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USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN 641)

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.

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Crew 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:

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About 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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USS SIMON BOLIVAR History:

USS SIMON BOLIVAR was conceived as part of the final group of U.S. fleet ballistic missile submarines, the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-class, ordered on November 1, 1962, to complete the "41 for Freedom" force of Polaris-armed boats. She was the only United States Navy ship named for Simon Bolivar, the South American independence leader, reflecting an intention to link the strategic deterrent program to figures associated with liberty and political independence.

The submarine's keel was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on April 17, 1963. Construction followed the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN design, which was a quieted evolution of the earlier LAFAYETTE-class SSBNs, incorporating machinery and hull refinements to reduce radiated noise while retaining the standard arrangement of sixteen ballistic-missile tubes and four 21-inch torpedo tubes. She was launched on August 22, 1964, sponsored by Nancy Milling (Aynesworth) Mann, wife of Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas C. Mann. After fitting out at Newport News, the submarine was commissioned as USS SIMON BOLIVAR on October 29, 1965, with Commander Charles H. Griffiths in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Charles A. Orem in command of the Gold Crew, establishing the dual-crew structure that would support continuous strategic patrols.

In the weeks immediately after commissioning, USS SIMON BOLIVAR remained in the vicinity of Newport News to complete dockside trials and short sea periods. In late December 1965 and through most of January 1966, she undertook her formal demonstration and shakedown operations. These evolutions, typical for a new fleet ballistic missile submarine, were intended to verify propulsion performance, ship control, navigation accuracy, and the operation of the Polaris A-3 missile system before she was accepted for routine deterrent patrols.

A key part of this early period was live missile testing on the U.S. Atlantic Missile Test Range off the Florida coast. On January 17, 1966, with the Gold Crew embarked, USS SIMON BOLIVAR successfully launched a Polaris A-3 ballistic missile from a position off Cape Kennedy, Florida, as part of a demonstration and shakedown operation (DASO) for the crew and the ship's weapons system. Two weeks later, on January 31, 1966, the Blue Crew carried out a second successful Polaris A-3 launch on the same range, confirming that both crews could execute the full sequence of submerged strategic-missile operations. These launches were tracked as part of the Eastern Test Range program that monitored U.S. sea-launched ballistic missile performance. Later compilations list them as suborbital flights reaching apogees of about 1,000 kilometers.

After the missile firings, the Gold Crew continued shakedown operations into February 1966, operating in the Caribbean Sea. In March 1966, her administrative home port was changed from Newport News to Charleston, South Carolina, and the submarine was assigned to Submarine Squadron 18. At Charleston, she entered a short shipyard availability to correct minor deficiencies discovered during shakedown, while the crews rotated through training periods ashore.

Beginning in April 1966, USS SIMON BOLIVAR entered fully into the Polaris deterrent patrol cycle. The Blue Crew prepared for and then conducted the first regular strategic patrol, departing Charleston for an undisclosed patrol area in the Atlantic. After the Blue Crew's return and turnover alongside a tender and refit facilities, the Gold Crew took the ship to sea for the second patrol, while the Blue Crew moved into shore-based training. Later in the year, the Blue Crew assumed command again and carried out the third deterrent patrol. USS SIMON BOLIVAR completed this third patrol in January 1967, still operating as a unit of Submarine Squadron 18. This alternating cycle of Blue and Gold crews - one crew on patrol, the other in training and maintenance - was central to maintaining a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.

From early 1967 through early 1971, the submarine continued this pattern of Polaris deterrent patrols from Charleston. Detailed records of each individual patrol are not published in open sources, but later summaries indicate that by the time she underwent her first major overhaul, USS SIMON BOLIVAR had completed more than twenty strategic patrols. In addition to routine patrols, she also took part in further missile testing. Launch records for the Eastern Test Range show that on April 11, 1970, she carried out two Polaris A-3 operational test launches, again from positions in the Atlantic missile test area off Florida, to verify system performance during the mature phase of her Polaris service.

