Almost always, the sickle cell mutation is a non-conservative missense mutation that results in the sixth amino acid of beta-globin being valine instead of glutamic acid.
Free hemoglobin in the plasma is bound by a molecule called haptoglobin and gets recycled, which is why a low haptoglobin level is a sign of intravascular hemolysis.
As a quick recap: sickle cell disease is an autosomal recessive genetic disease where the beta-globin subunit of hemoglobin is misshapen, which causes red blood cells to sickle when deoxygenated.