Welcome to the U.S.S. Stonewall Jackson (SSBN 634)

Boat's statistics, SSBN 634 (Large photo of the Boat)

Brief history of United States Ship Stonewall Jackson
(SSBN 634)

Keel laid down by Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA, 4 July 1962; Launched 30 November 1963;
Sponsored by Miss Julia Christian McAfee, great, great granddaughter of Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson;
Commissioned 26 August 1964; Cdr. John H. Nicholson in command Blue Crew; Cdr. Richard A. Frost in command Gold Crew;
Decommissioned 15 June 1994.

USS STONEWALL JACKSON (SSBN 634) got underway from Vallejo on 3 September 1964 for her shakedown cruise to Cape Kennedy, Florida. The Blue crew completed training with successful missile firing on 2 December 1964. STONEWALL JACKSON returned to the Pacific Ocean to complete shakedown availability on 13 February 1965, then made final preparations at Bangor, Washington for overseas movement. In April she began her first strategic deterrent patrol.

1 June 1965, the Gold crew relieved the Blue crew at Apra Harbor, Guam, and for the next five years, the submarine conducted deterrent patrols from that port. In the spring of 1970, STONEWALL JACKSON was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet. On 23 April 1970 she got underway from Pearl Harbor to conduct a special operation, before continuing on to the Panama Canal.

She transited the canal on 7 May 1970 and changed operational control from Submarine Flotilla (SubFlot) 5 to SubFlot 6, officially joining the Atlantic Fleet. Eight days later, she put into New London, Conn.

She spent the second half of May in upkeep at New London, then headed south on 1 June. The submarine stopped at the Naval Academy from 7 to 10 June for midshipman indoctrination tours, then put to sea for special operations.

STONEWALL JACKSON entered Charleston, South Carolina to off-load missiles during the first week in July, then shaped a course for New London, arriving on the 10th. On 15 July 1970, she entered the shipyard of General Dynamics Electric Boat Division at Groton, CT, for conversion to the Poseidon (C-3) missile system. The installation of the new missile system was completed by 29 October 1971 when the Blue crew began preparations to put to sea. Between October 1971 and March 1972, both Blue and Gold crews conducted their shakedown cruises off the southeastern coast of the United States. She returned to Groton on 4 March 1972 and, on 8 March, commenced post-shakedown availability at the General Dynamics shipyard.

On 7 April 1972, she got underway for Charleston for a missile load-out in preparation for her first post-conversion and first Atlantic deterrent cruise. From April 1972 until mid 1978, she operated out of the advanced base at Holy Loch, Scotland, alternating Blue and Gold crews on deterrent patrols.

In early summer 1978 she returned to Charleston, South Carolina to again off-load missiles then shaped a course for Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She remained at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard undergoing an extensive overhaul until April 1980.

In April 1980, STONEWALL JACKSON returned to Charleston, South Carolina for post-overhaul shakedown and availability. In late summer 1980 she received a missle systems backfit for conversion to the Trident (C-4) missle system and returned to her deterrent patrol duties home ported in and operating out of Charleston, South Carolina. In September 1982 while her home port remained Charleston, South Carolina, her port of operation moved from Charleston to King's Bay, Georgia alternating Blue and Gold crews until mid 1994 when she began her last patrol at the decommissioning and disassembly yards in Washington state.

STONEWALL JACKSON was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List on 9 February 1995. Disassembly and disposal was completed through SRP (Submarine Recycling Program) on 13 October 1995 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The "Submariner" Only a submariner realizes to what a great extent an entire ship depends on him as an individual. To a landsman, this is not understandable, and sometimes it is even difficult for us to comprehend, but it is so! A Submarine at sea is a different world in herself, and in consideration of the protracted and distant operations of submarines, the Navy must place responsibility and trust in the hands of those who take such ships to sea. In each submarine there are men who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to each other. These men are ultimately responsible to themselves and each to the other for all aspects of operation on their submarines. They are the crew. They are the ship. This is perhaps the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour as a submariner that he can escape the grasp of responsibility. His privileges in view of these obligations are ludicrously small, nevertheless, it is the spur which has givin the Navy it's greatest mariners - the men of the Submarine Service. It is a duty which most richly deserves the proud and time honored title of ... SUBMARINER. Click on the dolphins to learn about their origin. ANY TIME    ANYWHERE ALWAYS READY    ALWAYS THERE

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Nathan W. Bigger MM1/SS ('A' Gang)
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