On February 7, 1971, after nearly five years of continuous operations, USS SIMON BOLIVAR returned to Newport News Shipbuilding for a lengthy overhaul and conversion of her missile system to support the newer Poseidon C-3 ballistic missile. This work converted her from a Polaris boat to a Poseidon-capable SSBN, in line with the broader U.S. Navy program of upgrading the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN- and earlier LAFAYETTE-class submarines to carry more capable, multiple-warhead missiles. The overhaul lasted through 1971 and into 1972. On May 12, 1972, she departed Newport News to begin post-overhaul shakedown operations and refresher training for both crews, an at-sea period that continued until September 16, 1972.

By the end of 1972, USS SIMON BOLIVAR had resumed deterrent patrols, now armed with Poseidon C-3 missiles. At this stage, her operating pattern shifted from the United States East Coast to a forward-based posture in Europe. She was assigned to operate from the SSBN refit site at Rota, Spain, where she was serviced by the submarine tender USS SIMON LAKE (AS 33) as part of Submarine Squadron 16. From Rota, she deployed on extended submerged patrols into the Atlantic and, for at least one patrol, into the Mediterranean Sea, as U.S. strategic planners maintained continuous coverage of potential launch areas in support of NATO during the later Cold War.

During the summer of 1974, USS SIMON BOLIVAR completed what would be her final refit at the Rota SSBN site. After loading out and submerging, she proceeded southeast through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean and assumed alert status for what was counted as her 24th deterrent patrol. On completion of the patrol, she transited westward back through the Strait of Gibraltar and returned across the Atlantic. Seventy-four days after leaving Rota and diving, she surfaced off the U.S. East Coast in October 1974. From that point, she was reassigned from Submarine Squadron 16 back to the SSBN support facilities at Charleston and again became part of Submarine Squadron 18. At Charleston she received refit and resupply support primarily from the submarine tender USS HUNLEY (AS 31), and her patrol areas were normally in the North Atlantic.

The year 1974 marked a formal recognition of the boat's performance. For Fiscal Year 1974, USS SIMON BOLIVAR received the Battle Effectiveness Award (Battle "E") as well as the Providence Plantation Award, which identified her as the most outstanding fleet ballistic missile submarine in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. She went on to earn additional Battle "E" awards for Fiscal Years 1975 and 1976, indicating consistently high marks in readiness inspections, operations, and crew performance during a period of regular Poseidon deterrent patrols.

Operational records for 1976 document both routine tasks and an unusual emergency. During one strategic patrol in 1976, a crew member suffered a life-threatening medical problem while the submarine was on alert status. In response, USS SIMON BOLIVAR suspended her covert patrol and made a high-speed transit toward a designated medical evacuation point off the United Kingdom coast. After reaching waters of about 100 fathoms depth, she surfaced into severe winter storm conditions, with heavy seas breaking over the hull and sail. Despite the challenging environment and significant rolling typical for a round-section submarine hull on the surface, the crew completed the transfer of the ill sailor to another platform for treatment. The submarine then returned to deeper water, submerged, and resumed her alert patrol, ultimately completing the mission and returning to the Charleston SSBN site. The evacuated crew member survived, although he did not subsequently return to duty aboard USS SIMON BOLIVAR.

In addition to deterrent patrols, USS SIMON BOLIVAR took part in missile operational tests that evaluated the Poseidon system in the mid-1970s. On August 28, 1976, records of the Poseidon C-3 missile program list her as successfully launching two Poseidon missiles during an operational test, contributing data on reliability and accuracy for the upgraded system. These live launches were conducted from the Eastern Test Range and formed part of a series of Poseidon operational and follow-on tests across the strategic submarine force.

As part of a "warm-cold water" refit exchange program in 1977, USS SIMON BOLIVAR temporarily shifted from Charleston to the Holy Loch SSBN support site in Scotland, which was then the Navy's UK base used by forward-deployed U.S. SSBNs. At Holy Loch she underwent a refit with maintenance and supply provided by the submarine tender USS HOLLAND (AS 32). After departing Holy Loch, she completed her 34th deterrent patrol before returning across the Atlantic to the "warm water" Charleston SSBN site to continue her normal refit-patrol cycles from the continental United States.

By early 1979, USS SIMON BOLIVAR had completed her 40th deterrent patrol. In February 1979, she entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at Kittery, Maine, for a second major overhaul, this time to convert her missile system to carry the Trident I (C-4) submarine-launched ballistic missile. She was among a limited group of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-class SSBNs selected for this backfit, which allowed the older hulls to remain in service while the newer OHIO-class submarines were still entering the fleet. The overhaul refitted the missile compartment and associated systems to handle the longer-range Trident I missile while maintaining the sixteen-tube configuration.

