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USS John Marshall (SSBN 611)

USS JOHN MARSHALL was the fourth ETHAN ALLEN - class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine. After 19 years of service, the JOHN MARSHALL was redesignated as SSN 611 to comply with the SALT I treaty on May 1, 1981, and concrete blocks were placed in the missile tubes to disable the missile launch capability. The JOHN MARSHALL subsequently underwent conversion to an amphibious transport. This conversion allowed the JOHN MARSHALL to carry special forces. Modifications included additional troop berthing and removal of some missile tubes. The JOHN MARSHALL was finally decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on July 22, 1992, and entered the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. Recycling of the JOHN MARSHALL was finished on March 29, 1993.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS JOHN MARSHALL. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Submarine's Name:

John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States and principal founder of American constitutional law, was born 24 September 1775 at Germantown (now Midland) in Fauquier County, Va. A member of the Culpeper minutemen early in the Revolution, he entered the 3rd Virginia Continental Regiment 30 July 1776 and served ably in a number of important campaigns, rising to Captain. He became a lawyer after the war, serving his state as a leader in the Assembly and in the new Federalist Party. He attracted attention from national leaders, and was offered several diplomatic posts, but preferred to remain in Virginia. In 1797, however, he accepted an appointment on a three man commission to negotiate with France. After French leaders demanded personal bribes in return for engaging in the negotiations, Marshall answered for his colleagues in a brilliant memorial which rejected this extortion and upheld the honor and dignity of the new country.

Elected to Congress in 1799, Marshall became Secretary of State 6 June 1800. Here he strongly opposed violations of American rights on the high seas and adopted a policy which necessitated a strong navy to give force to our diplomatic protests.

Appointed Chief Justice 20 January 1801, Marshall continued to serve as Secretary of State until the end of Adams' administration 4 March 1801. In the Supreme Court, Marshall made his greatest contributions to the development of American government. In a series of historic decisions, he established the judiciary as an independent and influential branch of the government equal to Congress and the Presidency. Perhaps the most significant of these cases was that of Marbury v. Madison, in which the principle of judicial review was simply stated by Marshall: "A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law." Then, as the young nation was endangered by regional and local interests which often threatened to tear it to shreds, Marshall again and again interpreted the Constitution broadly so that the Federal Government had the power to become a respected and creative force guiding and encouraging the nation's growth. For practical purposes, the Constitution in its most important aspects today is the Constitution as John Marshall interpreted it. As Chief Justice he embodied the majesty of the Judicial Branch of the government as fully as the President stood for the power of the Executive Branch. He died 6 July 1835, having served as Chief Justice for nearly 35 years.

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USS JOHN MARSHALL History:

USS JOHN MARSHALL was an ETHAN ALLEN-class nuclear-powered submarine that spent the first two decades of her career as part of the United States' "41 for Freedom" ballistic-missile force and the last decade as a highly specialized attack submarine and special warfare platform. Ordered at the end of the 1950s and commissioned in 1962, she completed 54 strategic deterrent patrols, later underwent a radical conversion with dry deck shelters for special operations forces, and remained in service until decommissioning in 1992, with final recycling completed in 1993.

The contract for JOHN MARSHALL was awarded on 1 July 1959, at the height of the early Cold War arms race, as the United States moved quickly to field a sizable fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines. Her keel was laid on 4 April 1960 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, the fourth nuclear submarine built by that yard and one of five ETHAN ALLEN-class boats. She was launched on 15 July 1961, sponsored by Ethel Skakel Kennedy, wife of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, during a high-profile ceremony that underlined the political importance attached to the Polaris program.

Sea trials for JOHN MARSHALL began on 8 April 1962. Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, embarked as technical director, expressed satisfaction with the initial trials, marking a significant milestone for the yard and the Navy's growing ballistic-missile submarine force. On 21 May 1962, she was commissioned as USS JOHN MARSHALL (SSBN 611) at Newport News, joining the Atlantic Fleet as a unit of Submarine Squadron 14, with Commander Robert W. Stecher in command of the Blue Crew and Commander Robert D. Donavan in command of the Gold Crew. Ten days later, on 31 May 1962, she began her shakedown cruise.

The shakedown culminated on 12 July 1962 with a series of live missile firings from the Atlantic Missile Range off Cape Canaveral, Florida. On that date, the Blue Crew successfully launched two Polaris A-2 ballistic missiles, followed within days by three additional missiles launched by the Gold Crew, demonstrating the boat's readiness to join the strategic deterrent force. In the broader context of 1962, with superpower tensions already high and the Cuban Missile Crisis only months away, these successful tests were part of the rapid operationalization of the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. Over the following years, JOHN MARSHALL would also conduct numerous additional test and training launches from the Eastern Test Range. Sources record a total of 23 launches from Cape Canaveral between July 1962 and September 1976, initially with Polaris A-2 and later with the improved Polaris A-3.

