Editing 41 for Freedom (section)

== Overview ==
The United States had deployed nuclear weapons aboard submarines for the purpose of deterrence since 1959, using the [[SSM-N-8 Regulus]] [[cruise missile]]. However, this was intended to act merely as a stopgap, as the Regulus was limited both by its size—the greatest number of missiles capable of being taken to sea was five aboard {{USS|Halibut|SSGN-587|6}}—and by its range and speed, as well as by the submarine's requirement to surface to launch a missile. The intention was that the main element of the US Navy's contribution to the strategic nuclear deterrent be a [[ballistic missile]]–armed submarine. The "41 for Freedom" [[nuclear-power]]ed [[ballistic missile submarine]]s (SSBNs) were armed with [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]]s (SLBMs) to create a [[deterrence theory|deterrent force]] against the threat of [[nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] with any foreign power threatening the United States during the [[Cold War]].

The US Navy created a new [[hull classification symbol|submarine classification]] for these boats: SSBN. The first of the "41 for Freedom" submarines to be completed was {{USS|George Washington|SSBN-598|6}}, which was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 30 December 1959. The final boat to enter service was {{USS|Will Rogers|SSBN-659|6}}, which was commissioned on 1 April 1967. The 41 submarines were ultimately superseded in service by the {{sclass|Ohio|submarine|4}}, the first of which was commissioned in 1981.

{{USS|Kamehameha|SSBN-642|6}}, operating as a [[SEAL]] platform in her later years, was decommissioned on 2 April 2002, the last boat of the original "41 for Freedom" submarines in commission, and the oldest submarine in the US Navy. Almost 37 years old, she held the record for the longest service lifetime of any nuclear-powered submarine. As of 2014, two boats, {{USS|Daniel Webster|SSBN-626|6}} and {{USS|Sam Rayburn|SSBN-635|6}}, though decommissioned, continue to serve as [[moored training ship]]s, attached to Naval [[Nuclear Power School]] at [[Naval Support Activity Charleston|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]].