>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” 

(1970) Vol. 5, p.21.





NATHAN HALE



		Nathan Hale, both in Coventry, Connecticut, 6 June 

1755, graduated from Yale College in 1773.  Two years later, 

as residents of the colonies pressed for the rights of 

Englishmen, Hale, a teacher, was appointed a lieutenant by 

the Connecticut General Assembly 1 July 1775.  As the fight 

for English common rights turned into one for independence, 

he fought with the Continental Army in the siege of Boston 

and was later chosen as one of the captains of Knowlton’s 

Rangers.  Volunteering as a spy for General Washington in 

the summer of 1776, he went to Long Island disguised as a 

Dutch school teacher.  On 21 September, however, he was 

captured.  The British Commander, General Sir William Howe, 

offered him a captaincy and ample purse if he would change 

allegiance.  Hale refused and was sentenced to hang the 

following day.  His jailer, the infamous Provost Marshal 

William Cunningham, refusing him a Bible, chaplain, or paper 

for letters, tauntingly demanded some last words.  Nathan 

Hale spoke prayerfully for American freedom, ending with the 

unforgettable expression;  “I only regret that I have but 

one life to lose for my country.”





SSBN-623



Displacement:  

	Surfaced:  7,250 t.

	Submerged:  8,250 t.

Length:  425’

Beam:  33’

Draft:  31’5”

Speed:  20+ k.

Complement:  168

Armament:  Polaris missiles

Class:  LAFAYETTE



	NATHAN HALE (SSB(N)-623) was laid down 2 October 1961 

by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., 

Groton, Connecticut; launched 12 January 1963; sponsored by 

Mrs. George W. Anderson, Jr.; and commissioned 23 November 

1963, Comdr. Joseph W. Russel (Blue Crew) and Comdr. Samuel 

S. Ellis (Gold Crew) in command.



	Following shakedown and demonstration-and-system 

operations in the Atlantic Missile Range, NATHAN HALE was 

assigned to SubRon 16 and homeported at Charleston, S.C., 21 

May 1964.  With two complete, equally trained crews, rotated 

at regular intervals to maximize patrol "on station" time, 

NATHAN HALE has, since that time, conducted deterrent 

patrols as a unit of the Atlantic Fleet.



	[Deactivated while still in commission in May 1986, 

NATHAN HALE was decommissioned on 3 November 1986 and 

stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 January 1987.  

She went through the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and 

Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, from 

2 October 1991 to 5 April 1995.  On the latter date, the 

ship was classed as scrapped.



Internet web site:

	United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum

		www.uss-salem.org/worldnav/usa/decom.htm





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com