Editing USS Daniel Webster

{{short description|US navy submarine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
|+USS ''Daniel Webster'' (SSBN-626)
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Websterbowplanes.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Daniel Webster'' (SSBN-626) with her unusual original [[Bow (ship)|bow]] [[Diving plane|plane]] configuration.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1990}}
|Ship name=''Daniel Webster''
|Ship namesake=[[Daniel Webster]] (1782–1852), an American statesman
|Ship ordered=3 February 1961
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[General Dynamics Electric Boat]], [[Groton, Connecticut]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=28 December 1961
|Ship launched=27 April 1963
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. W. Osborn Goodrich, Jr.
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=9 April 1964
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=30 August 1990
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=''Liberty and Union''
|Ship nickname="Old Funny Fins"
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Became moored training ship MTS-626
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Lafayette|submarine|0}} [[ballistic missile submarine]] (hull design SCB-216)<ref name="Adcock22">
 {{cite book
 |last=Adcock
 |first=Al.
 |title=U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarines
 |publisher=Squadron Signal
 |location=Carrolltown, Texas
 |year=1993
 |page=22
 }}</ref>
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|7250|LT|t|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|8250|LT|t|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|425|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|31|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*1 × [[S5W reactor]]
*2 × [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]] geared turbines {{convert|15000|shp|kW|abbr=on}}<ref name="Adcock22" />
|Ship speed=*{{convert|20|kn|km/h}} surfaced
*{{convert|25|kn|km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=Two crews (Blue and Gold), 13 officers and 130 enlisted men each
|Ship sensors=[[BQS-4]] sonar<ref name="Adcock22" />
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on}} Mark 65 [[torpedo tube]]s with Mark 113 firecontrol system,<ref name="Adcock22" /> for [[Mark 48 torpedo]]es<!--#?-->
*16 × vertical tubes for [[UGM-27 Polaris|Polaris]] or [[UGM-73 Poseidon|Poseidon]] ballistic missiles
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Daniel Webster'' (SSBN-626)''', a {{sclass|Lafayette|submarine|0}} [[ballistic missile]] [[submarine]] (FBM), was the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[United States Senator|Senator]] [[Daniel Webster]].

==Construction and commissioning==
The contract to build ''Daniel Webster'' was awarded to the [[Electric Boat]] Division of [[General Dynamics]] Corporation in [[Groton, Connecticut]], on 3 February 1961 and her [[keel]] was laid down there on 28 December 1961.  She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 April 1963, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Ernestine (Appleton) Goodrich, great-great granddaughter of Daniel Webster<ref name="Webster">{{cite book |title=USS Daniel Webster SSBN626 Welcome Aboard booklet (11 pages) |date=1969 |publisher=USS Daniel Webster |url=http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0862623.pdf |access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref> and wife of W. Osborn Goodrich, Jr., and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 9 April 1964, with [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] Marvin S. Blair in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Lloyd S. Smith in command of the Gold Crew.

''Daniel Webster'' was originally built with [[diving plane]]s mounted on a "mini-sail" near the [[Bow (ship)|bow]], leading to her nickname "Old Funny Fins". This configuration, unique to US submarines,<ref name="Adcock224">
{{cite book
|last=Adcock
|first=Al.
|title=U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarines
|publisher=Squadron Signal
|location=Carrolltown, Texas
|year=1993
|pages=22, (4 also credits mythical interwar ''Albacore'' and ''Trout'' classes, however)
}}</ref> was an attempt to reduce the effect of [[porpoising]]. While successful, the "mini-sail" required to contain the operating mechanism reduced hydrodynamic efficiency and lowered her overall speed.<ref name="Adcock2829">
{{cite book
|last=Adcock
|first=Al.
|title=U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarines
|publisher=Squadron Signal
|location=Carrolltown, Texas
|year=1993
|pages=29, (Adcock, p.28, contradicts himself, saying there was no benefit)
}}</ref>
During a mid-1970s overhaul, these unusual planes were removed and standard [[fairwater plane]]s were installed.<ref>[http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08626.htm ''Daniel Webster'' at NavSource.org]</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - Daniel Webster begins its tow from Norfolk Naval Shipyard..jpg|thumb|left|The moored training ship ''Daniel Webster'' (MTS-626) being towed from Norfolk Naval Shipyard to Charleston, South Carolina, after undergoing a maintenance availability (27 August 2012)]]
While in service, ''Daniel Webster'' was the last ''Lafayette''-class submarine to be retrofitted to carry [[UGM-73 Poseidon]] missiles.<ref name="Adcock29">
{{cite book
|last=Adcock
|first=Al.
|title=U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarines
|publisher=Squadron Signal
|location=Carrolltown, Texas
|year=1993
|page=29
}}</ref>

Patrol history includes:
Patrol 50 (Gold Crew) July, 1982 from Holy Loch, port calls Groton, CT, and Kings Bay, GA;
Patrol 52 Feb 1983 ERP Holy Loch;
Patrol 56 March 1984 from Holy Loch, port call Naples, Italy; port call Groton, CT in transit to the Naval Weapons Station, Charleston, SC, March 1985; ERP Charleston, April 1985; Patrol 60 June 1985;
Patrol 66 (Gold Crew) December 1986 - March 1987; port call Naples, Italy, March 1987; Patrol 68 June 1987 from Holy Loch, port call November 1987 Lisbon, Portugal.

==Decommissioning and conversion==
''Daniel Webster'' was decommissioned on 30 August 1990 and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] the same day. She was converted to a [[moored training ship]] (MTS) and [[S5W reactor]] prototype training facility, by the [[Charleston Naval Shipyard]] at [[Charleston, South Carolina]].  Upon completion and designation as the MTS-626, she was towed up-river to her permanent berth at Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit Charleston.

{{clear left}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=SSBN626}}}}

==External links==
*{{navsource|08/08626|USS Daniel Webster}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq-LImFhKw8 Rare 1964 16mm Silent Film] of USS Daniel Webster bow planes tests

{{Lafayette class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel Webster (SSBN-626)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Groton, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Lafayette-class submarines]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1963 ships]]