, christened after an
American Revolutionary War figure by the
Same Name , was a
''George Washington''-class fleet
Ballistic Missile Submarine of the
United States Navy .
(See also
CSS ''Patrick Henry'' . An
Aircraft Carrier named '' has appeared as a location in the
Television Show JAG . Her part is played by
USS ''Stennis'' (CVN-74) .)
''Patrick Henry''
's keel was laid down by the
Electric Boat Division of
General Dynamics Corporation, in
Groton, Connecticut , on
26 May 1958 . She was
Launched on
22 September 1959 , sponsored by Mrs. Leslie E. Arends and was
Commissioned on
9 April 1960 , with Captain Harold E. Shear in command of the Blue crew and Commander Robert L.J. Long commanding the Gold crew.
Manned alternately by two crews, Blue and Gold, like all
US Navy ballistic missile
Submarine s, to maximize her submerged operations, ''Patrick Henry'' underwent shakedown with the Blue crew until
16 September 1960 , when the Gold crew took over. This second Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine (FBM) commenced her first deterrent patrol in December
1960 (Blue Crew on board). When she surfaced off
Holy Loch ,
Scotland on
8 March 1961 , she had set a record for her type, cruising submerged 66 days and 22 hours. ''Patrick Henry'' was the first ballistic missile submarine to enter
Holy Loch, Scotland , and first to go alongside
USS ''Proteus'' (AS-19) for replenishment and routine repair.
''Patrick Henry'' conducted 17 deterrent patrols from Holy Loch until December
1964 when she returned to
Electric Boat . For 18 months she received complete and extensive overhaul and repair operations, including refueling of the
S5W Reactor plant and modifications to permit the handling of the
Polaris A-3 Missiles . After shakedown in mid-
1966 off
Puerto Rico and
Cape Canaveral ,
Florida , ''Patrick Henry'' departed
Charleston, South Carolina , in December for patrol #18, equipped with A-3 Polaris missiles and assigned to Submarine Squadron 14. On
1 March 1968 , ''Patrick Henry'' completed her 22nd patrol at Holy Loch. She remained with the Atlantic Fleet into the
1970s .
In
1982 ''Patrick Henry'' and many of her sister FBMs had their missile tubes disabled and were
Reclassified as SSNs. ''Patrick Henry'' was decommissioned and struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on
25 May 1984 . She was disposed of through the
Ship-Submarine Recycling Program at the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , ceasing to exist on
21 August 1997 .
See also
CSS ''Patrick Henry'' .
