Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Tags
Related Content
Topic
Document Type
  • Themed Collection
Wars & Conflicts
File Formats
  • Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Location of Archival Materials
  • NHHC

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) 

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS George Washington (SSBN-598) 

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was laid down on 1 November 1957 at Groton, Conn., by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp.; launched on 9 June 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Ollie R. Anderson, wife of Robert B. Anderson, Secretary of the Treasury, and commissioned on 30 December 1959, Cdr. James B. Osborn (blue crew) and Cdr. John L. From Jr. (gold crew) in command.

The first of a class of ballistic missile submarines, USS George Washington (SSBN-598) sailed from Groton on 28 June 1960 for Cape Canaveral, Fla., where she loaded two solid propellant Polaris missiles. USS George Washington (SSBN-598) returned to Cape Canaveral to embark her gold crew, and on 30 July 1960 duplicated her earlier successes by launching two more missiles while submerged.

The submarine completed her first patrol after 66 days of submerged running on 21 January 1961 and put in at New London, Conn. The gold crew took over; and she departed on her next patrol on 14 February. After the patrol USS George Washington (SSBN-598) entered Holy Loch, Scotland, on 25 April 1961. Through 1964 she continued to conduct classified deterrent patrols from that port, alternating her two crews. Four years after her initial departure from Groton she put in to refuel, having steamed 100,000 miles.

After overhaul and refueling at Electric Boat in 1965, George Washington resumed her patrols and served as a deterrent to global war for the next twenty years.

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was decommissioned on 24 January 1985, stricken on 30 April 1986, and later transferred to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., for scrapping. She was disposed of by submarine recycling on 30 September 1998.

For a complete history of USS George Washington (SSBN-598) please see its DANFS page.