Navy Names Submarine After Jewish Admiral
USS Hyman G. Rickover honors pioneer of Navy’s nuclear era
January 09, 2015
Navy attack submarine. (U.S. Navy)
And now, for some lighter news. The U.S. Navy announced today that a new attack submarine will be named after former U.S. Navy Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, an engineer credited with developing the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. According to an eagle-eyed reader, the USS Hyman Rickover will be the only submarine with a Jewish namesake.
Rickover, who died in 1986 (and whose New York Times obituary gloriously describes him as “crusty and outspoken,” often clashing with superiors), is considered the pioneer of the Navy’s nuclear era. In addition to the USS Nautilus, Rickover designed the first engines to run on nuclear power and the first non-military atomic power plant at Shippingport, Penn.
He was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 and later declined a position as a nuclear adviser to President Reagan, bristling at the implications of the nuclear era he helped usher in. “I’m not proud of the part I played,” the Times obituary quotes him as having said upon his retirement (against his wishes) from the Navy in 1982, at age 82.
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
