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USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN 636)

USS NATHANAEL GREENE was the 19^th LAFAYETTE - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. Heavily damaged in a grounding in the Irish Sea on March 13, 1986, the NATHANAEL GREENE was deactivated in May 1986 and subsequently decommissioned in December 1986. This decision was partly made in order to satisfy the SALT II limitations. Stricken from the Navy list on January 31, 1987, the NATHANAEL GREENE entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on September 1, 1998. Recycling was finished on October 20, 2000.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS NATHANAEL GREENE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Accidents aboard USS NATHANAEL GREENE:

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About the Ship's Name:

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.

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USS NATHANAEL GREENE History:

USS NATHANAEL GREENE was a JAMES MADISON-class fleet ballistic missile submarine of the United States Navy, part of the "41 for Freedom" force that provided continuous nuclear deterrent patrols in the Atlantic during the most intense decades of the Cold War. Named for Revolutionary War major general Nathanael Greene, she was ordered on July 21, 1961, as the Navy was expanding its Polaris ballistic-missile submarine force to maintain a survivable second-strike capability against the growing Soviet strategic arsenal.

Her keel was laid on May 21, 1962, at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, a yard with long experience in submarine construction. The hull took shape as one of the later members of the JAMES MADISON class, incorporating lessons from the earlier LAFAYETTE boats in quieting and habitability. She was launched on May 12, 1964, sponsored by Mrs. Neander W. Wade, a descendant of Nathanael Greene, in a ceremony that marked her formal entry into the fleet's building program. Commissioning followed on December 19, 1964, again at Portsmouth. At that point, she received her dual-crew organization: Commander Robert E. Crispin took command of the Blue Crew and Commander William M. Cossaboom of the Gold Crew, enabling the high-tempo rotation of long submerged patrols that was standard for ballistic-missile submarines.

On December 30, 1964, with the Gold Crew embarked, USS NATHANAEL GREENE departed Portsmouth for her shakedown cruise, operating in the Atlantic to test propulsion, navigation, sonar and weapons systems under operational conditions. The Gold Crew handed the boat over to the Blue Crew on February 1, 1965, and the shakedown period continued until the ship returned to Portsmouth for post-shakedown availability, where shipyard workers and the crew corrected deficiencies and incorporated improvements that had surfaced during the first at-sea period. After this yard work, with the Blue Crew on board, the submarine left Portsmouth to load Polaris ballistic missiles and embarked on her initial deterrent patrol, entering the regular cycle of submerged strategic patrols that became her primary mission.

Through the latter half of the 1960s, USS NATHANAEL GREENE operated with the Atlantic Fleet ballistic-missile submarine force. Like other units of the "41 for Freedom", she alternated Blue and Gold crews and spent the majority of each year at sea on extended Polaris patrols in the North Atlantic, remaining hidden and ready to launch if ordered, while brief refit periods allowed for maintenance and crew relief. These patrols were part of the broader U.S. strategy of assured retaliation, complementing land-based Minuteman missiles and strategic bombers. Publicly available sources do not detail every patrol or port call, but they agree that her operational pattern followed the standard routine of submerged deterrent patrols interspersed with shipyard and refit periods on the U.S. East Coast.

On January 29, 1970, NATHANAEL GREENE experienced her first publicly documented incident. While making a surface transit into Charleston harbor, South Carolina, in thick fog, she strayed roughly 300 feet outside the narrow entrance channel and grounded in about 16 feet of water. The harbor was temporarily closed while tugs refloated the 425-foot submarine after about seven hours aground. Subsequent diver inspections reported no hull damage, and no leakage or reactor problems were found, so the grounding became chiefly an operational and navigational lesson rather than a technical mishap. The episode occurred against the backdrop of heightened Cold War maritime activity in the Atlantic, where both NATO and Soviet submarines were increasingly active, making safe navigation into congested ports under poor conditions a significant challenge.

In 1970 and 1971, NATHANAEL GREENE entered Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia for a major overhaul and conversion from Polaris to the newer UGM-73 Poseidon C-3 missile. The yard period included refueling of her S5W reactor and extensive modifications to missile tubes, fire-control systems and associated electronics to handle the larger, more capable Poseidon, which carried multiple independently targetable warheads. This conversion reflected the broader U.S. response to Soviet ABM developments and the continuing strategic arms competition of the era. By September 21, 1971, conversion work was reported complete, making her the ninth SSBN to receive Poseidon capability.

Following this shipyard period, USS NATHANAEL GREENE conducted demonstration and shakedown operations to prove the Poseidon installation and certify both crews. On November 4, 1971, her Blue Crew successfully launched a Poseidon C-3 missile during a test event, recorded as the first surface launch of a Poseidon missile from an SSBN. On December 17, 1971, the Gold Crew also executed a successful Poseidon launch, completing the sequence of shakedown firings required before the submarine could return to the deterrent patrol schedule. These missile shots, conducted on the Atlantic test range, marked her transition from the Polaris to the Poseidon era and demonstrated to both U.S. planners and Soviet observers that upgraded submarine-based warheads were becoming operational.

With conversion complete and both crews certified on the new missile system, NATHANAEL GREENE redeployed to the strategic patrol cycle. On March 26, 1972, she departed Charleston, South Carolina, for her first operational Poseidon patrol following the C-3 upgrade. After that patrol, she arrived at Holy Loch, Scotland, joining the long-standing U.S. submarine support facility there that served as a forward base for Atlantic SSBNs. From Holy Loch, she entered the familiar pattern of SSBNs in the 1970s: rotating between Blue and Gold crews, conducting Poseidon deterrent patrols in the North Atlantic and adjacent waters, and returning periodically to Holy Loch for refit alongside a submarine tender and floating dry dock. These patrols were part of NATO's maritime nuclear posture, aimed primarily at deterring Soviet strategic forces and providing a survivable second-strike option in case of major conflict.

