Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover was not a combat hero, but he was definitely a hero. He founded and led the U.S. Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. He did this over the initial opposition of officers senior to him.
Our nuclear submarine fleet was an important reason the Cold War did not turn into World War III. In World War II, we defeated the German U-boats because we could attack them on the surface while they recharged their batteries — using their air-breathing diesel engines.
In 1946, Captain Rickover understood how nuclear power would prevent this fate. Nuclear submarines don’t burn any fuel (requiring air), so we can remain submerged almost indefinitely. With stealth on our side, we dominated the seas. Our job was to sweep Soviet submarines from the Atlantic Ocean. Our boats were superior to theirs — we had much better nuclear propulsion and we were quieter. They could not have interrupted our logistical surge to a Europe invaded by them, as did the U-boats during WWII.
Although it operates in the ocean deep, the nuclear submarine is a lot like Starship Enterprise of Star Trek – self-sufficient for a long time. The heat and electricity from the reactor propelled the ship, generated our electricity, converted sea water to drinking water, produced oxygen, and scrubbed CO2 and other less pleasant pollutants from our air. My ship’s endurance was determined only by our food supplies. We did, however, run out of fresh eggs, lettuce, maple syrup and cigarettes once.
Our 105-man was sealed in the ship for months at a time – with the reactor. My bunk was 35 feet from it. That’s how clean the reactors are. It’s just a matter of terrific engineering, perfect components, competent operation and good leadership.
It started with Rickover. The Admiral was not a fun guy, however. I’ll describe my interview with him next month.
