This item commemorates the launch of the USS Theodore Roosevelt SSBN-600 on October 3, 1959 in Vallejo, CA.
USS
Theodore Roosevelt
(SSBN-600)
, a
George Washington
-class
submarine
, was the second ship of the
United States Navy
to be named for
President
Theodore Roosevelt
(1858–1919). Initially unnamed and assigned
hull classification symbol
SSGN-600 as a
guided missile submarine
, her keel was laid down on 20 May 1958 by the
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
using components initially assembled for the
Skipjack
-class
submarine
nuclear
attack submarine
USS
Scamp
(SSN-588)
. She was named
Theodore Roosevelt
and redesignated
fleet ballistic missile submarine
SSBN-600 on 6 November 1958,
launched
on 3 October 1959, sponsored by
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and widow of
Nicholas Longworth III
, and
commissioned
on 13 February 1961 with
Commander
William E. Sims commanding the Blue Crew and Commander Oliver H. Perry, Jr. commanding the Gold Crew.