View source for USS Henry L. Stimson

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Henry L. Stimson;0865506.jpg|300px|USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) underway, 12 July 1984.]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Henry L. Stimson'' (SSBN-655) on 12 July 1984.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1993}}
|Ship name=USS ''Henry L. Stimson''
|Ship namesake=[[Henry L. Stimson]] (1867–1950), [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] (1929–1933) and [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] (1911–1913, 1940–1945)
|Ship awarded=29 July 1963
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat]], [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]]
|Ship laid down=4 April 1964
|Ship launched=13 November 1965
|Ship sponsor=Grace Murphy Dodd
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=20 August 1966
|Ship decommissioned=5 May 1993
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=5 May 1993
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Scrapping via [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] completed 12 August 1994
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Benjamin Franklin|submarine|4}} [[Nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]] [[fleet ballistic missile submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*7,250&nbsp;[[ton]]s surfaced
*8,250&nbsp;tons submerged
|Ship length={{convert|425|ft|m}}
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|31.5|ft|m}}
|Ship power={{convert|15000|shp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=One [[S5W reactor|S5W pressurized-water nuclear reactor]], two geared [[steam turbine]]s, one shaft
|Ship speed=16–20&nbsp;[[Knot (unit)|knots]] surfaced, 22–25&nbsp;knots submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|1300|ft|m}}
|Ship complement=Two crews (Blue Crew and Gold Crew) of 13 [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] and 130 [[Enlisted man|enlisted men]] each
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*16 × [[ballistic missile]] tubes with one [[Polaris missile|Polaris]], later [[Poseidon missile|Poseidon]], later [[Trident missile|Trident I]] ballistic missile each
*4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|adj=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Henry L. Stimson'' (SSBN-655)''', a {{sclass|Benjamin Franklin|submarine|4}} [[fleet ballistic missile submarine]], was the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Henry L. Stimson]] (1867–1950), who served as [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] (1929–1933) and [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] (1911–1913, 1940–1945).

==Construction and commissioning==
The contract for the construction of ''Henry L. Stimson'' was awarded on 29 July 1963, and her [[keel]] was laid down on 4 April 1964 by the [[Electric Boat]] Division of [[General Dynamics]] Corporation in [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], [[Connecticut]]. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 13 November 1965, sponsored by Grace Murphy Dodd, wife of Connecticut [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Thomas J. Dodd]], and was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 20 August 1966 with [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] Richard E. Jortberg commanding the Blue Crew and [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Robert H. Weeks]] commanding the Gold Crew.<ref>{{cite web |title=Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08655.htm |website=NavSource History |access-date=11 November 2022}}</ref>

==Service history==
{{More citations needed|section|date=March 2025}}
Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]], ''Henry L. Stimson'' was assigned to [[Submarine Squadron 10]] at [[New London, Connecticut]]. On 23 February 1967 she put to sea from Charleston with the Blue crew on her first strategic deterrent patrol, armed with [[Polaris A3 missile|Polaris A3 ballistic missiles]]. By August 1967, her Blue and Gold crews had each completed one deterrent patrol.{{original research inline|date=January 2015}} Ballistic submarines employed two crews, ''Blue'' and ''Gold'', in order to facilitate continuous operation at sea, called "forward-presence" in USN parlance.<ref name=cbo2007>{{citation |author=Congressional Budget Office |title=Crew Rotation in the Navy: The Long-Term Effect on Forward Presence |url=http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=8771 |work=U.S. Government Publication |date=1 October 2007 |access-date=27 September 2011}}</ref> While one crew was physically aboard the ship, the other crew had one month of R&R and then almost 2 months of training.  At the end of a patrol, usually lasting approximately 75 days and usually spent entirely submerged, the ship returned to port and was met by the opposite crew.  A week was spent in turnover and then the crews would trade places.  After another 3 weeks of refitting and repairs, the ship would go on patrol and the cycle would continue.

From 1973 until the Trident Missile conversion in 1980, she continued to operate out of Rota, Spain with one visit back to Charleston in 1976(?) to replace the battery bank.

After 1980 until decommissioning, she operated out of Kings Bay Georgia, with the crew based in Charleston, SC.

==Decommissioning and disposal==
''Henry L. Stimson'' was both [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] and stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 5 May 1993. Her scrapping via the U.S. Navy{{'}}s Nuclear-Powered [[Ship and Submarine Recycling Program]] at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], was completed on 12 August 1994.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h5/henry_l_stimson.htm}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=SSBN-655}}
*{{Citation
|url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08655.htm
|title=NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655)
|access-date=26 September 2011
}}
*{{Citation
|url=http://hazegray.org/danfs/submar/ssbn655.htm
|title=hazegray.org: USS Henry L. Stimson
|access-date=26 September 2011
}}

{{Benjamin Franklin class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry L. Stimson (Ssbn-655)}}
[[Category:Benjamin Franklin-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1965 ships]]


{{US-submarine-stub}}