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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski
Radio Call Sign: November - Whiskey - Yankee - Uniform

Henry Clay (SSBN-625)

Lafayette Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 23 October 1961, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 30 November 1962; Commissioned, USS Henry Clay (SSBN 625), 20 February 1964; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 5 November 1990; Disposed of through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, 30 September 1997 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 7,250 t., Submerged: 8,250 t.; Length 425'; Beam 33'; Draft 32'; Speed, Surfaced/Submerged 20+ kts; Complement 120; Test depth 1,300'; Armament, 16 Polaris missile tubes, four 21" torpedo tubes; Propulsion, S5W Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor, two geared turbines at 15,000 shp, one propeller.
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Henry Clay61kI implore, as the best blessing which Heaven can bestow upon me upon earth, that if the direful and sad event of the dissolution of the Union shall happen, I may not survive to behold the sad and heart-rending spectacle.
Quote from "On the Compromise Resolutions," speech before the U.S. Senate, February 5 and 6, 1850.
On 29 June 1852, statesman Henry Clay, known as "the Great Compromiser" for his feats of legislative reconciliation between the North and the South, died at the age of seventy-five at the Old National Hotel in Washington, D.C. 		Text from The Life and Speeches of Henry Clay (Littleton, Colorado: Fred B. Rothman, 1987), 2: 664. courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Photo from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, courtesy of Bill Gonyo. Photo added 02/02/08.
Henry Clay21kCommemorative postal cover marking the first day in commission of the Henry Clay (SSBN-625), 20 February 1964.
 Photo courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Henry Clay108kThe Henry Clay (SSBN-625) launches a Polaris Missile from the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Kennedy, Florida in 1964. The objects flying through the air around the missile are launch adapters designed to detach themselves automatically once the missile left the tube. The sub's slight port list is a stadard part of surface launch procedures. The tall mast is a temporary telemetry antenna installed for operations at the Cape only. This was the first demonstration that Polaris subs can launch missiles from the surface, as well as beneath the surface. Thirty minutes earlier the Henry Clay successfuly launched a missile while submerged.
USN photo # N-0000F-001 courtesy of All Hands magazine by the Naval Historical Center, April 2002, pg. 46 & submitted by Bill Gonyo. Text courtesy of boomer.user-services.com.(Gerald A. Pollack).
Henry Clay258kThe Henry Clay (SSBN-625) underway 6 Dec 1967.
Official US Navy Photograph # USN-1122741 from the US Naval Photographic Center, submitted by Robert M. Cieri.
Henry Clay114kPort side view of the Henry Clay (SSBN-625) underway in Holy Loch, Scotland, taken in the late 60's while underway for pre-patrol sea trials following a crew change.
 Photo i.d. & text courtesy of Frank R. Hof ETC(SS) USNR-ret, SSBN 625G March, 1965 - May 1970.
Photo courtesy of goatlocker.org.
Henry Clay70kHenry Clay (SSBN-625) entering Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 22 July 1970, while enroute from overhaul in Charleston, South Carolina, to Guam, Marianas Islands.
Courtesy of boomer.user-services.com,(Gerald A. Pollack), photo by Stuart P. Tulk.
Henry Clay49kHenry Clay (SSBN-625) moored alongside Hunley (AS-31) in Holy Loch, Scotland, circa 1983.
Courtesy of boomer.user-services.com (Gerald A. Pollack), photo submitted by Mike Scheppke.
Henry Clay120kHenry Clay (SSBN-625), date and place unknown.
 US Navy Photo.
Henry Clay100kLaurels accumulate on the Henry Clay (SSBN-625) as her crew docks in this undated photo. USN photo courtesy of pelicanharborsubvets.com.
Henry Clay84kBow on view of the Henry Clay (SSBN-625) underway, date and location unknown.
Courtesy of goatlocker.org.
PSNSY 683k An aerial view of a section of the Ship Intermediate Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 17 May 1993. One submarine tender and 16 decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines are shown including the Seawolf (SSN-575); six George Washington, and Lafayette class SSBN's (with their missile sections cut out) plus several Skate, Skipjack, Permit and Sturgeon class SSN's. All are awaiting scrapping.
Bottom row, from left to right Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), Skipjack (SS-585), Snook (SSN-592), Henry Clay (SSBN-625), Lapon (SSN-661), Dace (SSN-607), Skate (SSN-578), Swordfish (SSN-579), Sargo (SSN-583) , Seadragon (SSN-584).
