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USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)

USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) was laid down by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. 24 August 1964; launched 14 August 1965; sponsored by Miss Marian Anderson; and commissioned 15 June 1966, Captain R. D. Dona van (blue crew) and lit. Comdr. Carl J. Lidel (gold crew) in command.

Following shakedown, USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) prepared for her role as one of the Navy's nuclear-powered Polaris submarines silently and invisibly roving the seas as a mighty deterrent against aggression, preserving peace and protecting freedom. Her first patrol began 12 December 1966.

In 1991, USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656)'s ballistic missile had missiles removed and tubes were filled with ballast at Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, SC. The submarine and crew then received a change of homeport to Naval Submarine Base, Bangor, WA and assisted on the west coast in various assignments before finally entering the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington.

USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) was both decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 March 1993 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, where her scrapping via the U.S. Navy's Ship and Submmarine Recycling Program was completed on 12 March 1994.

For a complete history of USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) please see its DANFS page.