I have been watching the news recently and it is sad how there is so much division in the world.

I was going through some old files today and found a copy of the short speech Admiral Rickover gave after we finished sea trials on the USS San Francisco SSN 711 in 1981. It’s hard to believe that many years have passed. Maybe in some ways, it’s hard to believe I am still around to reflect.

The boat, or what’s left of the original boat, now sits in a river not far from where I am writing this. It lives on as a Moored Training Ship (MTS 711). That unit helps to train the young men and women who will go out to the submarine fleet and defend our nation. I get the honor of spending a little time with them on Monday mornings teaching a class on submarine heritage.

The admiral delivered the talk to an exhausted crew. Sea trials used to be a horrific time of trial and testing to make sure the boat and crew could function well. Based on the admiral’s words, we must have done so. All I remember is being very tired at the end of the journey.

On 27 July 1981, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman (who had attended the commissioning of the 711 in April) was handed the final impetus for ending Rickover’s career by way of an operational error on the admiral’s part: a “moderate” loss of ship control and depth excursion while performing a submerged “crash back” maneuver during the sea trials of the newly constructed USS La Jolla. Rickover was the actual man-in-charge during this specific performance test, and his actions and inactions were judged to have been the causal factor.

On 31 January 1982, five weeks after his 82nd birthday, Rickover was forced to retire from the Navy after 63 years of service under 13 presidents (Woodrow Wilson through Ronald Reagan). According to Rickover, he first learned of his firing when his wife told him what she heard on the radio.

Admiral Rickover died on 8 July 1986 (aged 86). His presence is still felt on every submarine.

I do reflect often on the words in the next to the last paragraph. I would like for his wish of a united country to come true. I wonder if we will ever see that again in my lifetime.

Mister Mac