In October 1962, amid the unfolding Cuban Missile Crisis, JOHN MARSHALL made a port visit to Izmir, Turkey, becoming the first U.S. fleet ballistic-missile submarine to visit a foreign port. Soon after, on 31 December 1962, she sailed on her first Polaris deterrent patrol, manned by the Blue Crew, and became the ninth operational U.S. fleet ballistic-missile submarine. From 4 April 1963 until 30 November 1966, the Blue and Gold crews alternated on a continuous cycle of patrols from Holy Loch, Scotland, operating under Submarine Squadron 14. Over this period, they completed 17 strategic deterrent patrols, maintaining a regular presence in assigned patrol areas in the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea while Holy Loch served as an advanced refit site within reach of those patrol areas.

On 13 December 1966, JOHN MARSHALL entered Newport News Shipbuilding for her first major overhaul. This extended yard period, completed in April 1968, included comprehensive maintenance to her propulsion plant and systems, refurbishment of her missile and navigation systems, and other updates informed by several years of continuous Polaris operations. After post-overhaul shakedown and systems checks, she loaded missiles at Charleston, South Carolina, and in September 1968 departed on her eighteenth deterrent patrol. Patrols nineteen through twenty-five were again conducted from Holy Loch, between October 1968 and June 1970, as the strategic submarine fleet matured and Polaris patrols became a routine but still critical element of NATO's deterrence posture.

In June 1970, JOHN MARSHALL was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 16 and shifted her forward operating base from Holy Loch to Rota, Spain. From Rota, she conducted deterrent patrols twenty-six through thirty-seven in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean approaches. During this period, she received her first Meritorious Unit Commendation, awarded in connection with an operation conducted in March 1971 that demonstrated the effectiveness and reliability of the Fleet Ballistic Missile System. The commendation itself is dated 31 March 1971. Although details remain unclassified only in general terms, the award reflects the technical and operational maturity of Polaris boats by the early 1970s.

In June 1973, JOHN MARSHALL briefly returned to New London, Connecticut, for a dependents' cruise that allowed family members to experience a short underway period. Thereafter, she conducted two deterrent patrols from Charleston, South Carolina, marking a temporary shift in operating pattern as the Navy began to plan future modernization of her missile systems and as strategic arms limitation discussions progressed. In the mid-1970s, the Polaris A-2 missile was being phased out. JOHN MARSHALL is recorded as the last boat to operate the A-2, with the type remaining in service until September 1974, when she returned to port to begin overhaul.

On 1 November 1974, JOHN MARSHALL entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, for her second refueling overhaul. During this lengthy yard period, her ballistic-missile system was converted to support the longer-ranged Polaris A-3, aligning her with evolving U.S. targeting and patrol requirements. The overhaul, completed in May 1976, involved refueling of her S5W reactor, overhauls of propulsion and auxiliary systems, and modernization of combat and navigation equipment. Following post-overhaul trials, she resumed strategic deterrent patrols in February 1977 as a unit of Submarine Squadron 15, based at Apra Harbor, Guam. From Guam, she conducted patrols forty through fifty-four, operating in the Pacific and providing a continuous sea-based deterrent presence in the western Pacific and adjacent oceans during a period that saw both detente and renewed tension in U.S.-Soviet relations.

During the late 1970s, JOHN MARSHALL's crews earned additional recognition. An All Hands report for the 1978 Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Awards lists "USS JOHN MARSHALL (SSBN 611) (Blue)" as the first-place small-afloat winner for food-service excellence, highlighting the quality of day-to-day life and support on board despite the austere nature of extended submerged patrols. The boat's own veterans' association timeline records this Edward F. Ney Memorial Award under the date 31 December 1978.

By 1979, JOHN MARSHALL was operating with Polaris A-3 missiles from Guam and occasionally appearing in port outside her usual support sites. Open-source analysis of declassified photographs notes a visit to the South Korean port of Chinhae in 1979, with the boat carrying 16 Polaris A-3 missiles with a total of 48 nuclear warheads, illustrating the visibility of some deterrent deployments during this phase of the Cold War and the political signaling inherent in such visits. Her final recorded missile test launch from Cape Canaveral took place on 18 September 1976, and by the end of the decade her focus lay almost entirely on routine deterrent patrols and crew training cycles.

JOHN MARSHALL's 54th and final strategic deterrent patrol concluded with her arrival at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 28 December 1980. Strategic arms limitation agreements and the introduction of newer systems were already reshaping the ballistic-missile submarine force, and decisions were taken to remove her from the strategic missile role while extending the useful life of the hull. On 12 January 1981, she was officially reclassified as an attack submarine and redesignated USS JOHN MARSHALL (SSN 611). She began operating as an attack submarine from Pearl Harbor, and on 1 June 1981 her last Polaris missile was removed at Bangor, Washington, formally ending her role as a ballistic-missile platform.

After removal of her missiles, JOHN MARSHALL shifted coasts once more. She arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, on 20 July 1981 and commenced operations with Submarine Squadron 4. On 28 December 1981, she departed Charleston on her first deployment to the Mediterranean as an attack submarine. During this deployment, she participated in several major fleet exercises and visited La Maddalena and Naples in Italy, Tangiers in Morocco, and Lisbon in Portugal, reflecting her integration into routine NATO and U.S. Sixth Fleet activities of the early 1980s. She returned to Charleston on 21 May 1982, exactly twenty years after her commissioning in 1962, closing a symmetrical chapter in her career.

