page_title: USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641)
section_title: Life on board USS Simon Bolivar SSBN 641 1
hierarchical_section_title: USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) / Life on board USS Simon Bolivar SSBN 641 1
caption_attribution_description: English: Warshot SSBN Torpedo Tube
context_page_description: USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Simón Bolívar, a hero of the independence movements of the former Spanish colonies in South America.
context_section_description: Simon Bolivar like all U.S. ballistic missile submarines, had two crews, the Blue and Gold, in order to maximize the at-sea time of the ship itself. During the approximately 2 1/2 months of a patrol, crew members worked every day standing watches then performing their in-rate duties. Those that were not qualified in submarines had the additional requirement to complete the ship's qualification program covering all systems and machinery on board, with each section of the "qual card" requiring testing by a system expert.
  Watches were 6 hours in length with three crew members rotating each watch. After watch standing, maintenance requirements and ship operations, crew members had 6–8 hours each day for sleeping and eating.  Key watch stations were:
  Torpedo room, sonar, radio
  Control room (Officer of the Deck: ship control)
  Navigation center, missile control center, missile compartment, auxiliary machinery rooms
  Maneuvering room (Engineering Officer of the Watch: propulsion, electrical, reactor controls), engine room.
  All were continuously manned when the ship was underway.
  Each crew completed a strategic patrol cycle and then turned the ship over to the other crew. The normal patrol cycle consisted of 3 1/2 weeks of  maintenance and re-supply at the SSBN refit site followed by an 11-week submerged patrol in open ocean.
  The refit between patrols was a period of high intensity in order for the ship to meet its scheduled deployment date. In close concert with the supporting submarine tender, a myriad of work orders and replenishment actions were accomplished.
  Hundreds of repairs and alterations were scheduled for completion. Included were ship and ordnance alterations (Shipalt, Ordalts) that removed equipment and brought upgraded replacements aboard. The ship submitted over a thousand supply requisitions to top off its onboard repair parts. Included were a wide range of spares for hull, mechanical, electrical, electronics, reactor plant and ordnance systems.
  Onboard food provisions had to be brought up to a 90-day load level for a capability to serve 38,000 meals without resupply. All material and provisions were hand loaded aboard through 30" diameter hatches. Once aboard all repair parts, consumables and provisions were stored in lockers dispersed throughout the ship.
  When the ship departed the refit site for its next patrol, an extraordinary range of repair and resupply had been completed. The up tempo activities with the noise and congestion from work crews, off line machinery and opened electronic cabinets was dramatically changed when the ship completed its first and only dive of the patrol. With the setting of the first watch of the patrol, "Rig for Patrol Quiet" was set and ship's routine was now starkly different from that during refit.  Crew members now dressed in special lint free, easily laundered submarine coveralls for the duration of the patrol.
  During patrols, operations were focused on three main objectives:
  Remain undetected,
  Maintain continuous incoming communications,
  Capability to launch missiles within fifteen minutes.
  Ship's crew were constantly trained to meet these objectives under a wartime environment.  Under certain tactical situations, "Rig for Ultra Quiet" was set, greatly limiting mechanical line-ups, crew activities and as a result, detectable sound emissions.
  Throughout the patrol period, mission readiness was tested by emergency action messages being sent to the ship. Many of these "EAM's" would result in full crew participation with sounding of the General Alarm followed by "Man Battle Stations, Missile. Spin up All Missiles". The Officer of the Deck would immediately direct Sonar to conduct a full sweep for all contacts, and initiate actions to bring the ship to required depth, buoyancy and speed to commence the Hover procedure required for missile launch. Once all battle stations were manned, the crew waited for the announcement " Set Condition 1SQ, This is the Captain, this is an Exercise".
  Ship's sonar operators continually searched for contacts, all of which were classified for possible 
caption: Warshot loaded in torpedo tube
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