able to target and launch her submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) correctly and certified that the crew and submarine were ready for operational patrol. Additionally, system performance data was collected about the weapons system and submarine while in an operational environment, which evaluates the readiness and performance of the weapon system. After transiting the Panama Canal, the Blue Crew successfully fired an A-3 Polaris missile off the coast of Cape Kennedy in July 1978, and the Gold Crew completed a successful missile firing several weeks later. The Gold Crew brought the Patrick Henry back through the Panama Canal and transited to Pearl Harbor. She remained with the Pacific Fleet into the 1980s. Conversion to attack submarine, 1982 In 1982 Patrick Henry and many of her sister ships had their ballistic missile tubes disabled and were reclassified as attack submarines (SSNs). Patrick Henry was redesignated SSN-599. Decommissioning and disposal Patrick Henry was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 May 1984. She was disposed of through the Ship-Submarine recycling program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, ceasing to exist on 21 August 1997. See also CSS Patrick Henry References Ships built in Groton, Connecticut George Washington-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United States Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1959 ships Ships named for Founding Fathers of the United States Patrick Henry