USS Holland (AS-32) | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Holland (AS-32) |
Namesake | John Philip Holland |
Awarded | 31 August 1961 |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding Company |
Laid down | 5 March 1962 |
Launched | 19 January 1963 |
Acquired | 30 August 1963 |
Commissioned | 7 September 1963 |
Decommissioned | 30 September 1996 |
Stricken | 12 May 2000 |
Fate | Sold for scrap 18 July 2013 [1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Hunley-class submarine tender |
Displacement | 19,000 tons |
Length | 599 ft (183 m) |
Beam | 83 ft (25 m) |
Draft | 23 ft 4 in (7.11 m) |
Speed | 18 knots |
Complement | 1,190 |
Armament | None |
USS Holland was a submarine tender in service with the United States Navy from 1963 to 1996.
USS Holland (AS-32) was a Hunley-class submarine tender launched by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 19 January 1963. The first ever built specifically to service fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), [2] she was sponsored by Mrs. John C. Stennis, wife of US Senator John C. Stennis and delivered to the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina. Holland was commissioned on 7 September 1963.
Holland departed Charleston on 14 October for shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returning to Charleston on 19 November. She commenced post-shakedown availability on 25 November.
While Holland was neither a submersible nor a combatant ship, she was a vital link in support of the United States first line of deterrence, the Navy's Polaris missile. She contained a complete machine shop and was capable of making any submarine repair other than major overhaul, including servicing and maintaining the nuclear power plants of Polaris-equipped submarines.
The opening of 1964 found Holland at Charleston, South Carolina, making preparations for deployment to the Polaris replenishment anchorage at Rota, Spain. She arrived in Rota 1 April and relieved Proteus (AS-19) as the fleet submarine tender shortly thereafter. Holland continued her service to the Polaris submarines until relieved 4 November 1966. Holland arrived at Charleston 22 November. There, she tended submarines of the Atlantic Fleet into 1969. In March of that year she returned to Rota for another tour of duty. In January 1973 Holland returned to Charleston, South Carolina.
From November 1974 to June 1975 Holland underwent a conversion overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington to enable her to support submarines equipped with Poseidon missiles.
From November 1975 to January 1982 she served Submarine Squadron 14 at Holy Loch, Scotland. She was a key contributor along with Irish, British and other naval ships in the rescue of racing yachts caught in a severe storm during the 1979 Fastnet Race.
Holland was decommissioned on 30 September 1996 and moored with the Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay near San Francisco, California, and on 10 July 2013 was moved into dry dock at Mare Island for cleaning before being towed to Texas for scrapping. She has since been disassembled.
USS Sam Houston (SSBN-609/SSN-609), an Ethan Allen-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after Sam Houston (1793–1863), president of the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston was the US Navy's seventh ballistic missile submarine.
USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), an Ethan Allen-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931).
USS Lafayette (SSBN-616), the lead ship of her class of ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named to honor Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French military hero who fought alongside and significantly aided the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
USS John Marshall (SSBN-611) was an Ethan Allen-class submarine, the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for John Marshall (1755–1835), the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. Originally a fleet ballistic missile submarine designated SSBN-611, she later was reclassified as an attack submarine and re-designated SSN-611.
USS Alexander Hamilton (SSBN-617) was a United States Lafayette-class ballistic missile submarine. It was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury, who was instrumental in the formation of both the United States Coast Guard and the United States Navy.
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641), a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), the Venezuelan hero of the independence movements of the former Spanish colonies in South America.
USS Thomas Jefferson (SSBN-618), an Ethan Allen class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the third President of the United States (1801–1809). She later was reclassified as an attack submarine and redesignated SSN-618.
USS James K. Polk (SSBN-645), a Benjamin Franklin class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for James K. Polk (1795–1849), the eleventh President of the United States (1845–1849). She was later converted into an attack submarine and redesignated SSN-645.
The third USS Proteus (AS-19) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in the United States Navy.
USS Betelgeuse (AK-260) was the last of the cargo ships in service in the United States Navy. On 10 April 1944, it was renamed the SS Colombia Victory after being launched as a Victory ship to carry cargo during World War II. She was transferred to the US Navy in 1951.
USS John Adams (SSBN-620), a Lafayette-class ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Founding Father John Adams (1735–1826), the second President of the United States (1797–1801), and his son John Quincy Adams (1767–1848), the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829). Both names were used with the captains of the Blue and Gold crews alternately using the names John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624), a Lafayette class ballistic missile submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). She later was converted into an attack submarine and redesignated SSN-624.
USS Tecumseh (SSBN-628), a James Madison-class ballistic missile submarine, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Tecumseh (c.1768–1813), the leader of the Shawnee people.
USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633), a James Madison-class ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Casimir Pulaski (1745–1779), a Polish general who served in the American Revolutionary War.
USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) was a James Madison-class fleet ballistic missile submarine named for Sam Rayburn (1882–1961), Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Sam Rayburn was in commission 2 December 1964 to 31 July 1989 carrying the Polaris missile and later the Poseidon missile. Following decommissioning, ex-Sam Rayburn was converted into a moored training ship for use at the Naval Nuclear Prototype Training Unit at Goose Creek, South Carolina.
USS Stonewall Jackson, a James Madison-class fleet ballistic missile submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Confederate States Army General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (1824–1863).a
USS Simon Lake (AS-33) was the lead ship of her class of submarine tenders in the United States Navy, named for Simon Lake, a pioneering designer of early submarines.
USS Canopus (AS-34) was a Simon Lake-class submarine tender of the United States Navy, operational from 1965 to 1994. The vessel was used to repair and refit submarine-launched Polaris nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and the submarines that deployed with them. The vessel primarily served US naval bases on the US Atlantic Coast and in Europe. In 1969, the ship was overhauled to maintain the new Poseidon Missile Systems. Taken out of service in 1995, the US Navy's intent to have the ship broken up for scrap in the United Kingdom was controversial. By 2010 demolition had been completed.
USS Hunley (AS-31) was a submarine tender of the United States Navy launched on 28 September 1961 and commissioned 16 June 1962. The Hunley was designed to tend most of the long-term requirements of the Polaris Class of submarines. The ship achieved several records and milestones in its service. The Hunley was decommissioned from the regular navy, in 1995 transferred to the US Maritime Commission, and in 2007 sold as scrap to a metal recycling company in Louisiana. In September 2008, during Hurricane Gustav, the decommissioned ship broke free of its moorings in the New Orleans Inner Harbor, but caused little or no damage while adrift.
USS Alcor, AK-259, was a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1952 to 1968. She was originally built in 1944 as SS Rockland Victory, a World War II era Victory ship. She was sold for scrap in 1970.