USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
USS George Washington (SSBN-598), the lead submarine of her class and the first U.S. Navy fleet ballistic submarine, was commissioned on December 30, 1959. At the Atlantic Missile Test Range off Cape Canaveral, Florida, she became the first submerged submarine to successfully launch a Polaris missile on July 20, 1960. Following this launch, she served as a deterrent to global war and was homeported at Groton, Connecticut, Holy Loch, Scotland, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for the next twenty years.
In April 1981, the ballistic submarine collided with Japanese commercial cargo ship Nissho Maru in the East China Sea, resulting in the loss of the cargo ship and crew. Due to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II (SALT II), her ballistic missiles were unloaded and her hull designation was changed in 1983 to an attack submarine, SSN-598. Decommissioned in January 1985, George Washington’s sail is on display at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.
A model of George Washington was on display in the north end of the Cold War Gallery.
A propeller used on George-Washington class fleet ballistic submarines is on display in Willard Park, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
