| 1958 |
Aug
25 |
Keel
laid on Shipway #5, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. |
| 1959 |
Dec
18 |
Launched. |
| 1960 |
Sept
16 |
Commissioned. |
| Nov |
USS
ROBERT E. LEE operated in and out of Newport News. |
| Dec
2 |
She got
underway for the Narragansett Bay Operating Area for torpedo firing tests. Following the
successful firing of five torpedoes on December 6th, she sailed for Cape Kennedy and
arrived on the 12th. The submarine then loaded Polaris test missiles. |
| Dec
22 |
Conducted
her first Polaris A-1 missile launch. The missile ran "hot and true" and hit the
target. It was the first completely successful "shot" on the first
attempt. It was also the first A1 test that was programmed to ignite underwater. |
| 1961 |
Jan |
She
conducted additional simulated missile launches and on the 15th departed for the Bermuda
Operating Area. There, joined by USS TORSK (SS-423) on the 15th, she engaged in
anti-submarine training. Returning to Norfolk on January 30th, she entered the Newport
News dry-dock on February 3rd for a month of yardwork. She departed Newport News on
March 17th, loaded torpedoes at Yorktown on the 25th. |
| Apr
9 |
Arrived
Cape Kennedy and conducted "special operations". |
| May
2 |
Departed
for her first Patrol, with 16 A-1 Polaris missiles. |
| Jul
9 |
Returned
from first patrol (after establishing a record by staying submerged for 68 days, 4 hours
and 15 minutes). Arrived in Holy Loch, Scotland, alongside the USS Proteus AS-19,
where she joined SUBRON 14 on July 10th. |
| Aug
9 |
She
conducted practice torpedo firing during the first week of August and
then departed Holy Loch for her 2nd deterrent patrol. |
| 1961 - 1965 |
Operated
out of the Holy Loch until the completion of her 16th patrol. |
| 1965 |
Feb
23 |
She
arrived at Mare Island, CA for her first overhaul, refueling and weapons system
modification allowing her to carry the Polaris A-3 missile. |
| 1966 |
Aug
9 |
After
sound trails in Puget Sound and a brief port of call in San Diego, she left the west coast
and transited through the Panama Canal. |
| Sep
4 |
Arrived
in Charleston, S.C. (after dodging Hurricane Hope). |
| Oct
10 |
Successfully
fired a tactical Polaris A-3 missile during DASO at Cape Canaveral. |
| Dec
5 |
Blue
crew departed Charleston for patrol #17 with 16 A-3 Polaris missiles to end at the Holy
Loch. |
| 1966 - 1970 |
Deterrent
patrols numbers 17 through 33 out of the Holy Loch. |
| 1971 |
Jan |
Entered
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNY). On January 21, 1971 she started her second
overhaul and refueling. |
| 1972 |
Aug |
Left
Puget Sound to transit the Panama Canal. The Lee visited Cape Kennedy, Charleston and
Norfolk before once again being home ported out of New London/Groton area. |
| Oct
10 |
Blue
crew successfully launched a Polaris A3T missile at Cape Kennedy during the post overhaul
DASO. |
| 1973
- 1976 |
Deterrent
patrols numbers 34 & 35 out of Rota, Spain.
Patrols 36 through ?? out of Guam. |
| 1973 |
Jan
16 |
Deployed
for patrol with 16 A-3 Polaris missiles to end in Rota, Spain. |
| Aug
10 |
After
normal operations and two patrols out of Rota, she once again transited the Panama Canal
for a change of homeport. As the Lee left the Atlantic Ocean, it officially ended
deployment of the A-3 Polaris missile weapons system in the Atlantic Fleet. |
| Sep
5 |
Arrived
in Pearl Harbor. After a month in Hawaii, she sailed for Apra, Guam and began her final
deployment for deterrent operations. |
| 1974 |
Oct
15 |
Successfully
launched five A3T missiles in a Follow-On Operational Test (FOT). |
| 1976 - 1978 |
Blue and
Gold crews where once again combined and the Lee underwent her third refueling at Mare
Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, CA. |
| 1978 |
Fall |
After
leaving Mare Island, the crews where split again. Blue crew took the Lee through the
Panama Canal to Florida for DASO, while the Gold crew was flown to Hawaii. |
| Dec |
The Gold
crew was flown to Cape Kennedy for the DASO, then the boat proceeded back through the
Canal (while in the locks, the crew held a BBQ on the missile deck while waving at
passengers on the Pacific Princess a.k.a. the "Love Boat"). |
| 1979 |
Jan |
After a
brief port of call in San Diego, Lee proceeded to Bangor, WA and spent a month there while
loading missiles, then proceeded to her home port in Hawaii. |
| Mar |
Arrived
in Honolulu and the Blue crew made the first post overhaul patrol. Months later, the
Gold was flown to Guam to relieve the Blue crew. |
| 1979
- 1981 |
Deterrent
patrols numbers ?? through 55 out of Guam. |
| 1981 |
Feb |
Mid-patrol
break in Chin-hae, South Korea. |
| Oct
1 |
ROBERT
E. LEE completed her 55th patrol, which was also the US Navy’s last Polaris patrol. Crossed the Equator and International Date
Line at same time. |
| 1982 |
Jan |
The Lee
left Pearl Harbor and headed for the explosive handling wharf at Bangor. |
| Feb
28 |
Her A-3
missiles were off loaded and officially ended the US Navy's Polaris program. |
| Mar
1 |
ROBERT
E. LEE was redesignated SSN-601, then operated operated out of Pearl Harbor as an attack submarine
with a consolidated crew for the next year (the crew nicknamed these operations as
"slow attack"). |
| Jun |
During the summer of 1982, she deployed to San Diego to conduct Midshipmen operations and other exercises, then returned to Pearl Harbor. |
| 1983 |
Feb |
She
entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to defuel the reactor and remove her missile section. |
| Nov
30 |
Both the
USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN/SSN-601) and the USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN/SSN-610) were was
decommissioned in joint ceremony held aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63). |
| 1991 |
Sep
30 |
Completed
her disposal through SRP at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The USS Robert E. Lee's reactor
now lies buried in the trench at the Hanford Site, which occupies 560 square miles of
south central Washington desert on a plateau about seven miles from the Columbia River. |
