USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY was the tenth 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.
Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on September 2, 1993, the FRANCIS SCOTT KEY subsequently entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington. Recycling was finished on September 1, 1995.
| General Characteristics: | Awarded: July 29, 1963 |
| Keel laid: December 5, 1964 |
| Launched: April 23, 1965 |
| Commissioned: December 3, 1966 |
| Decommissioned: September 2, 1993 |
| Builder: Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT. |
| 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) |
| Displacement: | Surfaced: approx. 7,250 tons
Submerged: approx. 8,250 tons | |
| Speed: | Surfaced: 16 - 20 knots
Submerged: 22 - 25 knots | |
| 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) |
General Characteristics 
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