ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the technical and operational details of the submarines. The types of the submarines includes Delta I class SSBN, Hotel II class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), Lafayette class SSBN, Nuclear-powered attack type, Ethan Allen class SSN and Zwaardvis class SS. Benjamin Franklin class SSBN was the partner class to the Lafayette type, the two succeeding the pioneer George Washington and Ethan Allen classes as launch platforms for the Polaris SLBM, the boats were subsequently modified to carry the more capable Poseidon missile, and some are now the main element of the US Navy's Trident I force pending the delivery of more Ohio class SSBNs. The Delta I class is essentially an updated and enlarged Yankee class and, built between 1970 and 1977 at Severdvinsk and Komsomolsk, was for its time the world's largest submarine.
