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The fifth TRITON (SSR(N)-586) was
laid down on 29 May 1956 at Groton, Conn., by the Electric
Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corp, launched on 19
August 1958, sponsored by Mrs. John Will and commissioned on
10 November 1959, Capt. Edward L. Beach in command.
TRITON put to sea on her shakedown
cruise on 15 February 1960, bound for the South Atlantic.
She arrived in the middle Atlantic off St. Peter and St.
Paul Rocks on 24 February to commence a history-making
voyage. Having remained submerged since her departure from
the east coast, TRITON continued on south towards Cape Horn,
rounded the tip of South America and headed west across the
Pacific. After transiting the Philippine and Indonesian
archipelagoes and crossing the Indian Ocean, she rounded the
Cape of Good Hope and arrived off the St. Peter and Paul
Rocks on 10 April--60 days and 21 hours after departing the
mid-ocean landmark. Only once did her sail break the surface
of the sea, when she transferred a sick sailor to heavy
cruiser MACON (CA-132) off Montevideo, Uruguay, on 5 March.
She arrived back at Groton on 10 May, having completed the
first submerged circumnavigation of the earth.
TRITON's globe-girdling cruise
proved invaluable to the United States. Politically, it
enhanced the nation's prestige. From an operational
viewpoint, the cruise demonstrated the great submerged
endurance and sustained high-speed transit capabilities of
the first generation of nuclear-powered submarines. Moreover,
during the voyage, the submarine collected reams of
oceanographic data. At the cruise's conclusion, TRITON
received the Presidential Unit Citation and Captain Beach
received the Legion of Merit from President Dwight D.
Eisenhower.
In March 1964, upon completion of
this overhaul, TRITON's home port was changed from New
London, Conn., to Norfolk, Va. On 13 April 1964, TRITON
became the flagship for the Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet,
and served in that role until relieved by submarine RAY
(SSN-653) on 1 June 1967. Eleven days later, TRITON was
shifted to her original home port of New London.
Because of cutbacks in defense
spending, TRITON's scheduled 1967 overhaul was cancelled
indefinitely, and the submarine--along with 60 other vessels--was
scheduled for inactivation. From October 1968 through May of
1969, the submarine underwent preservation and inactivation
processes and was decommissioned on 3 May 1969. On the 6th,
TRITON departed New London under tow and proceeded to
Norfolk where she was placed in the inactive fleet. She
remained berthed at Norfolk into 1980.
TRITON received both a Presidential
Unit Citation and a Navy Unit Commendation during her
service with the fleet. |
