George Washington-class submarine

The George Washington class was a class of five United States Navy nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, the first Polaris boats and the start of the sea-based nuclear deterrent. The Navy ordered the class on 31 December 1957 and asked Electric Boat to convert two Skipjack-class attack submarine hulls then under construction, so the boats were essentially Skipjacks with a 130-foot missile compartment inserted between the control spaces and the reactor compartment. The lead boat was commissioned on 30 December 1959, made the first submarine Polaris launch on 20 July 1960 and began her first deterrent patrol that November. Electric Boat, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Newport News Shipbuilding and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard shared the construction. The class belonged to the 41 for Freedom group, and by early 1985 every boat had been decommissioned.