The Navy will commission the newest nuclear-powered attack submarine Jimmy Carter on Saturday, Feb. 19, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Conn.
The attack submarine Jimmy Carter honors the 39th president of the United States.
President Carter is the only U.S. president to have qualified in submarines. He has distinguished himself by a lifetime of public service, and has long ties to the Navy and the submarine force. Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, served as a commissioned officer aboard submarines, and served as commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1981. Carter’s statesmanship, philanthropy and sense of humanity earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Retired Navy Adm. Stansfield Turner, a classmate of the president who served in the Carter administration as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Rosalynn Carter is the sponsor for the ship named for her husband, with daughter Amy serving as matron of honor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, Rosalynn Carter will give the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”
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The Jimmy Carter is the third and final submarine of the Seawolf class. As the most advanced submarine in the class, the Jimmy Carter will have built-in flexibility and an array of new warfighting features that will enable it to prevail in any scenario, against any threat – from beneath Artic ice to shallow water. Differentiating the Jimmy Carter from all other undersea vessels is its multi-mission platform (MMP), which includes a 100-foot hull extension to enhance payload capability. The MMP will enable the Jimmy Carter to accommodate the advanced technology required to develop and test new generation of weapons, sensors and undersea vehicles for naval special warfare, tactical surveillance and mine-warfare operations.
Capt. Robert D. Kelso, a native of Fayetteville, Tenn., will serve as the Jimmy Carter’s first commanding officer, leading a crew of approximately 130 officers and sailors. Built by General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., the 12,130-ton Jimmy Carter is 453 feet in length, has a beam of 40 feet, and can operate at speeds exceeding 25 knots when submerged.
General Characteristics, Seawolf class:
Builders: General Dynamics Electric Boat Division.
Power Plant: One nuclear reactor, one shaft
Length:
SSNs 21 and 22: 353 feet (107.6 meters)
SSN 23: 453 feet (138.07 meters)
Beam: 40 feet (12.2 meters)
Submerged Displacement:
SSNs 21 and 22: 9,138 tons (9,284 metric tons);
SSN 23 12,158 tons (12,353 metric tons)
Speed: 25+ knots (28+ miles per hour, 46.3+ kph)
Ships:
USS Seawolf (SSN 21), Groton, Ct.
USS Connecticut (SSN 22), Groton, Ct.
Jimmy Carter (SSN 23), under construction
Crew: 140: 14 Officers; 126 Enlisted
Armament: Tomahawk missiles, MK-48 torpedoes, eight torpedo tubes.
Commissioning dates: Seawolf – 19 July 1997; Connecticut – 11 December 1998
Commissioning date: Jimmy Carter – scheduled for 19 February 2005.
There ya go…
What’s more, here is equal time for a humorous look at the boat. (You knew it was coming…) Splendor of Truth.
Omar, out.