In September 1983, JOHN MARSHALL again transferred to the Pacific Fleet. She arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, on 29 September 1983 to begin her third major overhaul. This yard period fundamentally changed her mission. Together with her sister boat USS SAM HOUSTON (SSBN 609), she was modified to support special operations, including the installation of additional troop berthing, removal of some ballistic-missile tube bases, and conversion of other tubes into air locks and stowage for special operations equipment. Two dry deck shelters were installed abaft the sail, each capable of housing a SEAL Delivery Vehicle and providing a dry, pressurized hangar for swimmers to embark and recover while the submarine remained submerged. These changes effectively transformed JOHN MARSHALL into a hybrid: an attack submarine optimized for special warfare, able to deliver and support Navy SEALs and other special forces far forward.

Post-overhaul sea trials took place in September 1985. In November 1985, JOHN MARSHALL joined Submarine Squadron 6 at Norfolk, Virginia, marking her return to frontline service, now distinctly focused on special operations support in addition to conventional attack-submarine roles. On 15 December 1986, she departed Norfolk equipped with a dry deck shelter for her second Mediterranean deployment, this time as a special warfare platform. The deployment included exercises that showcased her new capabilities and port visits to Toulon, France, and La Maddalena, Italy. She returned to Norfolk on 29 May 1987.

In September 1987, JOHN MARSHALL conducted a dedicated special operations demonstration near Puerto Rico with SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team Two, using her dry deck shelter to deploy and recover swimmers and vehicles. Through 1988, she continued to take part in carrier battle group exercises, special acoustic trials, and dry deck shelter operations, refining tactics and procedures for submarine-based special warfare. On 25 October 1988, she recorded her 1,000th dive off Puerto Rico, a milestone that reflected more than two and a half decades of continuous service.

On 1 May 1989, JOHN MARSHALL departed Norfolk for her third Mediterranean deployment as an attack submarine. For this cruise, she embarked two dry deck shelters, becoming the first submarine anywhere to deploy with two such shelters simultaneously. Embarked was the largest special-warfare detachment yet assembled aboard an Atlantic or Mediterranean-based submarine, giving the Sixth Fleet commander a uniquely flexible and covert special operations capability. During the deployment, she also carried out antisubmarine warfare training and contingency support tasks. Her performance in these roles, including rapid response to contingency operations and effective ASW work, was recognized with the award of a Meritorious Unit Commendation, recorded in her veterans' timeline under 30 September 1989.

In 1990, JOHN MARSHALL conducted three special warfare training exercises in the Caribbean Sea, including one that featured the employment of submarine-launched mobile mines, demonstrating the integration of unconventional weapons and special operations concepts. Records of contemporary U.S. Navy operations also place her among units participating in complex battle-group training, including dual-carrier exercises involving ships such as USS AMERICA (CV 66) and carrier groups built around USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71), underlining her role as a supporting submarine for major fleet operations in addition to her special warfare tasks.

On 26 January 1991, JOHN MARSHALL departed Norfolk on her fourth and final Mediterranean deployment. Again equipped with two dry deck shelters, she operated in direct support of Operation Desert Storm, providing the commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet with covert options for special operations and contingency responses during the coalition campaign against Iraq. During this deployment, she visited Toulon, Gibraltar, and La Maddalena, reflecting both operational requirements and established support arrangements in the region. She returned to Norfolk on 22 June 1991. Soon afterward, in September 1991, she served as flagship for Exercise Phantom Shadow, described as the largest submarine special-warfare exercise since the Second World War, embarking more than 190 personnel including three flag officers, Navy SEALs, and U.S. Army special forces for joint special operations training.

With the Cold War drawing to a close and the Navy reducing its attack-submarine force, JOHN MARSHALL entered deactivation. A deactivation ceremony took place in Norfolk on 23 November 1991, with her first commanding officer as the principal speaker, symbolically linking the beginning and end of her career. On 6 January 1992, she left Norfolk for the last time, heading for the Pacific to undergo inactivation and recycling. She transited the Panama Canal on 13 January 1992 and arrived at San Diego, California, on 23 January for a brief port visit. On 27 January she departed San Diego on her final submerged transit, carrying twenty-five guests that included her first commanding officer and another plankowner. She arrived at Bangor, Washington, on 31 January 1992 to offload repair parts, stores, and remaining munitions. On 6 February 1992, she put to sea one last time for a short transit to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton for formal deactivation.

As part of preserving her memory, JOHN MARSHALL's anchor was placed on permanent display at Hidden Creek Elementary School in Port Orchard, Washington, on 11 June 1992. USS JOHN MARSHALL was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 July 1992. She subsequently entered the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Power Ship and Submarine Recycling Program, with recycling of the hull completed on 29 March 1993. Her ship's bell is preserved on display at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, reflecting the connection between her namesake Chief Justice and the institution that bears his name.

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