USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | George Washington |
Namesake | President George Washington (1732–1799) |
Owner | United States Navy |
Ordered | 31 December 1957[2] |
Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat[2] |
Laid down | 1 November 1958 |
Launched | 9 June 1959 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Robert B. Anderson |
Commissioned | 30 December 1959 |
Decommissioned | 24 January 1985 |
Stricken | 30 April 1986 |
Homeport | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii[2] |
Nickname(s) | "The Georgefish"[1] |
Fate | Recycling via the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program completed 30 September 1998 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | George Washington-class submarine |
Type | SSBN (hull design SCB-180A)[4] |
Displacement | |
Length | 381 ft 7.2 in (116.312 m)[2] |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m)[2] |
Draft | 29 ft (8.8 m)[2] |
Propulsion | |
Speed | |
Range | unlimited except by food supplies |
Test depth | 700 ft (210 m)[2] (maximum over 900 ft (270 m))[3] |
Capacity | 120[2] |
Complement | Two crews (Blue/Gold) each consisting of 12 officers and 100 men. |
Armament |
USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was the United States's first operational
Construction and launching
George Washington's keel was laid down at
George Washington was originally laid down as the
Initial operations
George Washington left Groton on 28 June 1960 for
George Washington then embarked her Gold crew, and on 30 July 1960 she launched two more missiles while submerged. Shakedown for the Gold crew ended at Groton on 30 August and the boat got underway from that port on 28 October for Naval Weapons Station Charleston, to load her full complement of 16 Polaris missiles. There she was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation, after which her Blue crew took over and embarked on her first deterrent patrol.
The submarine completed her first patrol after 66 days of submerged running on 21 January 1961, and put in at Naval Submarine Base New London at New London, Connecticut. The Gold crew took over and departed on her next patrol on 14 February 1961. After the patrol, she entered Holy Loch, Scotland, on 25 April 1961.
In 1970 ten years after her initial departure from Groton, George Washington put in to refuel in Charleston SC, having cruised some 100,000 nmi (120,000 mi; 190,000 km).
George Washington shifted to the United States Pacific Fleet and a new home port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii after the refueling.
Collision with Nissho Maru
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2015) |
On 9 April 1981, George Washington was at periscope depth and was broadsided by the 2,350
The accident strained U.S.–Japanese relations a month before a meeting between
The U.S. Navy initially stated that George Washington executed a crash dive during the collision, and then immediately surfaced, but could not see the Japanese ship due to fog and rain (according to a U.S. Navy report). A preliminary report released a few days later stated the submarine and aircraft crews both had detected Nissho Maru nearby, but neither the submarine nor the aircraft realized Nissho Maru was in distress.
On 11 April, President Reagan and other U.S. officials formally expressed regret over the accident, made offers of compensation, and reassured the Japanese there was no cause for worry about radioactive contamination. As is its standard policy, the U.S. Government refused to reveal what the submarine was doing close to Japan, or whether she was armed with nuclear missiles. (It is government and navy policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons on board.) The Navy accepted responsibility for the incident, and relieved and reprimanded the George Washington's commanding officer and officer of the deck.
On 31 August, the U.S. Navy released its final report, concluding the accident resulted from a set of coincidences, compounded by errors on the part of two members of the submarine crew.
After the collision with the Nissho Maru, the damaged sail was repaired with parts from the sail from the USS Abraham Lincoln which was waiting for disposal at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
Final patrol as ballistic missile submarine
In 1981, George Washington returned to Pearl Harbor from her last missile patrol. In 1981, her missiles were unloaded at Bangor, Washington to comply with the SALT II treaty.[citation needed]
George Washington made 55 deterrent patrols in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in her 25-year career.[citation needed]
Service as an attack submarine
George Washington continued service as an attack submarine (SSN), returning briefly to Pearl Harbor. In 1983, she departed Pearl Harbor for the last time and made the second of four transits through the Panama Canal back to the Atlantic and to New London. While based at Submarine Base Groton, George Washington (SSN 598) participated in exercises including one teamed with a Coast Guard Cutter against the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) and Carrier Group 4. From Puerto Rico’s Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, she provided support for Special Forces training. She participated in the 24th UNITAS exercise as the only US submarine. At the conclusion of exercises with Chile, George Washington completed circumnavigation of South America, escorting John F. Kennedy as she transited open water between Argentina and the Falkland Islands in the early months of 1984.
Decommissioning
George Washington was
Commemoration
George Washington's sail was removed prior to disposal and now rests at the Submarine Force Library and Museum at Groton, Connecticut.
References
- About.com. Archived from the originalon 16 January 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "SSBN-598 George Washington-Class FBM Submarines" from the FAS
- ^ a b c d Adcock, p. 12.
- ^ Adcock, Al. U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarines (Carrolltown, Texas: Squadron Signal, 1993), p. 12. Adcock, p. 4, also credits mythical interwar Albacore and Trout classes, however.
- ^ Several other U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Washington in his honor.
- ^ Connecticut, 1959/06/11 (1959). Universal Newsreel. 1959. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
- ^ "Submarine Chronology". Chief of Naval Operations. Submarine Warfare Division. 3 March 2001. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ISSN 0028-1484. Archived from the original(PDF) on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ John F. O'Connell (Winter 2013). "For Want of a Timely Call.". Naval War College Review. 66 (1): 101–109.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- A film clip "Nuclear Navy. First Polaris A-Sub Sails on Ocean Patrol, 1960/11/17 (1960)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive