The USS George Washington was the lead ship in a class of submarines. Launched in June 1959, it was named after the first President of the United States. It was built as a warship and had two commanders. The Blue crew’s commander was James B. Osborn and the Gold crew’s commander was John L. From, Jr.

The first mission of the USS George Washington was to test fire ballistic missiles to ensure the capabilities. The first Polaris missile launch from a submarine occurred on July 20, 1960. The second occurred that day as well, impacting an area 1,100 miles away. The Gold crew of the USS George Washington launched to more missiles on July 30, 1960, only this time the submarine was submerged. From then on, the submarine would be loaded with 16 ballistic missiles.

Its first patrol was 66 days long. When arriving at the Naval Submarine Base New London, the Gold crew took over. This would continue until 1964 until the USS George Washington was put into refuel after cruising over 100,000 nautical miles. When she next departed, she would transfer commands to the United States Pacific Fleet, with a home port at Pearl Harbor.

The USS George Washington primary mission was deterrent patrols in the Pacific Ocean. In 1981, she collided with the Nissho Maru, which was a 2,350 ton commercial cargo ship belonging to Japan. It sank in only 15 minutes. Thirteen crew members of the Nissho Maru were rescued by two were lost. Japan was not notified until 24 hours after the collision and the incident created tension between the two countries. The primary cause for the tension was that the USS George Washington was only about 20 miles from Japan’s territorial waters. There was reportedly no attempt at rescue by the USS George Washington.

The United States would apologize and offer compensation to the families of the lost soldiers. While the U.S. would never reveal what it was doing so close to Japanese waters, the Navy did accept responsibility for the accident. In 1983, the ballistic missiles from the USS George Washington were removed in accordance with the SALT I treaty. The final numbers for the nuclear submarine known as the "Georgefish" were 55 deterrent patrols in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans over a span of 25 years.

The USS George Washington would continue in service as an attack submarine, but only for a couple more years. It was decommissioned in 1985 and the recycling of the submarine was completed in 1998.

If you or a loved one served on the USS George Washington, you should consider ordering one of the beautiful Navy rings as a proud reminder of this vessel. There are many symbols and insignia from the USS George Washington that can be engraved into the sides of Navy rings. This would make a wonderful gift for a veteran who was part of this piece of U.S. Navy history. Ordering is easy and it can be shipped almost anywhere in the world. For those that served aboard the USS George Washington, there is no better reminder than Navy Rings.