Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN‑658)
1966-1995
Gen. Mariano G. Vallejo, born 7 July 1808 at Monterey, Calif, entered the Monterey Presidial Academy in 1823. Appointed Secretary to the Governor of California in 1825, he later served as Commander of the Presidio at San Francisco, and in 1836 was appointed Commandante General and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier, the highest military command in northern California. That appointment terminated during the Bear Flag Revolt, General Vallejo, in spite of substantial losses suffered as a result of that revolution, chose to remain in his home State and support separation from Mexico and annexation by the United States. An influential member of the State's Constitutional Convention, he was elected a member of the first State Senate (1850). He continued to devote his energies to the development of California for the remainder of his life. General Vallejo died at Sonoma, Calif., 12 January 1890.
(SSBN‑658: displacement 7,250 (surfaced), 8,250 (submerged); length 425'; beam 33'; draft 32'; speed 20+knots; complement 122; armament 16 Polaris missiles; class Benjamin Franklin)
The fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarine Mariano G. Vallejo was laid down 7 July 1964 at the Mare Island Division, San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Calif.; launched 23 October 1965; sponsored by Miss Patricia O. V. McGettigan, great‑great‑granddaughter of General Vallejo; and commissioned 16 December 1966, Comdr. Douglas B. Guthe (blue crew) and Comdr. John K. Nunneley (gold crew) in command.
Mariana G. Vallejo, with two complete, equally trained crews, rotated at regular intervals to maximize patrol "on station" time, conducted shakedown and training exercises along the west coast, in the Caribbean, and off the coast of Florida. Transiting the Panama Canal for the second time on 21 March 1967, she headed for her assigned home port, Pearl Harbor. Arriving 10 April, she continued training exercises and sound trials, then returned briefly to Mare Island. Thence she sailed back to Pearl Harbor, becoming, as of 1 August, an on‑the‑line unit of Submarine Squadron 15. Since that time, into 1969, she has conducted deterrent patrols as a unit of the Pacific Fleet.
