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Author
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Topic: Scott Carpenter and the NR-1 submarine
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micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 12-24-2016 01:58 PM
   
I'm reading "America's Secret Submarine" by Lee Vyborny and Don Davis. It is about the NR-1 nuclear submarine, developed by the Navy in the mid-late 1960's, under the guise of being a "research submarine." It was groundbreaking in miniaturization of the nuclear propulsion system, undersea navigation, deep dive capability, the ability to roll on wheels across the ocean floor, and many more technical hurdles. Interesting passage in the book: Scott Carpenter, one of the seven original Mercury astronauts who became a deep submersible diver himself, visited our mockup and was briefed on the NR-1. He was awed by its diminutive size, the power plant, and the daring conception of such a boat, and how much its controls resembled those aboard a spacecraft. He recognized the hurdles that had been surmounted to make it all real, and he understood the value of deep submergence and extended missions with an unlimited source of power. He told Nuclear Test Manager Herb Barry "Oh my God! There's a hell of a lot more going into this program than the one that's sending us into space!" When the ship was completed, Rickover barred Carpenter from coming aboard. Rickover here is Adm Hyman Rickover, the head of Naval Reactors, commonly known as the father of nuclear submarines in the US, and also commonly known to be very unpredictable and abrasive. |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 12-24-2016 10:12 PM
Thanks Dennis, great stuff. Now, I wonder why Rickover barred him from the sub? |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 12-25-2016 07:01 AM
Good question Al! I've wondered that myself. But the reality is that Rickover was one quirky guy, so we'll probably never be able to guess his rationale. |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 12-25-2016 10:44 PM
Oh for sure. Thanks for the great story! |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 12-27-2016 08:50 AM
Slightly off topic, but, the Feb. 17, 1986 AW&ST mentions a plan to take a SRB engineer down in the NR-1 to examine Challenger's SRB wreckage on the ocean floor. I do not know if anything ever came of this. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 12-27-2016 08:20 PM
That's interesting, Headshot. That would have been exactly the kind of operation for which the NR-1 was designed! |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 12-28-2016 04:57 PM
Quirky is one way to describe Rickover, but there may have been a method to his madness. Since he only wanted the very best officers to serve on "his" nuclear boats, he poked, prodded — and even verbally abused — many a candidate. One unfortunate soul took a seat in a chair for his interview with Rickover — minus one of its legs, which was sawed off by the Admiral himself to test the man's reaction and balance! |
yeknom-ecaps
Member Posts: 660
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 12-28-2016 05:21 PM
The NR-1 did participate in the STS-51L deep water debris search/salvage, which lasted until May 1, 1986. The known dates for participation by NR-1 according to the Rogers' Commission Report were February 20 to March 18 and March 31 to April 17.Here are some covers from the NR-1 during the search time frames (thanks to Ross Smith). From search period 1 and 2:   |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 12-29-2016 08:12 AM
Thanks for that finding about NR-1's participation.Just touching on Hyman Rickover for a second. The January 1989 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute journal Proceedings contains a fascinating article detailing Rickover's firing/retirement. In a nutshell, SecNAV John Lehmann Jr. and SecDEF Caspar Weinberger were unable to force Rickover into retirement; it took action by President Reagan himself to accomplish the deed. |
Glint
Member Posts: 1040
From: New Windsor, Maryland USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 12-29-2016 10:42 AM
quote:
Originally posted by micropooz:
...we'll probably never be able to guess his rationale.
Most likely guess is he was denied access to the hardware because he lacked either the necessary security credential or need to know, or both. |
cfreeze79
Member Posts: 455
From: Herndon, VA, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 12-29-2016 12:53 PM
Rickover story time!It's hearsay, but... Apparently, Rickover would have a one-on-one meeting with the command candidates for any nuclear submarines. In the meeting, Rickover would order the candidate to, on the spot, do something that would "piss him off." The storyteller said he stood up, walked over to a shelf that have a submarine model on it, took the model, and broke in over his knee. He got the command. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 12-29-2016 01:50 PM
Rickover has long since departed the scene. Does anyone know if, after his departure, the Navy ever permitted other astronauts or NASA officials to visit the NR-1 before it was decommissioned in 2008? Or perhaps they might have interviewed former crew members to discuss operations that might have reflected on life aboard a space station. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 864
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 12-30-2016 09:25 AM
Oceanographer Robert Ballard described his experiences aboard the NR-1 for the April 1985 National Geographic magazine. Near the end of just the second paragraph he wrote: ...I found the NR-1 remarkably similar to NASA's space shuttle with its dual military and civilian research capability, its ability to install and retrieve objects across great distances, and its sense of total isolation in a remote and hostile world. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1512
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 01-01-2017 07:54 PM
I just finished the book, and there's a short paragraph on the 51L debris recovery in it. It does say that the NR-1 recovered a piece of the SRB joint that contained the damaged o-ring.One other Rickover story - I saw this on a televised bio of him a year or two ago. Some prospective candidate was interviewing with Rickover to get into Navy nuclear power training. The poor guy mentioned that he was getting married soon. Rickover told him that he wouldn't have time to both get married and take the course, and that he had to make a decision. Rickover plopped the telephone down in front of the candidate. Candidate called his bride-to-be and told her that they had to delay their marriage until he finished nuclear power training. After he hung up, Rickover told him that he didn't have enough backbone, and disapproved him... |
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