Pre-commissioning photograph of USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654) underway off Newport News, Virginia, on 31 March 1966 |
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| Career (US) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS George C. Marshall |
| Namesake: | General of the Army George C. Marshall (1880-1959), U.S. Secretary of State (1947-1949) and U.S. Secretary of Defense (1950-1951) |
| Ordered: | 29 July 1963 |
| Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia |
| Laid down: | 2 March 1964 |
| Launched: | 21 May 1965 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. George C. Marshall |
| Commissioned: | 29 April 1966 |
| Decommissioned: | 24 September 1992 |
| Struck: | 24 September 1992 |
| Motto: | Patience, Not Weakness Crew's unofficial motto: "Patience, My Ass" |
| Fate: | Scrapping via Ship and Submarine Recycling Program completed 28 February 1994 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine |
| Displacement: | 7,300 long tons (7,417 t) surfaced 8,250 long tons (8,382 t) submerged |
| Length: | 425 ft (130 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Installed power: | 15,000 shp (11,185 kW) |
| Propulsion: | One S5W pressurized-water nuclear reactor, two geared steam turbines, one shaft |
| Speed: | Over 20 knots |
| Test depth: | 1,300 feet (400 m) |
| Complement: | Two crews (Blue Crew and Gold Crew) of 120 men each |
| Armament: | • 16 × ballistic missile tubes with one ballistic missile each • 4 × Mark 65 Mod 3 and Mark 65 Mod 421 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (all forward) with up to 13 Mark 48 torpedoes (original Mark 14 torpedo and Mark 37 torpedo capabilities removed 1981-1984) • SUBROC (removed 1981-1984) • Mark 37 and Mark 14 torpedo capability (removed 1981-1984) • Mobile submarine simulator (MOSS) decoy capability added 1981-1984 |
USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654), a Benjamin Franklin class ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for General of the Army George C. Marshall (1880-1959), who served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1947 to 1949 and as U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1950 to 1951.
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The contract to build George C. Marshall was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, on 29 July 1963 and her keel was laid down there on 2 March 1964. She was launched on 21 May 1965, sponsored by Mrs. George C. Marshall. At the launching ceremony, former U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893–1971) eloquently described George C. Marshall's strategic deterrent role in the Cold War in this way: "... the waves set up by this launching will go to the furthest reaches of our foreign relations. The very existence of this ship, her power, her mission, her orders, her competence to execute them, will effect more computations, more decisions, than we can readily imagine. Far beyond the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House, she will add a new factor, a new magnitude, to the correlation of forces by which the communists determine their decisions."[1]
George C. Marshall was commissioned on 29 April 1966, with Commander Warran Rich Cobean in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Willard Edward Johnson in command of the Gold Crew.
During an overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding that lasted from 1981 to 1984, George C. Marshall underwent modifications that included the removal of her SUBROC antisubmarine weapon and her Mark 14 torpedo and Mark 37 torpedo capabilities and the installation of a Mobile Submarine Simulator (MOSS) decoy capability.
George C. Marshall conducted 78 strategic deterrent patrols during her career and was one of the last units to leave Holy Loch, Scotland, following the closing of that base in 1992. She conducted her last dive off San Diego, California, in 1992 on her way to Bremerton, Washington, for decommissioning.
George C. Marshall was decommissioned on 24 September 1992 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton was completed on 28 February 1994.
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