USS JOHN ADAMS was one of the LAFAYETTE - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarines and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. The first JOHN ADAMS was named for the second President of the United States while the second JOHN ADAMS (SSBN 620) was named for both him and his son, John Quincy Adams.
Built and designed to deploy the Polaris A2 missiles, the JOHN ADAMS received an upgrade to accommodate the 2500-mile range Polaris A3 in 1968-70 and was refitted with the Poseidon missiles by 1978.
Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on March 24, 1989, the JOHN ADAMS spent the next years berthed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., until she was disposed of through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. Recycling was finished on February 12, 1996.
General Characteristics: Awarded: July 23, 1960
Keel laid: May 19, 1961
Launched: January 12, 1963
Commissioned: May 12, 1964
Decommissioned: March 24, 1989
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, N.H.
Propulsion system: one S5W nuclear reactor
Propellers: one
Length: 425 feet (129.6 meters)
Beam: 33 feet (10 meters)
Draft: 31.5 feet (9.6 meters)
Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 7,250 tons
Submerged: approx. 8,250 tons
Speed: Surfaced: 16 - 20 knots
Submerged: 22 - 25 knots
Armament: 16 vertical tubes for Polaris or Poseidon missiles, four 21" torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Mk-14/16 torpedoes, Mk-37 torpedoes and Mk-45 nuclear torpedoes
Crew: 13 Officers and 130 Enlisted (two crews)
