USS Ulysses S. Grant

USS Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631) entering point at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.
History
United States
Namesake	Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), American Civil War general and the 18th President of the United States (1869-1877)
Ordered	20 July 1961
Builder	Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down	18 August 1962
Launched	2 November 1963
Sponsored by	Mrs. David W. Griffiths
Commissioned	17 July 1964
Decommissioned	12 June 1992
Stricken	12 June 1992
Fate	Scrapped via Ship-Submarine Recycling Program completed 23 October 1993
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	James Madison-class 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	32 ft (9.8 m)
Installed power	S5W reactor
Propulsion	2 × geared steam turbines 15,000 shp (11,185 kW), one shaft
Speed	Over 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Test depth	1,300 feet (400 m)
Complement	Two crews (Blue and Gold) of 13 officers and 130 enlisted each
Armament	16 × ballistic missile tubes (originally for Polaris missiles, later for Poseidon missiles 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (all forward)

USS Ulysses S. Grant (SSBN-631), a James Madison-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship^a of the United States Navy to be named for Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), American Civil War general and the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877).

The contract to build Ulysses S. Grant was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 20 July 1961 and her keel was laid down there on 18 August 1962. She was launched on 2 November 1963, sponsored by President Grant's great-granddaughter Edith (Grant) Griffiths,^[1] wife of Colonel David W. Griffiths (retired), and commissioned on 17 July 1964 with Captain J. L. From Jr., in command of the Blue Crew. In September, Commander C.A.K. McDonald took command of the Gold Crew.

Following shakedown, the Ulysses S. Grant got underway from Groton in early December 1964, bound for the Pacific Ocean. Transiting the Panama Canal on 31 December 1964, she arrived at Pearl Harbor in January 1965. She was deployed to Guam, in the Mariana Islands, and conducted 18 deterrent patrols operating from there equipped with Polaris ballistic missiles before returning to the United States in 1969. After an overhaul and conversion to carry Poseidon ballistic missiles at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, Ulysses S. Grant was deployed to Holy Loch in Scotland in 1970, and operated in the European area until September 1977.

In the late 1970s, Ulysses S. Grant underwent a refueling overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Kittery, Maine. After the overhaul period, the Blue Crew, under Commander W.G. Ellis, completed what was called "The best DASO (Demonstration and Shakedown Operation) in 10 years,"^b which concluded with the firing of a test missile on 31 July 1980. Ulysses S. Grant then returned to Charleston, South Carolina, where, subsequent to normal change if command, the Gold Crew, under the command of Commander Michael P. McBride, took Ulysses S. Grant through a non-firing second-half DASO. During that period, the Gold Crew enjoyed a luxury for a "boomer"^c crew, a swim call in the Caribbean. USS Ulysses S. Grant continued to operate out of Holy Loch, Scotland, for several more years, until 1984 or later.

On 7 April 1987, two crewmen of Ulysses S. Grant were swept off the submarine's missile deck during heavy seas 3 miles off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. One man, Lt. David Jimenez of Groton, Connecticut, was rescued but was pronounced dead soon afterwards. The second man, Chief Torpedoman's Mate Larry Thompson of Concord, California, remained "lost at sea".^[2][3]

In 1989, after the Blue Crew turned Ulysses S. Grant over to the Gold Crew while she was moored alongside the submarine tender USS Fulton, the Gold Crew took the submarine to Holy Loch, and Ulysses S. Grant operated on deterrent patrols out of Holy Loch for the remainder of her career.

Ulysses S. Grant was decommissioned on 12 June 1992 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on the same day. Her scrapping via the Nuclear-Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton was completed on 23 October 1993.

Ulysses S. Grant's ship's bell is stored at the submarine base at Bremerton, where it has been used in retirement ceremonies.

^a The earlier two were named simply USS U. S. Grant. ^{[clarification needed]}
^b Quoted by SP 205. ^{[where?][when?]}
^c United States Navy slang for a ballistic missile submarine.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
• Photo gallery of USS Ulysses S. Grant at NavSource Naval History