USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)
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 Jimmy Carter departs NSB Kings Bay, 11 August 2005. |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Jimmy Carter |
| Namesake: | Jimmy Carter |
| Ordered: | 29 June 1996 |
| Laid down: | 1998 |
| Launched: | 13 May 2004 |
| Christened: | 5 June 2004 |
| Commissioned: | 19 February 2005 |
| Homeport: | Bangor Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, Washington |
| Motto: | Semper Optima ("Always the Best") |
| Status: | Active in service as of 2009[update] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Seawolf-class submarine |
| Displacement: | 7,568 tons light, 12,139 tons full, 1,569 tons dead |
| Length: | 138 m (453 ft) overall, 128.5 m (419 ft) waterline |
| Beam: | 12.1 m (40 ft) |
| Draft: | 10.9 m (36 ft) |
| Propulsion: | One S6W reactor |
| Speed: | 25+ knots (45+ km/h) |
| Test depth: | 320 m |
| Complement: | 15 officers, 126 enlisted |
| Armament: | 8 × 26-inch torpedo tubes; Harpoon missiles; Tomahawk missiles; Mk-48 torpedoes; ability to lay mines |
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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 United States Navy as a Communications Officer, Sonar Officer, Electronics Officer, Gunnery Officer and Supply Officer while on board the USS Pomfret (SS-391).[1] 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 29 June 1996, and her keel was laid on 5 December 1998. Original schedules called for Carter to be commissioned in late 2001 or early 2002, but on 10 December 1999, Electric Boat was awarded an US$887 million extension to the Carter contract to modify the boat for highly classified missions and testing of new submarine systems, missions previously carried out by USS Parche (SSN-683).[2] Jimmy Carter was christened on 5 June 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 plug (additional 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.[3] 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).[citation needed]
Carter has additional maneuvering devices fitted fore and aft that will allow her to keep station over selected targets in odd currents.[citation needed] Past submarines outfitted this way[citation needed] were used to tap undersea cables, to intercept communications of foreign countries. Intelligence experts speculate that the MMP may find use in similar missions as an underwater splicing chamber for fiber optic cables.[4][5][6][7]
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 at Naval Submarine Base New London, took temporary command of the PCU until a new commanding officer could be named.
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 NSB New London.
Jimmy Carter began a transit from NSB New London to its new homeport at the Bangor Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, 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 16 June 2006, Commander David Honabach took command from Captain Kelso.[8]
On 17 January 2008 Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2007 Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as a "Battle E".[9]
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[edit] Gallery
 President Carter holding a model of the ship that carries his name. |
 Diagram of Carter, showing added features |
_flying_Jack.jpg) Carter during the submarine’s commissioning ceremony, 19 February 2005 |
 Carter in the Magnetic Silencing Facility at Naval Base Kitsap for her first deperming treatment. |
[edit] In the media
- On May 12, 2009, during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, President Carter noted that "the finest warship on Earth now is named the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter."[10]
- USS Jimmy Carter was destroyed in the spy-novel Madame Terror, written by Swedish author Jan Guillou.
- The Jimmy Carter was featured in the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. First mentioned in the episode "Alpine Fields", the Jimmy Carter was used to transport Australian human Resistance soldiers to post-apocalyptic Los Angeles to obtain supplies, captained by a reprogrammed Terminator. In the episodes "Today is the Day Part 1" and "Today is the Day Part 2", the submarine was scuttled by its own crew after a mission to retrieve a T-1000 liquid-metal Terminator had gone awry.
- Jimmy Carter was depicted in the Sci-Fi channel original movie Deep Impact.
- Jimmy Carter was the center piece of a JAG episode in 2002 regarding an officer selling the underwater tonal signature data to the Chinese.
[edit] References
- ^ "Lieutenant James Earle Carter, Jr., USN". Naval History & Heritage Command. United States Navy. 19 October 1997. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-14.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
- ^ Zimmerman, W. Frederick (2008). SSN-23 Jimmy Carter: U.S. Navy Submarine (Seawolf Class). Nimble Books. p. 1. ISBN 9781934840306. http://books.google.com/books?id=60nh1yBFDiYC&pg=PA1.
- ^ Davis, USN, RADM John P. (Fall 1999). "USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23): Expanding Future SSN Missions". Undersea Warfare (U.S. Government Printing Office) 2 (1). http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_5/ussjimmycarter.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ "New Nuclear Sub Is Said to Have Special Eavesdropping Ability". The New York Times. Associated Press (The New York Times Company). 2005-02-20. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/20/politics/20submarine.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ Zorpette, Glenn (Jan 2002). "Making Intelligence Smarter". IEEE Spectrum (IEEE) 39 (1): 38-43. doi:. ISSN 0018-9235. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx5/6/21038/975021/975021.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ Neil Jr. (2001-05-23). "Spy agency taps into undersea cable". ZDNet News. CBS Interactive. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-115877.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ "Jimmy Carter: Super Spy?". Defensetech.org. 2005-02-21. http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001397.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ Popejoy, MC1 Mary (16 June 2006). "USS Jimmy Carter gets a new boss". The Northwest Navigator (Sound Publishing, Inc). http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/kitsap/uss_jimmy_carter_gets_a_new_boss/. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
- ^ Rowley, Eric (2008-01-22). "Pacific Northwest Sub Crews Win Battle "E"". Navy.mil. http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=34493. Retrieved on 2009-06-30.
- ^ Milbank, Dana (2009-05-13). "The Man From Plains, With Lessons From the '70s". The Washington Post (Washington D.C.: Katharine Weymouth). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/AR2009051203416_2.html.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) |
- Naval Vessel Register entry for USS Jimmy Carter
- USS Jimmy Carter Commissioned, from the Navy's Commander Submarine Group Two website
- USS Jimmy Carter: Expanding Future SSN Missions
- submarinehistory.com: USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)
- submarinehistory.com: James Earl "Jimmy" Carter
- submarinehistory.com: Submarines in the 21st century
- oralhistoryproject.com: World War II Submarine Veterans History Project
- navysite.de: USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)
- NavSource Online: USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23)
- USS Jimmy Carter Multi-Mission Platform, in PDF format
- James Bamford Inside the National Security Agency (Lecture) ACLU KUOW-FM PRX NPR 24 February 2007 (53: minutes)
- Big Brother Is Listening by James Bamford The Atlantic April 2006
[edit] See also
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