USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644)
USS Lewis and Clark (SSBN-644), a
Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine, was the first ship of the
United States Navy to be named for
the explorers Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark.
Her keel was laid down by
Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of
Newport News, Virginia, on
29 July 1963. She was
launched on
21 November 1964 sponsored by Mrs. M.F. Engman and Mrs. M.G. Sale, and
commissioned 22 December 1965 with Commander John F. Fagan, Jr., in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Kenneth A. Porter in command of the Gold Crew.
On
21 July 1972 Lewis and Clark completed conversion of her missile tubes to carry
Poseidon C3 missiles instead of the
Polaris A3 missiles she had originally been equipped with. On
18 December the Gold Crew successfully launched one
Poseidon C-3 missile in support of the ship's Demonstration and Shakedown Operation.
On
8 April 1973 Lewis and Clark deployed for operational patrol.
On
19 June 1981 Lewis and Clark successfully fired four
Poseidon C-3 missiles in a Follow-on Operational Test. On
23 July she began a Poseidon refueling overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding.
On
13 June 1985 Lewis and Clark successfully launched four
Poseidon C-3 missiles in a Follow-on Operational Test.
Deactivated while still in commission on
1 October 1991,
Lewis and Clark was decommissioned on
27 June 1992 and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register on the following
1 August. The hulk began the Navy's Nuclear Powered
Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in
Bremerton, Washington, on
1 October 1995 and ceased to exist on
23 September 1996.
Lewis and Clark's sail and fair-water planes and the top of its rudder are now on display at the
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in
Charleston, South Carolina, part of a memorial to the officers and men of the Submarine Service that served during the
Cold War. The U.S. Navy later fielded a cargo ship named
USNS Lewis and Clark.
