Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Robert E. Lee, the USS Stonewall Jackson & the USS Dixie

Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601)
George Washington Class Ballistic Missile Submarine: Laid down, 25 August 1958, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.; Launched, 18 December 1959; Commissioned, USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601), 16 September 1960; Decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register, 30 November 1983; Final Disposition, disposed of through NPSSRP (Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA., 30 September 1991.





USS STONEWALL JACKSON
The 17th LAFAYETTE - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. Decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on February 9, 1995, the STONEWALL JACKSON subsequently entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington. Recycling was finished on October 13, 1995.


The design above is the ship's insignia.White lettering and stars on a blue and red background are intended to suggest the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy -- the cause Stonewall Jackson served so well. The words "Strength -- Mobility" emblazoned on the banner are taken from letters written by General Jackson, and apply to the Polaris submarine as well as to the tactics he used so successfully. The American Bald Eagle suggests the strength inherent in the Polaris system, while the arm clothed in Confederate sleeve, thrusting a Polaris missile out of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, suggests the power and concealment of the FBM submarine along with the strength of our heritage from General Jackson.


USS Dixie
Dixie Class Destroyer Tender: Laid down as the lead ship of the Dixie Class Destroyer Tenders, 17 March 1938, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, NJ Launched, 27 May 1939 Commissioned USS Dixie (AD-14), 25 April 1940

1 comment:

  1. My Christmas wish would be to use these fine names again. In the meantime, I will honor them until I am locked up or die.

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