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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Accidents aboard the Ship About the Ship's Name to end of page |  |
USS SIMON BOLIVAR was the second BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. Generally similar to the LAFAYETTE - class, the twelve BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - class submarines had a quieter machinery design, and were thus considered a separate class.
Deactivated while still in commission in September 1994, SIMON BOLIVAR was both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on February 8, 1995. She entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington on October 1, 1994, and finished it on December 1, 1995.
| General Characteristics: | Awarded: November 1, 1962 | |
| Keel laid: April 17, 1963 | ||
| Launched: August 22, 1964 | ||
| Commissioned: October 29, 1965 | ||
| Decommissioned: February 24, 1995 | ||
| Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va. | ||
| Propulsion system: one S5W nuclear reactor | ||
| Propellers: one | ||
| Length: 425 feet (129.6 meters) | ||
| Beam: 33 feet (10 meters) | ||
| Draft: 31.5 feet (9.6 meters) | ||
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| Armament: 16 vertical tubes for Polaris or Poseidon missiles, four 21" torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Mk-14/16 torpedoes, Mk-37 torpedoes and Mk-45 nuclear torpedoes | ||
| Crew: 13 Officers and 130 Enlisted (two crews) |
back to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS SIMON BOLIVAR. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
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Accidents aboard USS SIMON BOLIVAR:
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|---|---|
| August 31, 1967 | 70 miles southeast of Charleston, SC. | USS SIMON BOLIVAR armed with 16 Polaris missiles collides with the target ship USS BETELGEUSE (T-AK 260) when practicing a torpedo attack. No one is injured, but the SIMON BOLIVAR suffers about $1 million dollars damage to its periscope and communications antenna. The BETELGEUSE suffers a hole in its hull. The Navy tells a press conference that the missiles aboard the SIMON BOLIVAR were not armed and there was no danger of explosion or nuclear radiation. The missiles were undamaged the Navy emphasizes. The SIMON BOLIVAR surfaces and the crew cuts away a 4-foot-high, 15-foot-long section of the conning tower so the submarine could proceed to port. |
back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Ship's Name:
A South American soldier, statesman, and revolutionary leader, Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1783. He fought under Francisco Miranda in a revolt against the Spanish in 1810 but was forced to flee. He planned and led another revolution in Venezuela (1815 to 1818) which was successful.
Bolivar raised a small army in New Granada (now Colombia) and defeated the Spanish at Boyaca in 1819 and was subsequently made president of the new republic of Colombia with almost supreme power.
In 1821, Bolivar marched south to Quito, Ecuador. In August 1824, his army defeated the Spanish in the battle of Junin which, with General Antonio Sucre’s victory at Ayacucho in December, freed Peru from Spain. Bolivar organized a new republic, named Bolivia, in 1825.
Simon Bolivar died on 17 December 1830 on his estate near Santa Marta, Colombia.
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