USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) (SSN-608)

History

The USS Ethan Allen was the lead ship of their five-man Ethan Allen-class ballistic missile submarine during the Cold War of the world's superpowers; the United States and the Soviet Union. The arms race escalated during and after the Korean WarCommunists tried to expand their sphere of influence with the help of Moscow, while the West tried to contain its spread through deterrence.

One such tool in the US Navy is a ship like the USS Ethan Allen. USS Ethan Allen's primary mission is to deliver ballistic missiles and carry torpedoes as secondary weapons. Ballistic missiles became an important offshore deterrent during the controversial Cold War decades because they could be launched at sea from submarines anywhere in the world and equipped with warheads capable of delivering nuclear warheads or conventional payloads to strike land contained within base target.

The USS Ethan Allen is the first submarine to be specifically designed as a ballistic missile launch platform of this type from the outset, as previous ballistic missile attack submarines were modifications of existing types.

USS Ethan Allen Named after American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen. Allen was an American patriot who was one of the founders of Vermont and played a role in the British occupation of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775.

He was a farmer and businessman, but also steeped in philosophy, writing and politics.

The General Dynamics Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut, ordered the Ethan Allen on July 17, 1958 and launched on September 14, 1959. She was launched on November 22, 1960 under the auspices of Ethan Allen's own great-great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Robert H. Hopkins, and on August 8, 1961, with Commander Paul L. Lacy, Jr. and duly commissioned W. W. Behrens launched together, Jr. at the helm of "Blue Crew" and "Gold Crew" respectively.

She served under the designation SSBN-608 to indicate her ballistic missile payload, submarine nature and nuclear propulsion.

USS Ethan Allen drained approximately 7,067 tons at the surface and approximately 8,010 tons when submerged. She measures 410 feet, 4 inches long, and the beam is over 33 feet. Her draft is 27 feet 5 inches.

Electricity is provided by an S5W nuclear reactor connected to 2 GE geared steam turbines, producing approximately 15,000 horsepower on the propeller shaft at the stern of the design. This arrangement allows for a top speed of 16 knots (18 miles per hour) and 21 knots (24 miles per hour) underwater. Her crew consists of 140 employees, including 12 officers and 128 sailors. Powered by a nuclear reactor, USS Ethan Allen has an almost infinite range, allowing her to reach all four corners of the planet.

The ship deploys up to 16 Polaris ballistic missiles in vertical launchers and 4 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. USS Ethan Allen is equipped with a Mark 2 Mod 3 Ship Inertial Navigation System (SINS) and a Mark 112 Mod 2 Torpedo Fire Control System. Their early payloads indicated the use of the Polaris A-2 (UGM-27B) ballistic missile, but it was later replaced by the A-3 series and upgraded to the A-3T.

Their torpedo types started with the Mark 16 Mod 6 series and were eventually upgraded and replaced by the Mark 37 and Mark 48 series.

In May 1962, the USS Ethan Allen and her crew completed a test launch of a nuclear-tipped Polaris ballistic missile in the South Pacific. The test proved so successful in operation and accuracy that the weapon detonated some 11,000 on the float, becoming the only recorded full evaluation of a US strategic missile.

In the 1980s, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began to ease. The "SALT" conference (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) aims to bring together two world powers to help limit the use of nuclear weapons. The SALT I and SALT II agreements signed two important contracts. At this point, the U.S. Navy is preparing to upgrade its lineup of nuclear-powered submarines with new Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines in response to the aging Ethan Allen and other similar ballistic missile submarines compliant with SALT treaty restrictions that are slowly being phased out of service.

As a result, USS Ethan Allen deactivated her ballistic missile tubes, leaving her in service as a regular nuclear-powered attack submarine (she still kept her torpedo tubes). On September 1, 1980, she adopted the official name "SSN-608".

Her career is now more or less complete, USS Ethan Allen was finally decommissioned on March 31, 1983, and removed from the Naval Register on April 2, 1983, her fate was taken by the United States Navy nuclear-powered ship Sealed by the Decommissioned Ship and Submarine Recovery Program.

The USS Ethan Allen, featured in Tom Clancy's suspense novel The Hunt for Red October, was destroyed in order to cover the explosion and sinking of the Soviet submarine "Red October" whose crew intended to defected to the Americans.

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