18. USS Stonewall Jackson, SSBN 634
USS Stonewall Jackson, commissioned in August 1964, was one of the Polaris and Poseidon submarines built as the Navy’s “41 for Freedom” submerged ballistic missile fleet. Two earlier ships bearing the name Stonewall built for the Navy honored the General who had fought the forces of the United States. Stonewall Jackson originally carried the Polaris missile and operated in the Pacific, out of Apra, Guam. After five years of strategic patrols, conducted by the ship’s two crews (Blue and Gold), Stonewall Jackson returned to the east coast and entered the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut for conversion to carry the longer-ranged and more powerful Poseidon missile.
Stonewall Jackson was not the sole Confederate leader honored with his name assigned to a US Naval warship. USS Robert E. Lee and USS John Calhoun honored southerners who dedicated their lives to the continuation of slavery and white supremacy as well. Both were submarines. Stonewall Jackson continued to operate in the Atlantic for the most part for the rest of its career, interspersed with shipyard overhauls as needed. In 1995 the submarine decommissioned and entered the recycling program for scrapping. The Navy continues to operate the cruiser, USS Chancellorsville, which honors Jackson and Lee’s greatest victory, a battle in which the United States suffered over 12,000 casualties.