The fraternity at Canoe U had been trying since his plebe year there. Admiral Mills came up with a most creative approach - assigning Capt. Rickover to a women's head. Still, by 1953 he had been passed over twice and faced his 3-and-out. Nice counterfactual you pose there QM. The S1W prototype (then STR Mk 1) hadn't even been successful with a full power run and Westinghouse strongly urged Adm Rickover not to proceed. With two weeks to go until his appearance before Congress, it is not entirely improbably that he wouldn't have gotten their support short of this success and he would have become to history just another little shtetl refugee with delusions of grandeur. Counterfactual - forcible retirement at O-6 on or before 31DEC53.
An ex-nuke I worked with in the early 90s said Rickover stuck around until he became a caricature of himself. They ought name a destroyer after John Lehman for easing him out the door.
Agreed. USS John Stennis, that one pisses me off as a skimmer nuke. USS Gerald Ford is just meh. I don't carry strong feelings about that one, I just consider it kinda lame. Not thrilled about ships being named after politicians. As much as a like Ronald Reagan, renaming his namesake carrier to a worthy historical figure or event wouldn't break my heart.
One of my Chiefs on board Ustaboat #3 was on board LaJolla (SSN 701) during sea trials when ADM Rickover almost backed her into the bottom during the crashback. That incident is how SECNAV Lehman finally got rid of him.
Rickover was a legend, but he waaay overstayed. Due to all the top cover Congress gave him, he gained the attitude that he was untouchable and acted like it.
Agreed. He had his brilliance and great contributions but 63 years active duty?! That figured needed about 20 years knocked off of it, nobody can mentally handle that length of service. That's even true for Albert Einstein, who spent most of the last 25 years of his life dumping on quantum theory to the point of ridiculousness. The scientific community literally just moved on without him.
I remember when ADM Rickover gave a Forrestall lecture at USNA regarding the incident at Three Mile Island. During the Q&A, one midshipman asked him a question. Rickover repeated the question and asked whether that was what the midshipman was asking. Sure enough, the midshipman answered in the affirmative.
ADM Rickover then replied “why don’t you ask your roommate—he probably knows more about that than I do!”
Needless to say that the entire Brigade of Midshipmen went wild. It been 40+ years and that remains one of the best memories of my time there.
My 1st class midshipman cruise was aboard Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601). One of the junior officers told me a story about a classmate who failed an interview with Rickover (no one was accepted into the Navy's nuclear program unless they passed the Rickover interview). After describing at length why he should be in the nuclear program, the classmate was asked by Rickover, "was there anything he couldn't do?" Answer: "I've enjoyed success at almost everything I've ever done, and so, no, he didn't know of anything he couldn't do." Rickover: "Ok, you've got five minutes to get a date with my secretary sitting in the desk just outside the door." Result: Nope. But after the five minutes were up, that secretary handed the classmate a return air ticket home, and that classmate went to the surface fleet.
I desperately wanted to serve in nuclear submarines. But, my (failing) interview with the Admiral lasted approximately 90 seconds. His last words to me were, "see my secretary to get your air ticket home." We wouldn't have had the best nuclear sub force were it not for the Admiral's unwavering insistence on excellence.
One of my classmates was first in our class and served aboard Lee when I did. He tried four times to get into the nuclear sub force and Rickover rejected him four times. He ended up getting a Ph.D. in physics, teaching at the Academy, serving aboard a diesel sub to show Rickover he could handle it (Rickover remained unconvinced) and ended up at DARPA having a wonderfully productive career that served our nation extremely well. But, he wasn't good enough for the Admiral.
I often wondered what the Admiral's make-or-break criteria might be. The one thing the Lee's JO's classmate (but not that JO), me and my classmate had in common was that we all were married or engaged when we applied. Perhaps the Admiral wanted to be sure his officers who would have to push the button (and follow orders from one who would push the button) wouldn't first stop and think about family first.... Who knows? The Admiral was a great, great man.
Will Focsle Llp be offering a hardback edition? I'm loath to put a soft cover on my bookshelf anymore. I'll do it, but not if I know a HB is forthcoming.
My friend, a Yale graduate in nuclear propulsion, who, as a brand new ensign, was posted to a boomer, was interviewed by the Admiral. He was born with a large “port wine stain” covering his left face ear to jaw line. Most people quietly looked at it at first, then tacitly never looked at it again. When Peter was told to be at ease in the presence of Rickover, the Admiral glanced up at this birth mark and said, “What the hell is that on your face, Ensign?”
