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| Seawolf-class USS Jimmy Carter to be christened in June |
| 2004-03-29 |
| 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 Navy’s 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 ship’s 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 — 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 |
| #34 Too much radiation during training? Hmmm.. I guess that explains Amy. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-03-29 9:46:52 PM |
| #33 If this loser rates it, when's Nixon getting his boat? hahahahahahahahahaha... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-03-29 8:21:02 PM |
| #32 I think it would be nice to get a bunch of volunteers guys and gals together and charge admission and blog it out and raise some money from earth friendly bizness and put together a really nice wooden hospital ship and name it the Jimmuah Catuh and give it to Haiti. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-29 8:04:00 PM |
| #31 Good thing they didn't name one for Bill Clinton. Some sailor did a satire a few years back about the Navy commissioning a Maternal Support Ship so all the single-mom and pregnant sailors could deploy with their ships. Christened the USS William J. Clinton, natch. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-03-29 7:59:21 PM |
| #30 Confession time: I saw the headline, but didn't read the article. I have not read any of the comments. I note, however, that 27 comments or so have already been posted. If what you read now is a rehash of a particular post above, then I apologize. Having said this, let me make my opinion known: If there is ANY way to prevent a ship from being named after Jimmy Carter, then please advise ASAP. Who, pray tell, in there right mind, would wish to be assigned to a ship named after Carter? I believe the man was on watch when the War on Terror began in November, 1979. I say to you and am prepared to debate the issue that radical Islamism reared it's head in Tehran, Iran in November of 1979. Consider a moment what SHOULD have been response to the Islamic radicals in Tehran in November, 1979 (but wasn't): Release all American hostages unharmed within 24 hours OR your holiest cities will be annihlated each hour ONE by ONE. Would the Soviets have risked the health of Moscow over this priniple? No. Would the Chi-coms have risked the health of Bejing? No. Screw the UN and Europe. Persians (who I have an abidding respect for) would have been destroyed but terrorism would have been set back 100 years and I submit there never would have been a 9/11. |
| Posted by: Mark 2004-03-29 7:43:23 PM |
| #29 Sofia, thanks for the research and info. So he is a Submariner, but not a Nuc power officer. I found it interesting that his bio shows a BS degree from Annapolis, but not his major..... At least it wasn't a BA...... |
| Posted by: Rick T 2004-03-29 7:32:14 PM |
| #28 Tom, I don't have a reference handy, but I understand that he left the training program after there was some sort of accident and he was exposed past his career quota of radiation. This may explain his aversion to nuclear power during his administration. (For the record, though, I disagree with his apparent position on nuclear power; the long explanation would be an essay in itself.) |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-03-29 7:30:54 PM |
| #27 Told ya. Can't cook either. No, but he can make a Peanut Butter sandwhich. However, the sandwhich tens to get up and enslave other food products under Sharia law. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-03-29 6:42:25 PM |
| #26 I think it's funny how the "peace" -loving Dems change tune when the chance to become "famous" roles around. "They're going to name a ship of war after me? Okeedokee! Count me in!" Good thing they didn't name one for Bill Clinton. After the Monica Lewinski trist, that would be just too weird a visual. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-03-29 6:41:38 PM |
| #25 He's a liar in addition to his other shortcomings Told ya. Can't cook either. |
| Posted by: Lester Maddox 2004-03-29 5:37:58 PM |
#24 Tom says:He's a liar in addition to his other shortcomings.Well, yeah. And not just about this, either. Any chance we can get him to christen the boat by tying him to the bow and submerging? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-03-29 4:56:03 PM |
| #23 Aboard the Jimmy Peanut, sometime in the not-too-distant future: "Captain, we dare not fire another torpedo; that rabbit's dynamite!" |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-03-29 4:18:02 PM |
| #22 All in all, his naval career seems to demonstrate the same stellar performance, aggressiveness and leadership we saw during his term as President ... You are way too kind. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-03-29 4:05:35 PM |
