USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655)

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

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 Senator Thomas J. Dodd, and commissioned 20 August 1966 with Captain Richard E. Jortberg (commanding the Blue Crew) and Commander Robert H. Weeks (commanding the Gold Crew).

Following shakedown, "Henry L. Stimson" was assigned to Submarine Squadron 16 and departed Charleston, South Carolina, on 23 February 1967 on her first deterrent patrol.

In 1971, "Henry L. Stimson" began her first overhaul, at Newport News Shipyard and Drydocking. In 1973, when she returned to duty, she no longer carried Polaris A3 missiles, but rather the new Poseidon C3 missiles. Back in service, the boat was based at Rota, Spain, while her crews lived in Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1980, "Henry L. Stimson" was converted pierside at Port Canaveral, Florida, from Poseidon missiles to Trident-I missiles. Following that conversion, the boat changed homeports to Kings Bay, Georgia, where she was based for the rest of her career.

Both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry on 5 May 1993, "Henry L. Stimson" went through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, and ceased to exist on 12 August 1994.

References

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08655.htm navsource.org: USS "Henry L. Stimson"]
* [http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ssbn655.htm hazegray.org: USS "Henry L. Stimson"]