USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), an nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the inventor Thomas Edison (1847–1931).
Construction and commissioning
Thomas A. Edisons keel was laid down on 15 March 1960 by the Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corporation of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 15 June 1961, sponsored by Mrs. Madeleine Edison Sloane, daughter of Thomas Edison and Mina Miller and wife of John Eyre Sloane, and commissioned on 10 March 1962 with Captain Charles M. Young commanding the Blue Crew and Captain Walter Dedrick commanding the Gold Crew.
Service history
On 9 April 1962, during shakedown training off the eastern coast of the United States, Thomas A. Edison collided with the destroyer .
thumb|left|Thomas A. Edison underway in the Atlantic Ocean in 1962.Thomas A. Edison loaded sixteen Polaris A2 missiles, which had a range of a range of 1500 nm (1725 miles) and carried a single nuclear warhead on each missile, at the naval base in Charleston, South Carolina, and embarked upon her first deterrent patrol on November 7, 1962. She was part of the eight United States nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines which participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis as part of the United States nuclear order of battle from October to November 1962. During Edison's load out in Charleston at 1900 on October 22, 1962, DEFCON 3 was ordered for the Poliaris submarines on patrol. Thomas A. Edisons missile section was deactivated. Concrete blocks were placed in the missile tubes, and the missile fire-control system and one of the ship's inertial navigation systems were removed.
Decommissioned on 1 December 1983, Thomas A. Edison was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 April 1986. She went through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, beginning on 1 October 1996 and on 1 December 1997 ceased to exist as the recycling was completed.
Elevator
Thomas A. Edison was the first and only submarine to have an elevator. In 1962, an elevator was added to Thomas A. Edison so that President Kennedy could access the submarine. President Kennedy had a back injury which prevented him from using vertical ladders. The addition was known as the JFK Submarine Access Elevator and allowed the President to enter the submarine through one of its deck hatches while standing. On April 13, 1962, President Kennedy and his naval aide to the president, Captain Tazewell Shepard, Jr., toured the recently commissioned submarine while it was at the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia. As of February 2022, the elevator is located at the Museum along the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut.
Steinway piano
During the construction of Thomas A. Edison, the commissioning captain, Charles M. "Cy" Young, purchased a Steinway piano that was placed aboard before the hull was sealed. This piano remained on board the submarine for 22 years (1961–1983) up until her decommissioning. The Steinway piano is the only example of a full-sized piano ever installed on a U.S. submarine conducting nuclear deterrent patrols.