| #21 So I take it that he had less than four months of incomplete engineering training, then left the service and claimed to be a former nuclear engineer. He's a liar in addition to his other shortcomings. |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-03-29 3:10:14 PM |
| #20 The Carter Library has this to say about Carter's sub service: 17 Dec 1948-1 Feb 1951: Assigned to USS POMFRET (SS 391) , a diesel boat. Received his dolphins 4 Feb 1950. 10 Nov 1951-16 Oct 1952: Assigned to USS K-1 (SS K-1), , apparently the first of an intended new class of subs. 16 Oct 1952 - 9 Feb 1953: Duty under instruction with Atomic Energy Commission to qualify as an engineering officer for nuclear submarine power plants. Left the service before training completed. Jimmy initially was commissioned a surface line officer and served on two battleships but never qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO). All in all, his naval career seems to demonstrate the same stellar performance, aggressiveness and leadership we saw during his term as President ... |
| Posted by: Sofia 2004-03-29 3:05:21 PM |
| #19 He isn't very bright for an "engineer" either. Was he really a nuclear engineer, or was that a fanciful stretch of the truth too? |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-03-29 2:57:12 PM |
| #18 I stand corrected. Maybe he was on the chess team. |
| Posted by: Anonymous3967 2004-03-29 2:41:26 PM |
| #17 His one and only time on a submarine was a ride on the Los Angeles (poor bastards). The Peanut was one of Admiral Rickover's staff (which is probably where he learned to micro manage). He NEVER qualified on ANY boat. He IS NOT A SUBMARINER. (we don't give out honorary dolphins, you earn them or you don't have them)... Rick T MM1(SS) USS Omaha SSN-692 Plankowner |
| Posted by: Rick T 2004-03-29 2:06:34 PM |
| #16 They should have named a laundry ship after him instead (like the Simpson's did to Mondale). |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-03-29 1:49:58 PM |
| #15 If this sub is true to its namesake, it will launch one unsuccesful Special Forces raid and be retired after four years for being ineffective and damaging to the security of the U.S. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2004-03-29 1:38:33 PM |
| #14 Steve, I think Carter actually sailed on diesel boats. USNA grads can't do 7 years of shore duty unless tehy play football. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-03-29 1:28:54 PM |
| #13 Difference between the man and the machine: One has a Nobel Peace Prize--the other enforces peace nobly. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-03-29 1:28:42 PM |
| #12 I wait for the day the headline reads "The Jimmy Carter launched cruise missiles today at XXXX". I bet that will get old Carters blood pressure up. |
| Posted by: Patrick 2004-03-29 1:25:42 PM |
| #11 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. Sounds like it's designed to evacuate possible hostages and run like hell. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-03-29 12:53:29 PM |
| #10 I think I'll wait to hear what nickname the crew comes up with for her; or better yet, what nicknames the other sub crews come up with for her. |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-03-29 12:51:44 PM |
| #9 mhw: LOL! ....perhaps they could adapt the Kaninchenverteidigungwaffe that the Germans deployed on their panzers. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-03-29 12:50:21 PM |
| #8 Hope ye ole Seawolf doesn't suffer from malaise. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-03-29 12:48:53 PM |
| #7 Hope ye ole Seawolf doesn't suffer from mailaise. |
| Posted by: Dragon Fly 2004-03-29 12:48:37 PM |
| #6 You know this sucker's going to sink...! God help the USN personnel assigned to man her. |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-03-29 12:38:15 PM |
| #5 Does it run entirely on peanut oil? Fuel = Billy Beer. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-03-29 12:36:08 PM |
| #4 Does it run entirely on peanut oil? |
| Posted by: Unmutual 2004-03-29 12:33:28 PM |
| #3 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. Ah, that answers the question of how this failure ever survived as a submariner, he didn't. While his micromanagement style would been perfect as a tech inspector, which is what a navy crew would be doing during construction, it would be a utter disaster as a commander. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-03-29 12:26:06 PM |
| #2 She's probably a lovely boat, but please, that name! USS Jimmy How about renaming her USS Todd Beamer? USS Jeremy Glick? USS Johnny "Mike" Spann? Any of those would be more appropriate than Jimmy "Idiotarian of the Year 2002" Carter. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-03-29 12:15:52 PM |
| #1 Does ship have a defense against an attacking rabbit? |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-03-29 12:12:54 PM |