USS Henry Clay (SSBN625) Polaris Submarine

USS HENRY CLAY SSBN 625 (Submersible Ship Ballistic Nuclear)(Hull #625)
Lafayette Class Ballistic Missile Submarine.
Named for: Henry Clay (1777–1852) Known as an orator. (speech maker) He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS
Hull laid down on: 23 October 1961 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.
Launched on: 30 November 1962.
Commissioned as: USS Henry Clay (SSBN 625), 20 February 1964.
Decommissioned: 5 November 1990.
Complement: 13 Officers and 130 Enlisted (with improvised berthing, up to 147-150 men).
Displacement Surfaced: 7250 tons.
Displacement Submerged: 8250 tons.
Length: 425 feet.
Beam: 33 feet.
Draft: 32 feet.
Flank Speed: Surfaced/Submerged 20+ knots.
Test depth: 1,300 feet.
Armament: Sixteen Polaris missile tubes, Four 21" torpedo tubes.
Propulsion: S5W Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor, two geared turbines at 15,000HP on one propeller.
Final Disposition: Scrapping via Ship-Submarine Recycling Program completed 30 September 1997.
(The Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process that the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels.) SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsewhere, and usually do.

Photo #1.
A photo collage of the USS Henry Clay in normal and special operations.
Photo #2.
First Submarine Surface ICBM Launch, April 20, 1964.
Photo #3.
An aerial photo of selected submarines at the Bremerton Washington Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Lined up for scrapping. (The next to the "end of the line.") USS Henry Clay is circled in Red.
Photo #4.
"The end of the line." The reactors of the submarines that were decommissioned as a result of the START Treaty with Russia. Awaiting final storage. USS Henry Clay is circled in Red.

START Treaty:
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was signed on July 31, 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. This significant treaty aimed to limit the number of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear warheads that either country could possess. When fully implemented, it resulted in the removal of approximately 80 percent of all strategic nuclear weapons that existed at the time. The United States was restricted to approximately 8,556 nuclear warheads, while the Soviet Union (now Russia) was limited to approximately 6,449 nuclear warheads.

The USS Henry Clay was a great submarine with an impressive history. I am proud to have served on her and with my fellow sailors and officers, both known and unknown to me. The Blue and the Gold Crews, were her heart and soul. She is a part of us all. She was a fine ship.