Source: Fox News Online
GROTON, Conn. â€??? The USS Jimmy Carter entered the Navy’s fleet Saturday as the most heavily armed submarine ever built, and as the last of the Seawolf class of attack subs that the Pentagon ordered during the Cold War’s final years.
The $3.2 billion USS Jimmy Carter was commissioned Saturday, the first submarine named after a living ex-president. Carter, himself a submariner during his time in the Navy, was on hand for the ceremony signaling the end of an era in submarining.
“*The most deeply appreciated and emotional honor I’ve ever had is to have this great ship bear my name*,” Carter said in remarks prepared for the ceremony at the Naval Submarine Base New London.
Carter was joined by his wife, Rosalynn, former Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife, Joan, and Stansfield Turner, CIA director in the Carter administration.
The 2,500 people on hand Saturday cheered as Carter, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the only president to serve on a submarine, handed the boat’s long glass to the navigator, Lt. Stephen Karpi.
The gesture symbolized the passing of the nation’s maritime tradition to a new vessel. The long glass was used years ago to keep watch on a ship’s deck.
Carter said he expects the crew to use the submarine’s “*extraordinary capabilities â€??? many top secret â€??? to preserve peace, to protect our country and to keep high the banner of human rights around the world.*”
The 453-foot, 12,000-ton submarine has a 50-torpedo payload and eight torpedo tubes. And, according to intelligence experts, it can tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them.
It can reach speeds of more than 25 knots and carry Tomahawk cruise missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes, and it is engineered to be quieter than the other two Seawolves, making it better for surveillance.
The Thames River, where the submarine was berthed, sparkled in the sunlight that did little to warm the winter day. Family and friends of the crew snapped photos before filing into a heated tent alongside the submarine, which was decorated with red, white and blue fabric.
Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, christened the boat last June at a ceremony attended by the 39th president. On Saturday, she gave the traditional order to “*man our ship and bring her to life*,” prompting crew members to line up on the submarine deck briefly before returning to the warmth of the tent.
John Pike, a military analyst with globalsecurity.org, said the ceremony closes the book on the big-submarine era.
“*It was part of our strategy on how we were going to win World War III. It was a significant component in our response to the evil empire*,” he said.
In eastern Connecticut, a region steeped in submarine history and the home to the Electric Boat shipyard, which built and launched the Seawolves, some fear the Pentagon will close the New London base as it looks to shrink the submarine fleet and buy smaller, cheaper subs.
“*It’s hard to find a civilian that doesn’t have some connection to the sub force,*” said Bud Fay, who owns a diner, car wash and laundry not far from the base gates in Groton.
To ensure that the last Seawolf was not obsolete before it hit the water, the Pentagon delayed production to install a 100-foot hull extension that military analysts say equips the USS Jimmy Carter to replace the USS Parche, one of the fleet’s premier spy subs.
The USS Parche was decommissioned in October. The Jimmy Carter will be based at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington’s Kitsap County, the Parche’s former home.
After a year of preparation, crew members were looking forward to taking control of the ship.
“*I have butterflies in my stomach*,” said Mechanic Robert Perry of New Bern, N.C. “*It’s one of a kind, the greatest piece of technological equipment in the world. It doesn’t get any better than that.*”
ADDENDUM: USS Parche
The keel of the USS Parche (SSN 683) was laid in December 1970 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi. USS Parche, namesake of one of the most highly decorated subs to serve in the Pacific Fleet during WWII, was commissioned in 1973 and served as a unit of Atlantic Submarine Force until 1976 before transferring to SUBPAC. Once arriving at its new homeport at Mare Island, California, Parche received ocean engineering modifications.
From 1987 to 1991, Parche began the extended overhaul at Mare Island Shipyard. The boat was refueled and modified for “research and development” — adding a one hundred foot extension to its hull just forward of the control room and sail, to bring her total length up to just over 401 feet, and submerged displacement to 7,800 tons. The extended hull is readily noticeable when the submarine is surfaced. Parche resumed Pacific Fleet operations in 1992 with a new mission as part of Submarine Development Squadron 5, and was transferred to its new homeport at Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Washington in November 1994. Parche is scheduled to decommission in 2003.
The “research and development” function of the extended hull includes intelligence gathering and underwater salvage. Reportedly, the Parche can support covert intelligence-gathering operations similar to IVY BELLS and HOLYSTONE, and a remote grapple extended through a hatch in the submarine’s keel can salvage relatively small items from the ocean floor (such as missiles, nuclear warheads, satellites, etc.)
Like all the Sturgeon-class submarines, Parche is of ice-strengthened construction, with reinforced sail incorporating diving planes capable of pivoting 90 degrees (vertical) to avoid damage when the boat crashes through ice to surface. Besides her bow-mounted sonar (in that location to isolate it the maximum distance from her screw), she mounts short-range navigational sonars (both upward and forward facing) plus armored spotlights and closed-circuit television cameras for under-ice operations.
Parche carries a ship’s complement of 179 (including 22 officers). She has a self-defense capability equal to the other units of the Sturgeon class — four 21-inch diameter torpedo tubes (two to a side, amidships, angled out from the centerline) capable of firing Mk 48 torpedoes or Harpoon or Tomahawk antiship missiles.
USS Parche (SSN 683) is the second United States ship to bear the name of the beautiful French butterfly fish. The first Parche (SS 384) was built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and commissioned in 1943. One of the most highly decorated ships of the famous World War II Pacific Submarine Force (SUBPAC), she made six war patrols, earning five battle stars and two Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) awards. USS Parche (SS 384) was decommissioned in December 1948 and its proud name stricken from the naval records. The boat’s conning tower and superstructure remain enshrined at Naval Submarine base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The SSN 683 was decommissioned on October 19, 2004 having earned nine Presidential Unit Citations, 13 Navy Expeditionary Medals, and 10 Navy Unit Commendations â€??? all unprecedented numbers. USS Parche goes into history as the most highly decorated submarine in history… And no one ever knew her name. (Just like it was supposed to be.)
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*Well, there ya go.
We wish the boat and all who sail on her the best of fortune, and good hunting!
Omar, out.*
