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Seawolf-class USS Jimmy Carter to be christened in June
Edited for brevity.Electric Boat will christen the third and final Seawolf-class submarine on June 5, kicking off the process of delivering the USS Jimmy Carter to the Navy later this year. The Navyâs first big ceremony involving the Jimmy Carter will be the commissioning, which will take place some time after the ship is delivered to the Navy, which sources said is expected in November. Normally a year or more will elapse between a shipâs christening and commissioning, but the usual circumstances surrounding the Carter have compressed the schedule. The Carter was originally supposed to be finished in 2001, but in 1999 the Navy decided to modify it by inserting a special section that will add 100 feet to its length, and $887 million to its cost. It will create enough room for dozens of Special Forces and their gear. Roslyn Carter is the sponsor of the ship, and will break a bottle of champagne against its hull to formally name the ship on christening day June 5. The ship is named for her husband, the 39th president of the United States, who was a 1947 graduate of the Naval Academy and a submariner who worked in the early days of the nuclear program â in fact, he was on the construction crew for Seawolf, SSN 575, the second nuclear submarine built in this country. He never actually served aboard a nuclear submarine, however, leaving the service after seven years to run the family farm after the death of his father. The ship will have special maneuvering devices at the bow and stern that, coupled with the Seawolf-class hovering system, will allow it to maintain a fixed position in the ocean, as well as an upgraded radio room and communications suite, improved combat systems and better sonar processing. But the most radical change will be the new free-flooding hull insert with a special 80-inch diameter lockout that will allow equipment to be passed from within the pressure hull to the free-flooding area. Posted by: Dar 2004-03-29 |
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