By Fredrik Spruitenburg, Captain, USN (Ret.)

When Electric Boat was building the first Hyman G Rickover (SSN 709), the Admiral was retired but still alive and I was the first CO of the (SSN 709). The Admiral and his wife Eleonore, the ship’s sponsor, came to the Launching in August of 1983. My wife Martha, who was to be introduced to him just before the Launching, had a nice short speech to greet him which she had been practicing for several days. As she was escorted up to the Admiral, he took her hand and gazed into her eyes and said, “There must be a mistake. I was told they were bringing me the Captain’s wife, but this must be the Captain’s daughter”. At the word ”mistake” all thoughts of her speech fled from her mind and all she could do was giggle. Admiral Rickover was charismatic and always the gentlemen around the ladies.

I met the KOG in 1964 when I was a midshipman in the NROTC at the University of Louisville and I went for an interview with him to join the nuclear power program. I was waiting outside his office and overheard him chew out a representative from a valve company. The company was not meeting its deadlines and the products were inferior. I don’t think the rep got two words in before he was tossed out of Rickover’s office and told in no uncertain terms to fix his company’s problems. I was thinking oh great I get to see him when he is already mad. He calmly asked me why I wanted to join his program and I mumbled a few words about serving my country and he said get out. Maybe all of thirty seconds. That was it! I was selected for the program and went off to nuclear power school in Bainbridge, Maryland. I never expected that he would still be around when I became the Commanding Officer of the Hyman G Rickover (SSN 709) some twenty years later.