Across the pier are Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618), and not in view, Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), George Washington (SSBN-598),Barb (SSN-596) & Sea Devil (SSN-664).
Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DN-ST-95-01863, by Calvin Larsen, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston (USN).
PSNSY291k"Sign of the times." March 1994 photo of Nuclear submarines at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard waiting in line for scrapping.
Top row left to right are Ethan Allen (SSBN-608), Seawolf (SSN-575) Plunger (SSN-595), Shark (SSN-591), Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636), Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685) alongside Sperry (AS-12), with Triton (SSRN-586) across the pier from the Sperry .
Bottom row, from left to right Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), Skipjack (SS-585), Snook (SSN-592), Henry Clay (SSBN-625), Lapon (SSN-661), Dace (SSN-607), Skate (SSN-578), Swordfish (SSN-579), Sargo (SSN-583) , Seadragon (SSN-584).
Across the pier are Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618), and not in view, Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), George Washington (SSBN-598),Barb (SSN-596) & Sea Devil (SSN-664).
There are so many submarines at PSNSY that the yard is running out of pier space.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Reactor Compartments83kTrench 94, Hanford Site, Washington, 1994. Hull sections containing defueled reactor compartments of decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines are put in disposal trenches. Once full, the trench will be filled with dirt and buried. The compartments are expected to retain their integrity for more than 600 years. USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.
Scrapping 25kCommemorative post card marking the scrapping of the Seawolf (SSN-575), Snook (SSN-592), Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), Henry Clay (SSBN-625) and Baton Rouge (SSN-689), 31 August 1997 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Spent Fuel569kSealed reactor compartments are shipped by barge out of Puget Sound Naval Base down the coast and along the Columbia River to the port of Benton. There the radioactively-contaminated hull sections are transferred to special multiwheeled high-load trailers for transport to the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. Pictured below is the burial ground for spent fuel of the following 77 nuclear reactor submarines as of March 2003:
Patrick Henry (SSBN-599),
Snook (SSN-592),
George Washington (SSBN-598),
Scamp (SSN-588),
Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601),
Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618),
Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600),
Dace (SSN-607),
John Adams (SSBN-620),
Abraham Lincoln (SSBN-602),
Barb (SSN-596),
Ethan Allen (SSBN-608),
Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610),
Pollack (SSN-603),
Glenard P. Lipscomb (SSN-685),
James Monroe (SSBN-622),
Skipjack (SS-585),
Nathan Hale (SSBN-623),
Plunger (SSN-595),
Shark (SSN-591),
Lafayette (SSBN-616),
Sam Houston (SSBN-609),
Jack (SSN-605),
Haddo (SSN-604),
Tinosa (SSN-606),
Guardfish (SSN-612),
Permit (SSN-594),
Queenfish (SSN-651),
Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631),
John Marshall (SSBN-611),
George C. Marshall (SSBN-654),
Flasher (SSN-613),
Guitarro (SSN-665),
Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617),
George Washington Carver (SSBN-656),
Tecumseh (SSBN-628),
Halibut (SSGN-587),
Will Rogers (SSBN-659),
Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655),
Daniel Boone (SSBN-629),
Greenling (SSN-614),
John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630),
Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633),
Skate (SSN-578),
Sargo (SSN-583),
Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657),
Sturgeon (SSN-637),
Benjamin Franklin (SSBN-640),
Swordfish (SSN-579),
Seadragon (SSN-584),
Stonewall Jackson (SSBN-634),
Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641),
Hammerhead (SSN-663),
Mariano G. Vallejo (SSBN-658) ,
Tullibee (SSN-597),
Lewis & Clark (SSBN-644),
Pargo (SSN-650),
Seahorse (SSN-669),
Gurnard (SSN-662),
Flying Fish (SSN-673),
Gato (SSN-615),
Puffer (SSN-652),
Seawolf (SSN-575),
Baton Rouge (SSN-689),
Bergall (SSN-667),
Whale (SSN-638),
Henry Clay (SSBN-625),
James Madison (SSBN-627),
Finback (SSN-670),
Spadefish (SSN-668),
Sunfish (SSN-649),
George Bancroft (SSBN-643),
Grayling (SSN-646),
Pintado (SSN-672),
Tunny (SSN-682),
Archerfish (SSN-678),
& Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624).
USN photo & partial text courtesy of home.flash.net/~tomj/tunny/chop/rx. & submitted by Jack Treutle.
View the Henry Clay (SSBN 625)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway web site/
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Henry Clay Home Page
FAS - SSBN-616 Lafayette Class FBM Submarines

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