The USS George Washington (SSBN-598) was the lead ship of her class, and the first American ballistic missile submarine. The history of how this submarine came to be is quite interesting as it was originally intended to be a fast attack sub called a Skipjack. President Dwight Eisenhower signed for three ballistic missile submarines, and so the Scorpion (SSN-589) Skipjack was reconstructed by placing a 130 foot missile compartment in the middle (between the control navigation …showed first 75 words of 508 total…

…showed last 75 words of 508 total…recycling program. The US concluded that the accident "resulted from a set of coincidences, compounded by errors on the part of some members of the submarine crew." George Washington's commanding office and office of the deck were reprimanded and relieved from duty. During her adventures, she was nicknamed the "Georgefish." The ship made 55 deterrent patrols, many of which were during the Cold War, in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a span of 25 years.