Upon completion of the Trident conversion, USS SIMON BOLIVAR returned to her Charleston home port in January 1981. Later that year, she took part in an operational test of the new system. Missile program chronologies record that on August 28, 1981, she successfully launched four Trident I (C-4) missiles in a single operational test sequence on the Eastern Test Range off Cape Canaveral, Florida. This series formed part of the broader evaluation program to certify the performance of backfitted Trident-armed SSBNs.

Through the early 1980s, USS SIMON BOLIVAR continued her pattern of deterrent patrols, now armed with Trident I. She operated primarily from Charleston but also made periodic refits at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, as that facility developed into the principal East Coast base for Trident operations. For Fiscal Year 1982, she received another Battle Effectiveness Award, reflecting strong results across inspections and exercises in her new configuration. In the summer of 1983, she conducted at least one further Trident test launch, again on the Eastern Test Range, as noted in later summaries of her service.

Throughout this period, USS SIMON BOLIVAR was one of the older SSBNs that remained central to the Atlantic Fleet's strategic deterrent posture while arms control and force restructuring proceeded. Public references note that by the early 1980s, she had accumulated dozens of deterrent patrols. Summaries later recorded that she would ultimately complete 73 patrols over her career, equivalent to approximately thirteen years of submerged strategic operations. In addition to her Battle "E" in 1982 she received another Battle "E" in 1990, bringing her total number of such awards to at least five when combined with those from the 1970s.

On July 31, 1990, USS SIMON BOLIVAR marked twenty-five years of commissioned service. A notice in the July 1990 issue of The Submarine Review announced a 25th anniversary celebration to be held on August 31, 1990, in Charleston, inviting former crew members of both the Blue and Gold Crews. At that stage, she remained fully operational as part of the Trident I force under Submarine Group Six, even as plans were being formed to retire the pre-OHIO-class Trident and Poseidon SSBNs later in the decade.

In the early 1990s, USS SIMON BOLIVAR continued to make strategic deterrent patrols from the Atlantic bases. By this time, the Cold War was ending, and arms control agreements such as START I were being implemented, leading to reductions in the number of deployed warheads and launchers. Against this backdrop, the submarine carried out her remaining patrols as part of a shrinking but still active Trident I force. On March 28, 1994, she returned from what was recorded as her 73rd and final strategic nuclear deterrent patrol, 28 years after departing on her first patrol in 1966. Later accounts describe her as the last of the original "41 for Freedom" Polaris/Poseidon fleet ballistic missile submarines to remain in commissioned strategic service.

Following this final patrol, USS SIMON BOLIVAR was deactivated while still technically in commission in September 1994. The process of inactivating her strategic systems and preparing the hull for disposal overlapped with her formal administrative retirement. She was both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on February 8, 1995. Even before decommissioning, on October 1, 1994, she had entered the U.S. Navy's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, the centralized facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where nuclear-powered hulls are dismantled under controlled conditions. Recycling of USS SIMON BOLIVAR was completed on December 1, 1995, at which point the hull ceased to exist as a complete ship.

During her long service life, several aspects of USS SIMON BOLIVAR's history stand out in the available record. She was one of the few BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-class submarines to operate with all three generations of U.S. submarine-launched ballistic missiles in sequence: Polaris A-3 in the 1960s, Poseidon C-3 after her 1971-1972 overhaul, and Trident I C-4 following the 1979-1981 refit. She completed at least six documented operational missile test events across those systems, from her 1966 Polaris DASO launches to the 1976 Poseidon operational test firings and the 1981 and 1983 Trident tests. Over seventy-three strategic patrols she served in successive strategic homeport arrangements at Charleston, the forward refit site at Rota with USS SIMON LAKE (AS 33), and later at Charleston and Kings Bay with tenders such as USS HUNLEY and USS HOLLAND providing support at different stages.

Personnel records also note that Master Chief Hospital Corpsman William R. Charette, a Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War, served aboard USS SIMON BOLIVAR as an Independent Duty Corpsman during part of her operational career, further underlining the submarine's connection to broader U.S. naval history.

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