USS ''Patrick Henry'' (SSBN-599), named after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

figure and

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

(1736–1799), was a

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

fleet

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She was later converted into an

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

and redesignated SSN-599.

History

Commissioned

''Patrick Henry''s keel was laid down by the

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

Division of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Corporation, in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

, on 26 May 1958. She was launched on 22 September 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Betty Arends (née Tychon), wife of Congressman

Leslie C. Arends Leslie Cornelius Arends (September 27, 1895July 17, 1985) was a Republican politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1935 until 1974. A native and lifelong resident of Melvin, Illinois, Arends attend ...

and was commissioned on 9 April 1960, with

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Harold E. Shear in command of the Blue crew and Commander

Robert L. J. Long Robert Lyman John Long (May 29, 1920 – June 27, 2002) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1977 to 1979 and Commander in Chief Pacific from 1979 to 1983.The Reminiscences of Admiral ...

commanding the Gold crew. Manned alternately by two crews, Blue and Gold, like all US Navy ballistic missile

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s, to maximize her submerged operations, ''Patrick Henry'' underwent shakedown with the Blue crew until 16 September 1960, when the Gold crew took over. The second fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarine, she commenced her first deterrent patrol in December 1960 with her Blue Crew on board. When she surfaced off

Holy Loch The Holy Loch ( gd, An Loch Sianta/Seunta) is a sea loch, a part of the Cowal peninsula coast of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there afte ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, 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, and the first to go alongside the

submarine tender A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...

for replenishment and routine repair. ''Patrick Henry'' conducted 17 deterrent patrols from Holy Loch until December 1964 when she returned to

. For 18 months she received complete and extensive

overhaul Overhaul may refer to: *The process of overhauling, see ** Maintenance, repair, and overhaul **Refueling and overhaul (eg. nuclear-powered ships) **Time between overhaul * Overhaul (firefighting), the process of searching for hidden fire extensio ...

and repair operations, including refueling of the

S5W reactor The S5W reactor is a nuclear reactor used by the United States Navy to provide electricity generation and propulsion on warships. The S5W designation stands for: * S = Submarine platform * 5 = Fifth generation core designed by the contractor * W ...

plant and modifications to permit the handling of the Polaris A-3 missiles. After shakedown in mid-1966 off

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

, Florida, ''Patrick Henry'' departed

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, in December for her eighteenth patrol, equipped with A-3 Polaris missiles and assigned to

Submarine Squadron 14 Submarine Squadron 14 (SUBRON 14), was a United States Navy submarine squadron. History During World War II, served as tender and staff headquarters for Submarine Squadron 14's staff and Division Staff in Pearl Harbor from July to September 1943 ...

. On 1 March 1968, ''Patrick Henry'' completed her 22nd patrol at Holy Loch. During the early 1970s, ''Patrick Henry''s home port was

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii. In 1976, ''Patrick Henry'' moved to

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...

, for refueling.

Demonstration and shakedown operations, 1978

In the spring of 1978, the ''Patrick Henry'' underwent Demonstration and Shakedown Operations (DASO). The purpose of the DASO was to ensure that the submarine's crew could safely meet the stringent requirements for handling, maintaining and operating her strategic weapons system. It also confirmed that the submarine's crew was able to target and launch her

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...

s (SLBM) correctly and certified that the crew and submarine were ready for operational patrol. Additionally, system performance data was collected about the weapons system and submarine while in an operational environment, which evaluates the readiness and performance of the weapon system.http://www.thefreelibrary.com/U.S.+Navy+Conducts+95th+Straight+Successful+Test+Launch+of+TRIDENT+II...-a083925277" SUNNYVALE, CA, ''Business Wire'', 18 March 2002, U.S. Navy Conducts 95th Straight Successful Test Launch of TRIDENT II -D5- Missile Built by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space Operations After transiting the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, the Blue Crew successfully fired an A-3

Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missile ...

off the coast of

Cape Kennedy , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

in July 1978, and the Gold Crew completed a successful missile firing several weeks later. The Gold Crew brought the ''Patrick Henry'' back through the

and transited to

. She remained with the Pacific Fleet into the 1980s.

Conversion to attack submarine, 1982

In 1982 ''Patrick Henry'' and many of her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s had their ballistic missile tubes disabled and were

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australians, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, ''The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November ...

s (SSNs). ''Patrick Henry'' was redesignated SSN-599.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Patrick Henry'' was decommissioned and struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 25 May 1984, and as of 21 August 1997, she was disposed of through the

Ship-Submarine recycling program The Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process that the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations ...

at the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

References