USS ''Tecumseh'' (SSBN-628), a

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 ...

, was the fourth ship 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 ...

to be named for

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

(c.1768–1813), the leader of the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

people.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Tecumseh'' was awarded to the

Electric Boat Division General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy for more than 100 years. The company's main facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Co ...

of the

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 20 July 1961. Originally, she was to have been named ''William Penn'', and would have been the first Navy ship to bear that name, but was renamed on 11 April 1962. ''Tecumseh''s keel was laid down on 1 June 1962. She was launched on 22 June 1963 sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Inez (Tyner) Sikes, wife of Florida

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Robert L. F. Sikes, and commissioned on 29 May 1964, 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. ...

Arnett B. Taylor in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Charles S. Carlisle in command of the Gold Crew.

Service history

Based at

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu, Hawaii, 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 ...

, ''Tecumseh'' deployed to the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

on 17 December 1964, arriving at

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

on 29 December 1964 to commence deterrent patrols. ''Tecumseh'' had conducted 21 strategic deterrent patrols in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

by 1969, when she transferred to the

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. She proceeded via Pearl Harbor and 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 ...

to the

United States East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

and arrived at

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, on 8 November 1969. Soon thereafter, she entered Newport News shipyard for a conversion which replaced her

Polaris ballistic missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel rocket, solid-fueled nuclear warhead, 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 ...

system with the new Poseidon ballistic missile system. Emerging from

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

on 9 May 1970, ''Tecumseh'' underwent a thorough overhaul through that fall and winter before being assigned a new home port of

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 ...

, on 18 February 1971. ''Tecumseh'' conducted

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s and

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

out of Charleston before conducting two deterrent patrols in late 1971. Subsequently deployed to Holy Loch, Scotland, ''Tecumseh'' arrived in Scottish waters on 9 February 1972. She conducted 18 more deterrent patrols out of Holy Loch through 1976. ''Tecumseh'' was homeported in Charleston, South Carolina, at least from March 1982 until entering Newport News shipyard for a refueling overhaul in 1983. After completion of this overhaul in Spring of 1987 she successfully completed sea trials, shakedown, and a successful missile launch and returned to her home port of Charleston, South Carolina, From 1987 to 1992 Tecumseh was homeported in Charleston SC, making patrols from both Charleston and Holy Loch Scotland. In 1992, Tecumseh off-loaded its missiles and participated in war games out of Charleston for training of attack boats and other Anti-Submarine warfare vessels or planes. In January 1993, Tecumseh transited the Panama Canal, and subsequently ported in Bremerton, WA for decommissioning.

Decommissioning and disposal

''Tecumseh'' was decommissioned and stricken 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 23 July 1993. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered

Ship and 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 ...

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

, was completed on 1 April 1994.

Memorials

''Tecumseh''s port torpedo tubes and a large piece of pressure hull were preserved and are now on display at the

Naval Undersea Museum The United States Naval Undersea Museum is a naval museum located at Keyport, Washington. It is one of the 10 Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It sits next to a branch of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. ...

Keyport, Washington Keyport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The community is located at the eastern terminus of Washington State Route 308, S ...

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tecumseh (SSBN-628) Ships built in Groton, Connecticut James Madison-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1963 ships