Editing USS Patrick Henry

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

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
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|Ship image=[[File:USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) in 1960.jpg|300px|border|alt=USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) in 1960]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Patrick Henry'' (SSBN-599)
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1982}}
|Ship name=USS ''Patrick Henry''
|Ship namesake=[[Patrick Henry]] (1736–1799)
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|Ship ordered=31 December 1957<ref name=NVR>{{cite web |website=Naval Vessel Register |title=PATRICK HENRY (SSN 599)(ex-SSGN 599, SSBN 599) |url={{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSN599}} |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>
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|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat]]
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|Ship laid down=27 May 1958<ref name=NVR/>
|Ship launched=22 September 1959<ref name=NVR/>
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Leslie F. Ahrends
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|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=11 April 1960<ref name=NVR/>
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=25 May 1984<ref name=NVR/>
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|Ship struck=16 December 1985<ref name=NVR/>
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|Ship fate=Recycling via [[Ship-Submarine Recycling Program]] completed 21 August 1997
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|Ship class= {{sclass|George Washington|submarine}}
|Ship type= [[SSBN]]
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|Ship displacement=
*5400 tons light<ref Name=FAS/>
*5959–6019 tons surfaced<ref Name=FAS/>
*6709–6888 Approx. tons submerged<ref Name=FAS>[http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/slbm/ssbn-598.htm "SSBN-598 George Washington-Class FBM Submarines" from the FAS]</ref>
|Ship length={{convert|381.6|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
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|Ship draft={{convert|29|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
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*1 [[S5W]] [[Pressurized water reactor|PWR]]<ref Name=FAS/>
*2 geared [[turbines]] at 15,000[[Shaft horsepower|shp]]<ref Name=FAS/>
*1 shaft<ref Name=FAS/>
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*{{convert|20|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} surfaced<ref Name=FAS/>
*+{{convert|25|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref Name=FAS/>
|Ship range=unlimited except by food supplies
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|Ship test depth={{convert|700|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref Name=FAS/>
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|Ship complement=*Two crews (Blue/Gold) each consisting of
**12 officers
**100 men
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*16 [[Polaris missile|Polaris A1/A3 missiles]]<ref Name=FAS/>
*6 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on}} [[torpedo]] tubes<ref Name=FAS/>
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'''USS ''Patrick Henry'' (SSBN-599)''', named after the [[American Revolutionary War]] figure and [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] [[Patrick Henry]] (1736–1799), was a {{sclass|George Washington|submarine|4}} [[Nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]] fleet [[ballistic missile submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]].  She was later converted into an [[attack submarine]] and redesignated '''SSN-599'''.

==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.

==Decommissioning and disposal==
''Patrick Henry'' was decommissioned and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 25 May 1984, and as of 21 August 1997, she was disposed of through the [[Ship-Submarine recycling program]] at the [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]].

== See also ==
*[[CSS Patrick Henry|CSS ''Patrick Henry'']]

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/patrick-henry-ssbn-599.html}}

{{George Washington class submarine}}
{{Patrick Henry}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick Henry (SSBN-599)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:George Washington-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1959 ships]]