USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN 619)

- decommissioned -

USS ANDREW JACKSON was the third LAFAYETTE - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on August 31, 1989, the ANDREW JACKSON spent the next years at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., awaiting to be disposed of through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. Recycling was finished on August 30, 1999.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: July 23, 1960
	Keel laid: April 26, 1961
	Launched: September 15, 1962
	Commissioned: July 3, 1963
	Decommissioned: August 31, 1989
	Builder: Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Calif.
	Propulsion system: one S5W nuclear reactor
	Propellers: one
	Length: 425 feet (129.6 meters)
	Beam: 33 feet (10 meters)
	Draft: 31.5 feet (9.6 meters)
	Displacement: Surfaced: approx. 7,250 tons; Submerged: approx. 8,250 tons
	Speed: Surfaced: 16 - 20 knots;Submerged: 22 - 25 knots
	Armament: 16 vertical tubes for Polaris or Poseidon missiles, four 21" torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes, Mk-14/16 torpedoes, Mk-37 torpedoes and Mk-45 nuclear torpedoes
	Crew: 13 Officers and 130 Enlisted (two crews)

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Crew List:

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

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Accidents aboard USS ANDREW JACKSON:

Date	Where	Events
May 24, 1979	New London, CT.	USS ANDREW JACKSON incurs slight damage to its rudder when it runs aground briefly while entering the New London, CT., harbor in low visibility.

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History of USS ANDREW JACKSON:

USS ANDREW JACKSON was laid down on 26 April 1961 at Vallejo, Calif., by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard; launched on 15 September 1962; sponsored by Mrs. Estes Kefauver, the wife of Senator Kefauver of Tennessee; and commissioned on 3 July 1963, Comdr. Alfred J. Whittle, Jr., (Blue crew) and Comdr. James B. Wilson (Gold crew) in command.

Following commissioning, the nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarine sailed via the Panama Canal to the east coast. On 1 and 11 October, during shakedown training out of Cape Canaveral, Fla., she successfully launched A-2 Polaris missiles; and, on 26 October, she sent A-3X Polaris missiles into space in the first submerged launching of its type; and she repeated the feat on 11 November. Five days later and six days before his assassination, on 16 November 1963, President John F. Kennedy embarked in OBSERVATION ISLAND (EAG 154) observed ANDREW JACKSON launch another A-2 polaris missile from a point off Cape Canaveral and congratulated Comdr. Wilson and his crew for "impressive teamwork." In late November, ANDREW JACKSON entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, S.C., for post-shakedown availability.

The yard work was completed on 4 April 1964, and ANDREW JACKSON was assigned to Submarine Squadron 16, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet. In May, she departed her homeport, Charleston, for her first patrol and continued to conduct deterrent patrols from the advanced base at Rota, Spain, through 1973. On 19 March of that year, the submarine arrived at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Conn., for a conversion to Poseidon.

This modernization and repair task was completed on 7 August 1975, and the ship sailed to Exuma Sound, Bahamas, for acoustic trials. Next she reported to Cape Canaveral, Fla., for Poseidon missile tests. In December, ANDREW JACKSON returned to Groton, her new homeport, for the Christmas holidays.

Post-shakedown operations continued in 1976. During February, ANDREW JACKSON conducted nuclear weapons acceptance tests at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; St. Croix, and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. She sailed to Charleston and entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard on 8 March for an availability period. ANDREW JACKSON was underway again on 9 May and returned to New London, Conn., in June. The next four weeks were spent in midshipman training cruises in the New London operating area. In late July she left New London for her first strategic deterrent patrol after her Poseidon conversion. When the patrol was completed, ANDREW JACKSON entered her advanced base at Holy Loch, Scotland. In 1977, patrols from Holy Loch were interspersed with port visits at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New London. In September, a refit was conducted at Charleston, then the submarine returned to Holy Loch. ANDREW JACKSON continued her deterrent patrols from Holy Loch through 1985.

Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on August 31, 1989, the ANDREW JACKSON spent the next years at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., awaiting to be disposed of through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program. Recycling was finished on August 30, 1999.

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