USS HENRY M. JACKSON (SSBN 730)

USS Henry M. Jackson (1984 - Present) SSBN-730
 

Named after Henry M. Jackson who served on Capitol Hill for 42 years, the last 31 of which he spent in the Senate. As a dominant member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he led an important faction within the Democratic party in his support of a more aggressive role in world affairs.

Senator Jackson was a strong proponent of the TRIDENT submarine program, a watchdog over US - USSR relations, and a critic of SALT. Held in the ship's library and dating back to 1955 is a set of point papers, newspaper articles, and speeches which give clear testimony to his firm commitment to rapid development of nuclear submarines and the POLARIS program (vessels which he often called "underwater satellites"); a greatly expanded attack submarine program to counter a rapidly growing Soviet fleet; emphasis upon arctic operations; and most recently, the TRIDENT program.

In 1959, after riding the USS SKIPJACK (SSN 585) at sea with (then) VADM Rickover, Senator Jackson called for the establishment of a Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare because he believed submarines were "lost in a welter of naval bureaucracy."

Keel Layed:   January 1981
Christening Date:  15 October 1983
Commissioning Date:  6 October 1984
Currently:  In Active Service

USS HENRY M. JACKSON PHOTOGRAPHS

USS HENRY M. JACKSON (SSBN 730)