USS Henry L. Stimson

USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) on 12 July 1984.
History
United States
Name	USS Henry L. Stimson
Namesake	Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950), U.S. Secretary of State (1929–1933) and U.S. Secretary of War (1911–1913, 1940–1945)
Awarded	29 July 1963
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	4 April 1964
Launched	13 November 1965
Sponsored by	Grace Murphy Dodd
Commissioned	20 August 1966
Decommissioned	5 May 1993
Stricken	5 May 1993
Fate	Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 12 August 1994
General characteristics
Class and type	Benjamin Franklin class nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarine
Displacement	7,250 tons surfaced 8,250 tons submerged
Length	425 feet (130 m)
Beam	33 feet (10 m)
Draft	31.5 feet (9.6 m)
Installed power	15,000 shp (11,185 kW)
Propulsion	One S5W pressurized-water nuclear reactor, two geared steam turbines, one shaft
Speed	16–20 knots surfaced, 22–25 knots submerged
Test depth	1,300 feet (400 m)
Complement	Two crews (Blue Crew and Gold Crew) of 13 officers and 130 enlisted men each
Armament	16 × ballistic missile tubes with one Polaris, later Poseidon, later Trident I ballistic missile each 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950), who served as U.S. Secretary of State (1929–1933) and U.S. Secretary of War (1911–1913, 1940–1945).

Construction and commissioning

The contract for the construction of Henry L. Stimson was awarded on 29 July 1963, and her keel was laid down on 4 April 1964 by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 13 November 1965, sponsored by Grace Murphy Dodd, wife of Connecticut Senator Thomas J. Dodd, and was commissioned on 20 August 1966 with Captain Richard E. Jortberg commanding the Blue Crew and Commander Robert H. Weeks commanding the Gold Crew.

Service history

Following shakedown, Henry L. Stimson was assigned to Submarine Squadron 10 at New London, Connecticut. On 23 February 1967 she put to sea from Charleston with the Blue crew on her first strategic deterrent patrol, armed with Polaris A3 ballistic missiles. By August 1967, her Blue and Gold crews had each completed one deterrent patrol. Ballistic Missile Submarines were manned by two separate crews, designated Blue and Gold. While one crew was physically aboard the ship, the other crew had one month of R&R and then almost 2 months of training. At the end of a patrol, usually lasting approximately 75 days and usually spent entirely submerged, the ship returned to port and was met by the opposite crew. A week was spent in turnover and then the crews would trade places. After another 3 weeks of refitting and repairs, the ship would go on patrol and the cycle would continue.

From 1973 until the Trident Missile conversion in 1980, she continued to operate out of Rota, Spain with one visit back to Charleston in 1976(?) to replace the battery bank.

After 1980 until decommissioning, she operated out of Kings Bay Georgia, with the crew based in Charleston, SC.

Decommissioning and disposal

Henry L. Stimson was both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 5 May 1993. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, was completed on 12 August 1994.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), retrieved 26 September 2011
• hazegray.org: USS Henry L. Stimson, retrieved 26 September 2011