USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)

USS "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23), the third and last "Seawolf"-class submarine, is the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for former President Jimmy Carter, who served in the US Navy as a Communications Officer, Sonar Officer, Electronics Officer, Gunnery Officer and Supply Officer while on board the USS "Pomfret" (SS-391). [ cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-14.htm
title= Lieutenant James Earle Carter, Jr., USN
date= 19 October 1997 | publisher= U.S. Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-06-18 ] "Jimmy Carter" is one of the few ships of the United States Navy to have been named for a person who was alive at the time of the ship's naming. Jimmy Carter is the only U.S. President to qualify in submarines.

The contract to build "Carter" was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on June 29, 1996, and her keel was laid down on December 5, 1998. Original schedules called for "Carter" to be commissioned in late 2001 or early 2002, but on December 10, 1999, Electric Boat was awarded an US$887 million extension to "Carter" contract to modify the boat for highly classified missions and testing of new submarine systems, missions previously carried out by "Parche" (SSN-683). "Jimmy Carter" was christened on June 5, 2004, and sponsored by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

"Carter" is roughly 100 feet (30 m) longer than the other two ships of her class. This is due to the insertion of a section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of ROVs and Navy SEAL forces. The plug features a fairing over a wasp-waist shaped passageway allowing crew to pass between the fore and aft sections of the hull while providing a space to store ROVs and special equipment that may need to launch and recover from the submarine. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. This role was formerly filled by the decommissioned USS "Parche" (SSN-683).

According to figures published by Electric Boat, the MMP increased "Carter"'s displacement by about 33%, her navigation draft by over a foot (300 mm), and made her louder by two dB at 20 knots (37 km/h). It reduced her speed by two knots (4 km/h).

"Carter" has additional maneuvering devices fitted fore and aft that will allow her to keep station over selected targets in odd currents. Past submarines that were so outfitted were used to place listening devices on undersea cables and listen on communications of foreign countries.

On 24 January 2004, Commander David Bartholomew, Jr., commanding officer of PCU (Pre-Commissioned Unit) "Jimmy Carter" was relieved of command because of a "loss of confidence" in his ability "pending further administrative or disciplinary action as appropriate."Captain Robert D. Kelso, deputy chief of staff of Submarine Development Squadron 12 in New London, took temporary command of the PCU until a new commanding officer could be named. Captain Kelso will continue as CO of USS "Jimmy Carter" through her move to NB Kitsap in Bangor, Washington.

On 19 November 2004, "Jimmy Carter" completed alpha sea trials, her first voyage in the open seas. On 22 December, Electric Boat delivered "Jimmy Carter" to the Navy, and she was commissioned 19 February 2005 at the Navy submarine base in Groton.

"Jimmy Carter" began a transit from Naval Submarine Base New London to its new homeport in Bangor, Washington on 14 October 2005 but was forced to turn back when an unusually high wave caused damage while the submarine was still running on the surface. The damage was quickly repaired and "Carter" left New London the following day, arriving at Bangor the afternoon of 9 November 2005.

On June 16, 2006, Commander David Honabach took command from Captain Kelso. [ cite web
url= http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/kitsap/uss_jimmy_carter_gets_a_new_boss/
title= "USS Jimmy Carter gets a new boss"
author= MC1 Mary Popejoy | date= June 16, 2006 | publisher= "The Northwest Navigator"
accessdate= 2008-06-18 ]

On January 17, 2008 "Jimmy Carter" was awarded a Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as a "Battle E."

Alleged spying mission

The defense writer Robert Karniol writes that the USS|Parche|SSN-683 successfully tapped into Soviet underwater military communication cables in the Barents Sea in 1979. The submarine was also involved in recovering Soviet missile fragments from the seabed following test launches. Karniol writes: "I suspect that "the "Parche" might have gone after these Chinese missile fragments", referring to the DF-21 and DF-15 missiles the People's Republic of China launched into the surrounding Taiwan seas in 1995 and 1996 to deter Taiwan's moving toward independence, and "I suspect that Beijing gave away some useful missile secrets." And USS "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23), the successor to Parche, is "Washington's premier spy submarine". [Robert Karniol, 5 May 2008 printed edition of "The Straits Times", p.22; subscription required website: StraitsTimes.com; Karnior bases his assertion on the 1998 book ""]

Gallery

In the media

USS Jimmy Carter was destroyed in the spy-novel Madame Terror, written by Swedish author Jan Guillou.

References

External links

* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/SSN23.htm Naval Vessel Register entry for USS "Jimmy Carter"]
* [http://www.csg2.navy.mil/Jimmy%20Carter/jimmycartercommissioning.htm USS "Jimmy Carter" Commissioned] , from the Navy's Commander Submarine Group Two website
* [http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/cno/n87/usw/issue_5/ussjimmycarter.html USS "Jimmy Carter": Expanding Future SSN Missions]
* [http://www.submarinehistory.com/JimmyCarter.html submarinehistory.com: USS "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23)]
* [http://www.submarinehistory.com/PresidentCarter.html submarinehistory.com: James Earl "Jimmy" Carter]
* [http://www.submarinehistory.com/21stCentury.html submarinehistory.com: Submarines in the 21st century]
* [http://www.oralhistoryproject.com oralhistoryproject.com: World War II Submarine Veterans History Project]
* [http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn23.htm navysite.de: USS "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23)]
* [http://dsc.aticorp.org/documents/Chapter7_TheUSSJIMMY%20CARTERMMP_deliverd.pdf USS "Jimmy Carter" Multi-Mission Platform] , in PDF format
* James Bamford [http://www.prx.org/pieces/19730 Inside the National Security Agency (Lecture)] ACLU KUOW-FM PRX NPR February 24 2007 (53: minutes)
* [http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200604/nsa-surveillance Big Brother Is Listening] by James Bamford "The Atlantic" April 2006

ee also

*NSA