: | 29 July 1963 |
Builder: | General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut |
Laid down: | 5 December 1964 |
Launched: | 23 April 1966 |
Sponsored by: | Mrs. Marjory Key Thorne and Mrs. William T. Jarvis |
Commissioned: | 3 December 1966 |
Decommissioned: | 2 September 1993 |
Struck: | 2 September 1993 |
Fate: | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 1 September 1995 |
General characteristics | |
Class & type: | Benjamin Franklin-class fleet ballistic missile submarine |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 425 ft (130 m) |
Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draft: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
Installed power: | 15,000 shp (11,185 kW) |
Propulsion: | One S5W pressurized-water nuclear reactor, two geared steam turbines, one shaft |
Speed: | Over 20 knots |
Test depth: | 1,300 feet (400 m) |
Complement: | Two crews (Blue Crew and Gold Crew) of 120 men each |
Armament: |
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USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657), a Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Francis Scott Key (1779–1843), an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet who wrote the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry", which became the words to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Contents
Construction and commissioning
The contract to build Francis Scott Key was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 29 July 1963 and her keel was laid down there on 5 December 1964. She was launched on 23 April 1965, sponsored by Mrs. Marjory Key Thorne and Mrs. William T. Jarvis, and commissioned on 3 December 1966, with Captain Frank W. Graham in command of the Blue Crew and Lieutenant Commander Joseph B. Logan in command of the Gold Crew.
Service history
The Submarine was part of SUBRON 16 and based in Rota, Spain. It then moved to Kings Bay, Georgia. The Gold crew performed the Key's last SSBN deterrent patrol, Patrol #72, in 1992. The Key combined crews and changed homeport from Charleston, SC to Pearl Harbor, HI in late 1992.
Decommissioning and disposal
Francis Scott Key was decommissioned on 2 September 1993 with Commander Carl D. Olson in command, and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 1 September 1995.
References
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- Photo gallery of USS Francis Scott Key at NavSource Naval History
External links
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- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Naval Vessel Register
- Ships built in Connecticut
- Benjamin Franklin-class submarines
- Cold War submarines of the United States
- Nuclear ships of the United States Navy
- United States Navy Maryland-related ships
- 1965 ships
- United States submarine stubs