My second CO aboard my FFG was a Navy Surface Nuke Commander doing a CO tour before going back for a possible Reactor Officer tour on a CVN. He had lots of Rickover stories. Wish I remembered them all. Fuzzy memory aside, here are a few involving interviews that ADM Rickover held for all Navy Nukes. The Admiral told one officer to go stand in a broom closet until he was ready to be interviewed. Several hours transpired. Don't remember how that turned out. Another interviewee was told "Make me angry!". The officer grabbed the scale model of USS Nautilus off the Admiral's desk and smashed it to pieces. The Admiral was furious. He passed. Another was invited to lunch with the Admiral. The officer salted his food. The Admiral dismissed him because he had not tasted his food before salting it. I really liked that Nuke CO I worked for. He was precise in everything, zero ambiguity in what he expected. I prospered under him. He is the one who made me GQ OOD (hog heaven for me) as a W-2. The rest of the wardroom was glad it wasn't them. He surprised everyone by retiring after his tour. What sane man wants to be a Reactor Officer when you could be a recruiter in Detroit or fuel handler in Shemya?
When I was in the old ASA, word was that if the instructors really liked you and you did well, you'd get orders to Misawa in Japan. On the other hand, marginally talented slobs who pissed off the instructors would get sent to Shemya.
I learned about Shemya from an O-6 NFO I worked for who was an EA-6B EWO. He indicated that even with the billets being few it was a magnet for people who couldn't be shot for their spectacular fails. If ever the Navy gets un-woke wouldn't it be nice to see the Navy reopen Johnson Island?
I think one of the best things Reagan did was to refuse to extend Rickover's service. Rickover should have retired in the 50s.
The fraternity at Canoe U had been trying since his plebe year there. Admiral Mills came up with a most creative approach - assigning Capt. Rickover to a women's head. Still, by 1953 he had been passed over twice and faced his 3-and-out. Nice counterfactual you pose there QM. The S1W prototype (then STR Mk 1) hadn't even been successful with a full power run and Westinghouse strongly urged Adm Rickover not to proceed. With two weeks to go until his appearance before Congress, it is not entirely improbably that he wouldn't have gotten their support short of this success and he would have become to history just another little shtetl refugee with delusions of grandeur. Counterfactual - forcible retirement at O-6 on or before 31DEC53.
An ex-nuke I worked with in the early 90s said Rickover stuck around until he became a caricature of himself. They ought name a destroyer after John Lehman for easing him out the door.
he had become full of himself, frankly. some of the stories circulating about the man showed
was a negative, not an asset by 1970.
He is older than our current glorious leader. May I be as cogent should I get to that age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9MjLi2hdwo
Still, let's have enough ships where we cover the historical names before dipping into the politician pool.
Agreed. USS John Stennis, that one pisses me off as a skimmer nuke. USS Gerald Ford is just meh. I don't carry strong feelings about that one, I just consider it kinda lame. Not thrilled about ships being named after politicians. As much as a like Ronald Reagan, renaming his namesake carrier to a worthy historical figure or event wouldn't break my heart.
Crazy & OCD Nuke - double redundancy, eh? ;<)
One of my Chiefs on board Ustaboat #3 was on board LaJolla (SSN 701) during sea trials when ADM Rickover almost backed her into the bottom during the crashback. That incident is how SECNAV Lehman finally got rid of him.
Rickover was a legend, but he waaay overstayed. Due to all the top cover Congress gave him, he gained the attitude that he was untouchable and acted like it.
Agreed. He had his brilliance and great contributions but 63 years active duty?! That figured needed about 20 years knocked off of it, nobody can mentally handle that length of service. That's even true for Albert Einstein, who spent most of the last 25 years of his life dumping on quantum theory to the point of ridiculousness. The scientific community literally just moved on without him.
I remember when ADM Rickover gave a Forrestall lecture at USNA regarding the incident at Three Mile Island. During the Q&A, one midshipman asked him a question. Rickover repeated the question and asked whether that was what the midshipman was asking. Sure enough, the midshipman answered in the affirmative.
ADM Rickover then replied “why don’t you ask your roommate—he probably knows more about that than I do!”
Needless to say that the entire Brigade of Midshipmen went wild. It been 40+ years and that remains one of the best memories of my time there.
