page_title: Ballistic missile submarine
section_title: Retired classes
hierarchical_section_title: Ballistic missile submarine / Retired classes
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarine USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) at the Newport News Shipbuilding &amp; Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia (USA), probably undergoing tests, circa 1964-65. Note open tubes for “Polaris” missiles, with hatch covers colored and numbered in Billiard Ball style.
context_page_description: A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – the SS denotes submarine, the B denotes ballistic missile, and the N denotes that the submarine is nuclear powered. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capability. They can fire missiles thousands of kilometers from their targets, and acoustic quieting makes them difficult to detect, thus making them a survivable deterrent in the event of a first strike and a key element of the mutual assured destruction policy of nuclear deterrence. Their deployment has been dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union / Russia, with smaller numbers in service with France, the United Kingdom, China, and India.
context_section_description: France
  Redoutable class
  / Soviet Union / Russia
  Zulu V class (with a single Zulu IV prototype) (diesel powered)
  Golf I class (diesel powered)
  Golf II class (diesel powered)
  Hotel I class
  Hotel II class
  Yankee class
  Yankee II class
  Delta I class
  Delta II class
  Typhoon class (3 / 6)
   United Kingdom
  Resolution class
   United States
  George Washington class
  Ethan Allen class
  Lafayette class
  James Madison class
  Benjamin Franklin class
  These five classes are collectively referred to as "41 for Freedom".
caption: USS Sam Rayburn showing the hatches for her UGM-27 Polaris missiles
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