By John W. “Bill” Sheehan, Captain, USN (Ret.)

Like all nuclear trained officers of my generation, my first encounter with Admiral Rickover was my initial interview in either December 1962 or January 1963 (I just don’t remember when it was in those two months).  We were bussed to DC from Annapolis for the interview in the old Temporary World War I buildings on the Washington Mall.

After the three preliminary interviews with his support staff, I finally was sent in to see the Admiral.  I never sat down in any chairs but remained at attention throughout the short time in hs office.  My class standing was around 100 (slightly greater than that) and the Admiral asked if I would finish the year standing less than 100.  I told him I would try and he responded with a loud “Get Out”.  I was placed in a supply closet for what seemed to me to be three or four hours and then was sent back in to the Admiral’s office and he asked the same question and I gave the same answer.  His reaction was the same and I was sent back to the supply closet.  After a brief period I was taken into an office and there was a PCO there, Frank Adams who later was CO of USS Swordfish.  He told me exactly what to say and that if I told the Admiral that I would stand less than 100, I would not be lying if I did not succeed with that endeavor.  I was then sent into the Admirals office, he asked the same question and I answered that I would stand less than 100 in my class for First Class Year. I was greeted with the same response – “Get Out” in a very loud voice.  I returned to the waiting room and an hour or two later we were all escorted to the buses back to the Naval Academy.  Needless to say, I was accepted to the program on the proviso that I take an Engineering Math Course as an elective rather than my planned elective.  Later, at Nuclear Power School, I was grateful for taking the course even though I had a hard time completing it.

My next encounter with Admiral Rickover was more tangential.  My submarine, USS SEADRAGON (SSN584) was having the last Naval Reactors Examination with the newly formed Pacific Fleet Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board (NPEB) observing.  SEADRAGON had a lingering problem with a particular nuclear indication device that had eluded the ship’s crew, the Repair Facility experts and even experts in DC.  Rickover told our Engineer that “he would not take the ship to sea until the equipment was fixed”.  Our Engineer, a future Admiral and Vice Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, knowing right answer when told, agreed.  This forced the crew to stay in port until the problem was fixed.  It also encouraged the NR support group in DC to come up with a fix.  This delay meant SEADRAGON went to sea over the final weekend before departing on a six-month WESPAC Deployment.  While out on these trials, SEADRAGON suffered another casualty that required aborting the testing and returning to port.  On our way back to Pearl Harbor, the XO directed that we surface to dump trash and garbage before entering port (remember that this was in the mid nineteen sixties).  When on the surface, I was OOD and my lookout saw an unusual object in the water.  It turned out to be the remains of a private fishing boat with seven Honolulu Police Officers hanging on to it for dear life.  We mustered the man overboard detail and brought the Officers on board.  When we moored at Pearl we were met by our Squadron Commander, COMSUBLANT and other VIPS.  The skipper got his picture along with the rescued policemen on the front page of the Honolulu Star Bulletin.  Our problems in Engineering seemed to be forgotten and we departed on deployment with a spring in our step.  This rescue also paid off when SEADRAGON returned from deployment and went into a lengthy overhaul in Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.  Our crew members never got into any problems in Honolulu.  There was always a call to the ship to come and get them before the Police turned them over to the shore patrol.

My next personal encounter with the “Kindly Old Gentleman” was in the early 1970s when I was the Navigation and Operations Officer in the commissioning crew of USS TREPANG (SSN674).  First a brief encounter in the BOQ when the Admiral asked me for some directions to the dining room and then on initial sea trials when he came into control and stated “I don’t want to be here” and immediately left for the engine room.

I had the “honor” of writing a weekly letter to Admiral Rickover when I was Director of Officer Training at Nuclear Power School Bainbridge 1973-1975.  The only time I feared for my career was when I was suddenly called over to the CO’s office and asked if I was permitting the use of hand-held calculators by the Officer Students.  At the time, the high-end calculator was a Texas Instrument model that cost around $500.  A number of students owned these calculators and used them in class and on tests.  One of the students who did not own a calculator was the son of a major contributor to Senator “Scoop” Jackson of Washington.  He told his father who told the Senator who told Rickover who then called my boss irate that students were using calculators instead of slide rules.  I was finally able to negotiate a compromise that the students could use calculators during normal classes but not on tests.  This actually meant that students quickly understood that they needed to use the slide rules during class or they would not be familiar enough to use them during testing.  That was the rule when I left Nuclear Power School in the summer of 1975 for “Humanitarian Sea Duty” as Executive Officer USS GATO (SSN615).

