page_title: USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657)
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) / Service history
context_page_description: USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657), a Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine, was the only submarine of the United States Navy to be named for Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet who wrote the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry", which became the words to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". During WW 2 there was a liberty ship USS Francis Scott Key 0016
context_section_description: The Francis Scott Key was part of Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 16 based in Rota, Spain.  The squadron and submarines moved to Kings Bay, Georgia in 1979.
  The Key conducted the first submerged launch of a Trident missile in 1979. She also became the first submarine to go on deterrent patrol with Trident I missiles.
  The Gold crew performed the submarine's last SSBN deterrent patrol, Patrol #72, in 1992.  The Key combined crews and changed homeport from Charleston, SC to Pearl Harbor, HI in late 1992.
caption: A montage of a Trident I (C4) missile and its reentry vehicles launched from Francis Scott Key
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