Career
Ordered:	31 August 1962
Laid down:	2 May 1963
Launched:	16 January 1965
Commissioned:	10 December 1965
Decommissioned:	2 April 2002
Fate:	submarine recycling
Stricken:	2 April 2002
General Characteristics
Displacement:	6511 tons light, 7334 tons full, 823 tons dead
Length:	129.5 meters (425 feet)
Beam:	10 meters (33 feet)
Draft:	9.4 meters (31 feet)
Propulsion:	S5W reactor
Complement:	20 officers, 130 men
Armament:
Motto:

USS Kamehameha (SSBN/SSN-642), a Benjamin Franklin-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Kamehameha I of Hawaii. The contract to build her was awarded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 31 August 1962 and her keel was laid down on 2 May 1963. She was launched on 16 January 1965 sponsored by Mrs. Samuel Wilder King, and commissioned on 10 December 1965, with Commander Roth S. Leddick in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Robert W. Dickieson in command of the Gold Crew.

For much of Kamehameha's service she was based in Rota, Spain.

26½ years of history go here

In July 1992, Kamehameha was converted to a drydeck shelter/swimmer delivery platform and given hull classification symbol SSN-642. Her subsequent missions included SEAL special warfare operations.

ten years of history go here

Kamehameha's armament as a ballistic missile submarine was 16 Poseidon ballistic missiles plus ten to twelve 21" Mark 48 heavy torpedoes. After conversion to DDS platform, Kamehameha carried only torpedoes as armament.

As the 20th century ended, Kamehameha became last of the original "41 for freedom" boats in service, and the oldest submarine in the United States Navy. She holds the record for the longest service lifetime of any nuclear submarine — nearly 37 years.

Kamehameha was decommissioned on 2 April 2002 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 April 2002. Ex-Kamehameha entered the Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program in Bremerton, Washington, in October 2001 and on 28 February 2003 ceased to exist, except for a few items preserved for display. Her sail with fairwater planes and the upper half of her rudder, the boat's bust of King Kamehameha, a koa plate, bow and spear, and the wardroom monkeypod wood table are stored in Pearl Harbor. Her periscopes have been donated to the Deterrent Park on SubBase Bangor to become part of the USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN-624) exhibit.

The ship's motto was "Imua", which roughly translates (from the Hawaiian) as "go forth and conquer."

References

Based on data from the Naval Vessel Register.

External links

• navsource.org: USS Kamehameha