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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655)

Benjamin Franklin Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 4 April 1964, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT; Launched, 13 November 1965; Commissioned, USS Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), 20 August 1966; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 5 May 1993; Disposed of through the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, 28 February 1994 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 missile tubes, four 21" torpedo tubes; Propulsion, S5W Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor, two geared turbines at 15,000 shp, one propeller.

Size	Image Description	Source
175k	Henry Lewis Stimson, born in New York City 21 September 1867, graduated from Yale in 1888. After graduate work and law school at Harvard, he entered the law firm headed by Elihu Root in 1891 and two years later became a partner. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Here he made a distinguished record prosecuting antitrust cases. After defeat as Republican candidate for governor of New York in 1910, Stimson was appointed Secretary of War in 1911. He continued the reorganization of the Army begun by Root, bringing it to high efficiency prior to its vast expansion in World War I. Following the outbreak of war, he was a leader in the American effort to aid the stricken people of Belgium. After the United States became a belligerent, he served in France as an artillery officer reaching rank of Colonel in August 1918. His success in several important diplomatic assignments and as Governor-General of the Philippine Islands led to Stimson's appointment as Secretary of State in 1929. His management of the Nation's foreign affairs was highlighted by his strong opposition to Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the first aggressive step which led to World War II. Returning to private life at the end of President Hoover's administration Stimson was an outspoken advocate of strong opposition to Japanese aggression. In 1941 President Roosevelt returned him to his old post at the head of the War Department and he skillfully directed the tremendous expansion of the Army to the force of over 10,000.000 men which crushed Axis ground forces in Europe and the Pacific. Stimson retired from public office 21 September 1945 and died at Huntington, N.Y., 20 October 1950.	Photo courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. & submitted by Bill Gonyo.
122k	The Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) is waterborne at Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT;, 13 November 1965.	US Navy photo by R.H.Weeks (PCO Gold) & submitted by Loree Riggs.
21k	Commemorative postal cover marking the launching of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT; 13 November 1965.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
19k	Commemorative postal cover marking the commissioning of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), 20 August 1966.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
24k	Admiral Rickover stands in the conning tower of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) during sea trials at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT; November 1965.	US Navy photo.
373k	Admiral Ignatius J. Galantin at periscope of Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), 17 March 1968.	US Navy photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo. Photo added 09/20/08.
29k	Commemorative postal cover marking the 15th anniversary in commission of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), 20 August 1981.	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
139k	The Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) underway, 12 July 1984.	US Navy photo submitted by Loree Riggs & pelicanharborsubvets.com.
338k	The 22nd demonstration and shakedown operational launch of a Trident missile takes place from the nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655). This is the 47th flight of the Trident on 15 Dec 1984.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph # DF-SC-85-12677 by Bob Duff, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.& submitted by Bill Gonyo.
90k	The Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), dockside, possibly at Charleston, S.C.	US Navy photo courtesy of STSCS(SS) Robert Carlin.
122k	Bows on view of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), underway and undated.	US Navy photo submitted by Loree Riggs.
47k	The Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), underway and undated.	US Navy photo courtesy of STSCS(SS) Robert Carlin.
37k	Stern view of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655), underway and undated.	US Navy photo courtesy of STSCS(SS) Robert Carlin.
85k	The Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655) cuts a swath through the seas in this undated photo.	US Navy photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
10k	Commemorative wall plauqe of the Henry L. Stimson (SSBN-655).	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
83k	Trench 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.
569k	Sealed 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.