The George Washington class of United States Navy submarine were the first ballistic missile submarines in the world. Together with the Ethan Allen, the Lafayette, the James Madison, and the Benjamin Franklin classes, they comprised the "41 for Freedom." The December 1959 commissioning of George Washington (SSBN-598), the class's lead ship, gave the United States a stealth platform with enormous nuclear firepower, a powerful deterrant and weapon in the Cold War.

The United States Navy ordered a class of nuclear-powered submarines armed with long-range strategic missiles on 31 December 1957, and tasked Electric Boat with converting two existing attack submarine hulls to ballistic missile-carrying boats to quickly create the deterrant force. To accomplish this conversion, Electric Boat persuaded the Navy in January 1958 to slip the launch dates for two Skipjack-class fast attack submarines, the just-begun Scorpion (SSN-589) and the not-yet-started Sculpin (SSN-590). On 12 February 1958, President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower signed funding for three ballistic missile submarines.

The George Washingtons were essentially Skipjacks with a 130 foot (40 m) missile compartment ("Sherwood Forest"), inserted between the ship's control navigation areas and the nuclear reactor compartment. In the case of the lead ship, George Washington (SSBN-598), that is literally the case: the keel already laid by Electric Boat at Groton, Connecticut for Scorpion was cut apart and extended to become the keel for George Washington. Then Electric Boat and Mare Island Naval Shipyard began construction of one other boat each from extended plans.

President Eisenhower authorized construction of two more submarines on 29 July 1958. Newport News Naval Shipyard and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard began work immediately.

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) began the first strategic deterrant patrol on 15 November 1960, and USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) departed for patrol on 31 January 1961. George Washington returned from patrol on 21 January 1961, coming alongside the tender USS Proteus (AS-19) at New London, Connecticut. Patrick Henry returned from patrol on 8 March 1961, also tying up alongside Proteus, which was now in Holy Loch, Scotland, beginning the use of Holy Loch as a refit and upkeep anchorage.

The George Washingtons carried the Polaris A1 missile on their patrols until 2 June 1964, when George Washington changed out her missiles for Polaris A3s. The last of the class, USS Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602) swapped out her A1s for A3s on 14 October 1965.

In the early 1980s, to make room within the limitations imposed by SALT II for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Robert E. Lee had their missiles removed and were reclassified as attack submarines, a role in which they served for several years prior to decommissioning.

General Characteristics

• Length: 381.6 feet (116.3 m)
• Beam: 33 feet (10 m)
• Displacement: 5400 tons light, 6000 tons surfaced, 6800 tons submerged
• Power Plant: S5W reactor, two geared turbines at 15,000 shp (11 MW) to one shaft
• Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h) surfaced, 25 knots (46 km/h) submerged
• Depth: 700 feet (210 m)
• Armament: 16 tubes for Polaris missiles, six torpedo tubes

Boats

• (SSBN-598) USS George Washington
• (SSBN-599) USS Patrick Henry
• (SSBN-600) USS Theodore Roosevelt
• (SSBN-601) USS Robert E. Lee
• (SSBN-602) USS Abraham Lincoln