The good Admiral's vision, planning and picky selection of nuke O's, is very likely why, still today, we don't have any LCS's with periscopes!
I am having trouble visiualizing Rickover writing love letters.
Yeah, that caught my eye, too. I imagine they were something along the line of Pepe Le Pew verbiage with Reactor Plant Manual passion.
At least Pepe was attracted by Penelope.
My 1st class midshipman cruise was aboard Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601). One of the junior officers told me a story about a classmate who failed an interview with Rickover (no one was accepted into the Navy's nuclear program unless they passed the Rickover interview). After describing at length why he should be in the nuclear program, the classmate was asked by Rickover, "was there anything he couldn't do?" Answer: "I've enjoyed success at almost everything I've ever done, and so, no, he didn't know of anything he couldn't do." Rickover: "Ok, you've got five minutes to get a date with my secretary sitting in the desk just outside the door." Result: Nope. But after the five minutes were up, that secretary handed the classmate a return air ticket home, and that classmate went to the surface fleet.
I desperately wanted to serve in nuclear submarines. But, my (failing) interview with the Admiral lasted approximately 90 seconds. His last words to me were, "see my secretary to get your air ticket home." We wouldn't have had the best nuclear sub force were it not for the Admiral's unwavering insistence on excellence.
One of my classmates was first in our class and served aboard Lee when I did. He tried four times to get into the nuclear sub force and Rickover rejected him four times. He ended up getting a Ph.D. in physics, teaching at the Academy, serving aboard a diesel sub to show Rickover he could handle it (Rickover remained unconvinced) and ended up at DARPA having a wonderfully productive career that served our nation extremely well. But, he wasn't good enough for the Admiral.
I often wondered what the Admiral's make-or-break criteria might be. The one thing the Lee's JO's classmate (but not that JO), me and my classmate had in common was that we all were married or engaged when we applied. Perhaps the Admiral wanted to be sure his officers who would have to push the button (and follow orders from one who would push the button) wouldn't first stop and think about family first.... Who knows? The Admiral was a great, great man.
Will Focsle Llp be offering a hardback edition? I'm loath to put a soft cover on my bookshelf anymore. I'll do it, but not if I know a HB is forthcoming.
Yes. It’s should be up on Amazon in the next few days. I think it’s already on Barnes & Noble
My friend, a Yale graduate in nuclear propulsion, who, as a brand new ensign, was posted to a boomer, was interviewed by the Admiral. He was born with a large “port wine stain” covering his left face ear to jaw line. Most people quietly looked at it at first, then tacitly never looked at it again. When Peter was told to be at ease in the presence of Rickover, the Admiral glanced up at this birth mark and said, “What the hell is that on your face, Ensign?”
My second CO aboard my FFG was a Navy Surface Nuke Commander doing a CO tour before going back for a possible Reactor Officer tour on a CVN. He had lots of Rickover stories. Wish I remembered them all. Fuzzy memory aside, here are a few involving interviews that ADM Rickover held for all Navy Nukes. The Admiral told one officer to go stand in a broom closet until he was ready to be interviewed. Several hours transpired. Don't remember how that turned out. Another interviewee was told "Make me angry!". The officer grabbed the scale model of USS Nautilus off the Admiral's desk and smashed it to pieces. The Admiral was furious. He passed. Another was invited to lunch with the Admiral. The officer salted his food. The Admiral dismissed him because he had not tasted his food before salting it. I really liked that Nuke CO I worked for. He was precise in everything, zero ambiguity in what he expected. I prospered under him. He is the one who made me GQ OOD (hog heaven for me) as a W-2. The rest of the wardroom was glad it wasn't them. He surprised everyone by retiring after his tour. What sane man wants to be a Reactor Officer when you could be a recruiter in Detroit or fuel handler in Shemya?
When I was in the old ASA, word was that if the instructors really liked you and you did well, you'd get orders to Misawa in Japan. On the other hand, marginally talented slobs who pissed off the instructors would get sent to Shemya.
I learned about Shemya from an O-6 NFO I worked for who was an EA-6B EWO. He indicated that even with the billets being few it was a magnet for people who couldn't be shot for their spectacular fails. If ever the Navy gets un-woke wouldn't it be nice to see the Navy reopen Johnson Island?
Plum Island is much more convenient.
Johnson Island is more remote. But if Plum Island still has any residual anthrax it gets my vote.