Posted on 06/05/2004 11:14:19 PM PDT by ambrose
Naval submarine Jimmy Carter christened at Connecticut shipyard
GROTON, Conn. (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter was filled with emotion Saturday as the most advanced nuclear submarine in the U.S. Navy was named after him at a Connecticut shipyard.
"This is a very wonderful day for me, to see my wife break the champagne on undoubtedly the finest and most formidable ship in the world," said Carter, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the only submariner to be elected president.
Carter's wife, Rosalynn, blessed the Seawolf-class nuclear submarine and its crew, then hesitated for a moment before cracking the bottle of champagne against the sail of the USS Jimmy Carter.
Amid much fanfare and cheers, a crowd of 4,500 Navy personnel, submarine workers and their families gathered at the Electric Boat shipyard for Saturday's christening ceremony. The Carters' daughter, Amy, also attended the ceremony.
Only nine people have had ships named after them while they are still alive in modern times, said Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy.
"President Jimmy Carter has surely earned his place in this elite group of citizens," England said.
Another was former President Ronald Reagan, who died Saturday. The christening ceremony had ended before Reagan's death was announced.
The $3.2 billion Jimmy Carter is the third and last of the Seawolf-class submarine. It has been nearly nine years in the making and still has about a year of finishing on its interior before it can be tested and commissioned.
As the ship's sponsor, Rosalynn Carter has been corresponding with the crew and its families. The Carters were stationed at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton in the early 1950s during Carter's Navy service.
The submarine was built with extra capabilities to perform reconnaissance and surveillance missions, perform research and engage in undersea warfare. It also can handle different weapons and undersea vehicles than other ships in its class.
The ship will be "a needed constituent in the continued dominance of the seas by the United States Navy," said James Schlesinger, secretary of energy under Carter and also director of the Central Intelligence Agency and secretary of defense under President Richard Nixon.
In the war on terrorism, the submarine is a symbol to terrorists of the United States' military domination, Schlesinger said.
Schlesinger recalled Carter's work during his presidency and since he left office in 1981.
Carter was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 2002 for helping solve international conflicts and for working for human rights and economic and social development around the world.
"This powerful instrument of war will be part of a deterrent that maintains the peace that Jimmy Carter has devoted so much of his life to preserve," Schlesinger said.
Vice Adm. Kirkland Donald, commander of Naval Submarine Forces, said the Navy is eager to get the ship into service. The crew already has been training to get ready for its commissioning.
The first ship in the class, the USS Seawolf, was commissioned in 1997. The USS Connecticut was commissioned the following year.
I still don't like the idea of naming anything after a living person.
May this mighty ship do more than President Carter ever did to defend America and democracy, and may its crew be safe!
And that brilliant nuclear expert, AMY, should be the first commander of the boat!
every time it encounters an enemy, it will "full reverse" immediately.
Should have named it "Monica"...she was really good at going down or so i heard.
Lots of people serve honorably in the Navy, and they don't have vessels named after them.
Jimmy couldn't pronounce the word, either. And, he was a "nucular" engineer!
Wonder why the "press" didn't give him a hard time about that. Oh, nevermind.
I feel sorry for the lads who have to say they serve aboard the "Carter". Sheesh.
Schlesinger is such a dick head. He has to inject an implication that Jimmy Carter through his namesake boat is somehow contributing to the fight against terrorism. Why do these has-been public officials have to inject "fight against terrorism" into the most blatantly stupid moments.
Can anyone just envision shivers going through the whole Terrorist Flotilla?
-"I would be scared to death to be stationed on ANY vessel that had the name of Jimmy Carter on it. It just spells loser."-
Oh, you are SO right, and I wouldn't want our guys jinxed by being stationed on such a wagon. Just don't take it to the middle east, please!
USS Malaise
Maybe it's just me , but doesn't it seem strange to name a War machine after a man that would be afraid to use it even if he had to ????
......... just saying .....
Its first mission will be to safeguard the Panama Canal for whoever owns it now.
Will it be allowed to go through the Panama Canal since her namesake gave it away?
I hope they don't send the sub out on a mission. It might crash.
In honor of it's namesake, the $1.4 billion project was budgeted for $3.2 billion at an interest rate of 13%.
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