Richard B. Russell
(SSN-687: displacement 3,860; length 292-2-; beam 31-8-; draft 26-; speed 20+ knots; complement 107; armament 4 21- torpedo tubes, SUBROC; class Sturgeon)
Richard Brevard Russell was born 2 November 1897 in Winder, Ga. He graduated from Gordon Institute in Barnesville, Ga., in 1915 and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Georgia in 1918. He served in the enlisted ranks of the United States Naval Reserve Forces in 1918 and, in 1919, set up law practice in Winder. Prior to entering the United States Senate in 1933, Russell served as county attorney for Georgia's Barrow County, as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, its Speaker, and finally, he was Governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933.
Richard B. Russell served in the United States Senate from 1933 to his death in 1971. He received an LL.D. from Mercer University in 1957. During the 91st Congress, he was president pro tempore of the Senate, a member and former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, a member of the Space and Aerouautics [sic; Aeronautics] Sciences Committee and of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. He was also a member of the commission which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While still in office, Senator Russell died 21 January 1971 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Richard B. Russell, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, was laid down 19 October 1971 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Newport News, Va.; her keel was authenticated by Mrs. Ina Russell Stacey, sister and official hostess for Senator Russell. The submarine was launched at Newport News 12 January 1974; sponsored by Mrs. Herman E. Talmadge, wife of Senator Herman E. Talmadge; and commissioned 16 August 1975.
After serving in the U.S. Navy for almost 18 years, Richard B. Russell decommissioned on 24 June 1994 and was struck from the Navy list that same day. Transferred to Bremerton, Washington, the boat was disposed of through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program on 3 January 2003.
29 September 2005