Throughout the mid-1970s, USS NATHANAEL GREENE continued this routine of patrols and refits. Public sources do not break out individual patrol dates or name specific overseas liberty ports she may have visited between patrols, but crew recollections collected later point to a steady tempo of Holy Loch-based operations and Atlantic deployments.

By the late 1970s, the boat required another deep overhaul. Evidence from veteran accounts and unit listings indicates that NATHANAEL GREENE entered Newport News again around 1979 for a second major overhaul. This period likely included substantial maintenance on the propulsion plant, hull and combat systems typical of a full SSBN overhaul, ensuring the submarine could remain in service into the 1980s at a time when the newer TRIDENT-equipped OHIO-class submarines were only just beginning to enter the fleet.

After completing this late-1970s/early-1980s overhaul, NATHANAEL GREENE again underwent demonstration and shakedown operations to validate her systems. On August 22, 1981, she successfully launched another Poseidon C-3 missile in support of these post-overhaul trials, confirming that her missile, fire-control and navigation systems remained fully capable. She then returned to the routine of deterrent patrols from Holy Loch and Atlantic homeport facilities, operating in an environment where the strategic balance was shifting: early SALT II limitations were shaping force levels, and the United States was planning the eventual replacement of the "41 for Freedom" boats with fewer but more capable OHIO-class units.

In August 1984, USS NATHANAEL GREENE suffered one of the more unusual technical mishaps recorded for a U.S. ballistic-missile submarine. On August 11, 1984, while operating in the Irish Sea, she lost her main propeller, later found to be associated with a break in the main shaft that removed roughly the aft third of its length. Using her secondary electric propulsion motor, she proceeded at about three knots toward Holy Loch, but because the U.S. floating dry dock there was fully committed, the submarine was diverted to Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, Scotland, where the Royal Navy's Admiralty Floating Dock No. 60 was available.

After arrival at Faslane, NATHANAEL GREENE entered AFD 60 for inspection and repair. On August 18, 1984, a fire broke out in one of the dock's enclosed machinery spaces, reportedly caused by an electrical fault in a capstan motor that ignited canvas stored nearby. United Kingdom defense officials and the U.S. Navy both stated that the fire remained confined to the dry dock's compartment and did not threaten the submarine. U.S. spokesmen emphasized that the boat suffered no damage from the incident. The repair team determined that the main shaft had indeed fractured, taking with it the propeller. A replacement shaft and propeller were brought in, and work proceeded rapidly. By September 3, 1984, the submarine was undocked, the repairs having been completed in roughly twelve days - an unusually short turnaround for work of that scope. The incident prompted broader checks of shaft integrity on other U.S. and Royal Navy nuclear submarines, reflecting concern that similar cracking might exist elsewhere in the fleet.

NATHANAEL GREENE then returned to service, continuing her deterrent role for a short period. However, on March 13, 1986, she suffered a much more serious accident. While operating in the Irish Sea she ran aground, damaging her rudder and ballast tanks and, according to later assessments, also affecting the sonar dome and forward ballast structures. Although there were no reported injuries and no release of radioactive material or compromise of the Poseidon missile compartment, the structural damage was significant. She initially proceeded under her own power to Holy Loch for emergency inspection and temporary repairs. From there, on April 25, 1986, she departed Scotland submerged and transited across the Atlantic to Charleston, South Carolina, where the full extent of the damage could be evaluated in a U.S. yard.

By mid-1986, Navy planners concluded that repairing USS NATHANAEL GREENE to full operational status would be costly and time-consuming, and that her age and the strategic context did not justify that investment. The United States was already bringing into service the larger OHIO-class SSBNs equipped with TRIDENT missiles, and under the terms and political understandings surrounding the SALT II strategic arms limitation framework the total number of ballistic-missile launchers was under pressure to decline. Early retirement of a damaged older SSBN offered a straightforward way to help satisfy those limits while avoiding an expensive repair program. Consequently, NATHANAEL GREENE was selected for early deactivation.

She was decommissioned at Charleston on December 15, 1986, ending just under twenty-two years of commissioned service. NATHANAEL GREENE was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on January 31, 1987. Her hull then awaited entry into the Navy's Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, which handled the complex process of safely dismantling nuclear-powered vessels. On September 1, 1998, USS NATHANAEL GREENE entered the recycling program at Bremerton, Washington. Over the next two years, technicians removed her reactor core, processed radioactive materials, and cut apart the hull, salvaging reusable metals while ensuring environmental protection in line with U.S. regulations and international expectations accompanying the post-Cold War drawdown of nuclear forces. The recycling process was completed on October 20, 2000, formally ending the physical existence of the submarine.

One prominent part of the boat survives. Her sail was removed before final scrapping, transported to Florida, and erected at Port Canaveral as a monument. There it stands as a memorial to USS NATHANAEL GREENE and to the broader "41 for Freedom" force of Polaris and Poseidon submarines that formed the seaborne leg of U.S. strategic deterrence from the early 1960s into the 1990s. The sail's presence at a major Atlantic port also reflects the submarine's historic connection with the Atlantic test range used for her Poseidon missile firings and with the East Coast bases from which she quietly departed on many deterrent patrols.

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