USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636)

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Career
Awarded:	21 July 1961
Laid down:	21 May 1962
Launched:	12 May 1964
Commissioned:	19 December 1964
Fate:	submarine recycling
Stricken:	31 January 1987
General Characteristics
Displacement:	7250 tons surfaced, 8250 tons submerged, 6700 tons light
Length:	129.5 meters (425 feet)
Beam:	33 feet
Draft:	31 feet 5 inches
Speed:	16 knots surfaced, 21 knots submerged
Depth:	1300 feet
Complement:	two crews of 14 officers and 126 men each
Armament:	16 missile tubes, four 21-inch torpedo tubes forward

USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636), a James Madison-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the major general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Her keel was laid down on 21 May 1962 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire. She was launched 12 May 1964 sponsored by Mrs. Neander W. Wade, a descendent of General Nathanael Greene, and commissioned on 19 December 1964 with Commander Robert E. Crispin in command of the Blue Crew and Commander William M. Cossaboom in command of the Gold Crew.

Nathanael Greene departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for shakedown on 30 December 1964, with her Gold Crew embarked. They were relieved 1 February 1965 by the Blue Crew. Her shakedown period was followed by availability at Portsmouth, after which the submarine, with Blue Crew embarked, departed Portsmouth for a missile loadout and her initial Polaris missile deterrent patrol.

21 years of history go here.

On 13 March 1986 Nathanael Greene ran aground in the Irish Sea, suffering severe damage to her rudder and ballast tanks. Deactivated while still in commission in May, she was decommissioned on 15 December and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 January 1987.

Nathanael Greene’s grounding was the first serious accident involving an American nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, but her removal from from service allowed the United States to easily comply with the missile limits of the SALT II Treaty.

ex-Nathanael Greene began the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, on 1 September 1998. On 20 October 2000, she ceased to exist.

References

This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.