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

(1970) Vol. 5, p.21.





NATHANAEL GREENE



	Nathanael Greene was born 27 July 1742 at Warwick, R.I.  

An iron founder by trade, he served in the Rhode Island 

Assembly and in the Kentish Guards.  Appointed Brigadier 

General by the Rhode Island Assembly, and Major General in 

the Continental Army, he was given command of a detachment 

of militia at the siege of Boston and was charged with 

protecting that city after the British withdrawal.  He 

helped to plan the defenses of New York and served with 

General Washington at Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and 

Valley Forge.  Quartermaster General in 1778, he reorganized 

the Army’s logistics.  He also fought at Monmouth and in the 

Rhode Island campaign, and presided over the trial of 

British Major John Andre.  In 1780, he was appointed command 

of the southern forces, winning the battles of Cowpens and 

Eutaw Springs and compelling the British forces under Lord 

Cornwallis to fall back on Charleston.  He died in June 

1786, near Savannah, Georgia.





SSBN-636



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



	NATHANAEL GREENE (SSB(N)-636) was laid down 21 May 1962 

at the Portsmouth, N.H., Naval Shipyard; launched 12 May 

1964; sponsored by Mrs. Neander W. Wade, a descendent of 

General Nathanael Greene; and commissioned 19 December 1964, 

Comdr. Robert E. Crispin and Comdr. William M. Cossaboom in 

respective command of Blue and Gold crews.



	NATHANAEL GREENE departed Portsmouth for shakedown, 30 

December 1964, with Gold crew embarked.  They were relieved 

1 February 1965 by Blue Crew.  Her shakedown period was 

followed by availability at Portsmouth, after which the 

submarine, with Blue Crew embarked, departed Portsmouth for 

a missile loadout and her initial Polaris deterrent patrol.  

Rotating her crews at regular intervals, NATHANAEL GREENE 

has, since that time, conducted deterrent patrols as a unit 

of the Atlantic Fleet assigned to SubRon 18.



	[Deactivated while still in commission in May 1986, 

NATHANAEL GREENE was decommissioned on 15 December 1986 and 

stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 January 1987.  

She began the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine 

Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, on 1 September 

1998.  As of May 1999, the process was ongoing.  When she 

emerges from the program, the former ballistic missile 

submarine will be 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