MC GROGAN’S US NAVY SSN-645 USS JAMES K POLK PATCH "A VERSION" The keel of the USS James K Polk (SSBN-645) was laid down by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Company at Groton, Connecticut on November 23, 1963. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Horacio Rivero, Jr. (Wife of Admiral Rivero) and launched on May 22, 1965. Polk was commissioned on April 16, 1966 with Commander Frank D. McMullen Jr. (Blue) and Commander Robert M. Douglass (Gold) in command. POLK began her first overhaul in July 1971 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. During this overhaul period her weapons system was converted to the Poseidon C3 Missile System. She completed her conversion in late 1972 and commenced her sea trials, including a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO), which culminated in a test launch of the Poseidon C3 Missile. The USS James K Polk was converted to "Drydock Shelter" (SSN) and equipped for special operations in support of SEALS in 1994. The ship's last homeport was in Norfolk, Virginia. She was placed in "Reserve Commission" on February 16, 1999 and decommissioned and stricken from the Navy List on July 8, 1999. I reported to the Polk Off-Crew Office as the new "Gold Crew Leading Radioman" in October 1976 and went aboard for the first time during crew changeover in Rota, Spain. SSBNs have two crews called respectively Gold and Blue. I was a member of the Gold Crew. I served under two different COs during my 4 and 1/2 years aboard Polk; Commander Richard F. Winter until April 1978 and Commander Richard N. Johannes until I transferred in 1980. During my time on board Polk we won the Squadron Battle "E" and two Green "Cs" (communications excellence). Before I get any further into the Polk story, I should give you some background about the ship, SSBNs in general and their crews. The first SSBN was the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) commissioned on December 30, 1959. She was originally intended as a Scorpion Class submarine but during construction her hull was lengthened and she was converted to SSBN. The next class of FBMs after George Washington were the Lafayette or 616 Class. The James K Polk was the Navy's 57th nuclear powered submarine and the 35th Polaris SSBN. Polk was a 640 - Ben Franklin Class Submarine. The original SSBNs or FBMs (Fleet Ballistic Missile) submarines carried the Polaris A-1 which was a single warhead nuclear missile. Later versions were the A2, A3 MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles) and the B3 which evolved into the C3 (Poseidon Missile). All of the 640 Class SSBNs such as Polk carried the Poseidon Missile. Several of the newer 640 Class Boats received an upgrade to the Trident I (C4) missile in the late 70s and early 80s. USS James K Polk (SSBN-645) completed a total of 66 Strategic Deterrent Patrols. The Two-Crew Concept was devised due to the necessity to keep the SSBNs at sea as much as possible in order to provide a credible nuclear deterrent. Each SSBN had two complete crews known respectively as Gold Crew and Blue Crew. The length of a 640 Class Alert Patrol was approximately 70-75 days. There was a submarine tender period for upkeep and refit that lasted about 26 days with crew turnover normally taking 3-4 days. Thus, each crew had the boat for about 105 days. The "Off-Crew" spent this time taking leave, catching up on family matters, and ship/technical training. The Atlantic 640 Class boats were originally forward deployed in either Rota, Spain or Holy Loch, Scotland with off-crew offices located in Charleston, South Carolina or Groton, Connecticut. In 1978 Sub Base Kings Bay, Georgia became operational and most of the Rota boats began deploying out of Kings Bay. The USS James K Polk was 425 feet in length with a beam of 33 feet. Her displacement when submerged was 8,000 tons. When commissioned, Polk carried 16 A-3 Polaris Missiles with a range of 2500 nautical miles. The ship was equipped with 390 tons of air-conditioning equipment. Her diving depth was in excess of 700 feet (Actual diving depth is still classified) and her submerged speed was in excess of 20 knots. The ship carried 14 officers and 126 enlisted men in each crew. (No - we didn't have to hot-rack!) The ship was also armed with 4 torpedo tubes and the Mark 48 Torpedo. The heart of the ship's navigation system was the "Ship's Inertial Navigation System" (SINS), which integrates ship motion, speed and heading to give a continuous report of the ship's position. The ship has three SINS each checking on the other. Knowing the exact position of the ship at all times is critical to successful missile launch. In order to successfully strike the distant target, both the target's position and the Launcher position must be accurately known. The 640 Class SSBNs did not normally transmit messages as this would give away their position, however they maintained continuous receive communications using very low frequency signals which could penetrate sea water up to a depth of approximately 20 feet. The Solid Propellant missiles were launched by a high pressure gas-ejection system which forced the missile from its launching tube and propelled it to the surface of the water. At this point the rocket motor ignited and sent the missile on its way. The Polk was powered by a nuclear power plant consisting of a nuclear reactor providing heat for the generation of steam to drive the main propulsion turbines and the ship's turbo generators for electric power. During my last patrol under Commander Johannes, we were operating in the northern latitudes during the winter months and the sea state was high, (rough). We were scheduled for an ORSE, (Operational Reactor Test) upon our return to port. There was an electrical deficiency which the Captain wanted to correct before the ORSE and we went to periscope depth, shut down the reactor, engaged the diesel, and began snorkeling while the Nukes worked on correcting the problem. NOTE: The higher the sea state the heavier a boat needs to be to maintain her bubble (surface tension) at periscope depth. I don't remember exactly, but I believe we had flooded the depth control tanks to 50,000 pounds of seawater. (I'm sure some of my old shipmates will correct me if I'm wrong!) We had been having problems with the snorkel head valve sticking for some time and this was well known. Sitting "Chief of the Watch" was a newly qualified watchstander. (The Chief of the Watch is in charge of pumping, blowing, and flooding operations.) We took a large wave and lost the bubble, (started sinking). Our "New" Chief of the watch attempted to shut the snorkel valve which stuck open and completely forgot about outboard and inboard induction. At this point, we began going down like a rock. Somewhere during this time frame, the Officer of the Deck closed the induction valves and stopped the flooding. However, by this time we had already taken considerable water into the people tank. I had been sitting in the Chief's Quarters, (middle level across from the Galley and next to the Fan Room) and after hearing a lot of commotion and noise in the passage I opened the door, looked down the passage and saw a surge of water coming from the Fan Room down the passageway. Again, I don't remember the exact amount of water that we flooded into the ship before closing the induction valves, however it was considerable, (I think it was in excess of 70,000 pounds.) Due to the fact that the reactor was shut down and we needed to save battery to restart it, we couldn't run pumps to get rid of the water. The captain ordered a small air blow, just enough to stop our descent and we engaged in an old time Diesel Boat exercise, (Trim Party) to help with our trim since we couldn't pump fore and aft either. This consisted of ordering a quantity of sailors to run forward to the torpedo room or aft to the engine room as needed to help control our angle. We also piled mattresses over the battery well hatch and had sailors sitting on them to keep the water from getting into the well. Sea water and battery fluid do not mix! (If salt water mixes with the electrolyte, it produces chlorine gas.) In the mean time, at intervals, we continued to blow small quantities of air into the ballast tank to maintain depth until we could get the reactor started again. Since I'm still here to tell this story, obviously the reactor started and we recovered, however it was pretty shaky for a while. In addition, the water level covered most of the lower bunks for a period of time and since I had a lower rack, I slept on a damp mattress for the rest of the patrol. Sources: Personal Experience Welcome Aboard Pamphlet

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