Editing USS Patrick Henry (section)

==History==
[[File:UGM-27C Polaris A3 launch.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Polaris A3 DASO launch]]

===Commissioned===
''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 [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 22 September 1959, sponsored by Mrs. Betty Arends (née Tychon), wife of Congressman [[Leslie C. Arends]] and was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 9 April 1960, with [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[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. 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]], [[Scotland]], on 8 March 1961, she had set a record for her type, cruising submerged 66 days and 22&nbsp;hours.<ref name=pfaruni>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=58BeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gzEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3088%2C1511305 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=First Polaris sub reaches Scotland after record cruise; pacifists are unimpressed |date=9 March 1961 |page=1, part 2}}</ref>  ''Patrick Henry'' was the first ballistic missile submarine to enter Holy Loch, and the first to go alongside the [[submarine tender]] {{USS|Proteus|AS-19|6}} 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 [[Refueling and Overhaul|overhaul]] and repair operations, including refueling of the [[S5W reactor]] plant and modifications to permit the handling of the [[Polaris missile|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 her eighteenth patrol, 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.

During the early 1970s, ''Patrick Henry''{{'}}s [[home port]] was [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii.

In 1976, ''Patrick Henry'' moved to [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] at [[Vallejo, California]], for refueling.

===Demonstration and shakedown operations, 1978===
In the spring of 1978, the ''Patrick Henry'' underwent [[Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO)|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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20001118105500/http://www.msc.navy.mil/N00p/pressrel/press98/press02.htm navy.mil] Military Sealift Command Press Release, 8 January 1998, The last DASO: Vanguard and Louisiana close a chapter of Navy history</ref> It also confirmed that the submarine's crew was able to target and launch her [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]]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.<ref>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</ref>

After transiting the [[Panama Canal]], the Blue Crew successfully fired an A-3 [[Polaris missile]] off the coast of [[Cape Kennedy]] 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 [[Panama Canal]] and transited to [[Pearl Harbor]]. She remained with the Pacific Fleet into the 1980s.

===Conversion to attack submarine, 1982===
In 1982 ''Patrick Henry'' and many of her [[sister ship]]s had their ballistic missile tubes disabled and were [[hull classification symbol|reclassified]] as [[attack submarine]]s (SSNs). ''Patrick Henry'' was redesignated SSN-599.