While in overhaul in Pascagoula, MS in GATO I had the privilege of escorting the Admiral from a commercial flight at New Orleans Airport to a waiting Navy Helicopter that would take him to Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula.  I arrived at the airport and got in touch with the airport Security Officer who escorted me to the commercial plane the Admiral arrived in and then drove us across the runways and taxi ways to the waiting helo.  In route the Admiral gave me an envelope with the command “Mail This letter immediately”.  I gave him an AY, AY Sir.  The letter was a franked envelope that had the franking lined out and a stamp in its place.  It was addressed to his wife Elenore.  I saw him off on the helicopter, was driven to the exit gate by the Security Officer and then rode in a Navy car back to Pascagoula, Mississippi.

During the final week of Prospective Commanding Officer six-month training at Naval Reactors in 1980 along with my PCO classmates, I attended a group meeting with Admiral Rickover.  He was very solemn and introspective as he delivered his command philosophy.  He started his comments with the statement that he expected we would disregard most of his remarks.  This is probably true since a submarine CO does not dine alone or have his own personal mess.  However, I am sure that most of us took aboard the spirit of his remarks and used them subconsciously during our command tours and beyond.  The Navy post command Captains that were our mentors during the six-month course commented that his presentation was the best they had heard from him in their entire tour thus far at NR.

While in command, I received two phone calls from Admiral Rickover before he was forcibly retired.  The calls were to comment on the recently completed Operational Reactor Safeguards Exam (ORSE).  While my command, USS DANIEL WEBSTER (SSBN626) (G), received Outstanding in Administration and Knowledge, we did not do as well in the operational drills.  I was given some strong advice on how to improve the performance of my crew. I listened as the Admiral “chewed me out” for only getting an overall Above Average score.  Those were my last personal encounters with the Father of the Nuclear Navy.

The following are Admiral Rickover Stories that I heard during my career.  I do not know the veracity of the tales but I think they point out his impact and personality.

When at Nuclear Power School, the CO, Captain Jack Fagan, told the story of when Admiral Rickover invited the then Queen Frederica of Greece to tour his command, USS SHARK (SSN591) while it was on a Mediterranean  deployment.  The Admiral showed her much more of the submarine than the Skipper expected.

When we arrived at prototype in the Naval Reactors Test Station, Idaho we noticed that Classification markings were hand stamped and written on pages of the technical manuals.  We were told by the resident Chief Petty Officers that until Admiral Rickover toured the Russian Icebreaker LENIN in 1959 prior to President Eisenhower’s planned trip to Russia (which never occurred due to the shooting down of the U2 aircraft).  On his return, the Admiral instituted the CONFIDENTIAL Restricted Data category that is probably still in effect today.

Navy spouses and significant others were always mystified why we were all “afraid” of Admiral Rickover.  He seemed like a very nice gentleman when they met him at ship’s commissioning and christenings.  The following story that was making the rounds in the Pacific when I was a division officer lends credence to their opinion.  During one of the Admiral’s trips to Guam to oversee the Tender Radiological Exams and also visit with the Nurse (later his second wife) who was his nurse when he recovered from his first heart attack and was, at the time, the CO of the Nurses at the Naval Hospital on Guam, on his return flight he entertained an unusual seatmate.  It seems that Hugh Hefner sent the Playmate of the Year to deliver a PLAYBOY subscription to an Army platoon in Vietnam.  She was returning from this mission when Admiral Rickover picked up the flight to return to the States in Guam.  By the time the flight reached Travis Air Base in Northern California, the two were companions and Rickover walked off the plane arm in arm with the Playmate of the Year.  I recommend you check with Mrs. Rickover to see if there is any truth to the story but to us, it was an indication that the Admiral was the skilled politician and lady’s man but still the hard task master.

While on SEADRAGON, one of my Executive Officers who had just come from Idaho as Engineer of the Natural Circulation Plant prototype told this story about ADM Rickover -  It seems there was a major disagreement among the engineers and designers regarding what color to paint one of the bulkheads in the Engine Room lower level of the prototype.  An exasperated ADM Rickover directed in a loud voice “Paint it RED”.  So they did.

During my command tour, the Commander Submarine Group Two had weekly luncheons with all of the off crew SSBN Cos.  During one of these lunches, RADM Austin Scott told us that he had had a tough morning.  When he went to get the Admiral, who was visiting and staying at the BOQ, it appeared that his room was empty but no one had seen the Admiral leave the VIP Suite.  On a second search, ADM Scott found ADM Rickover on the floor behind his bed doing pushups.  It seems that even at his advanced age, he saw the need to get in some mild exercise.