Free Republic

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...

(Groton-WTNH, Mar. 24, 2005 7:42 AM ) _ Groton police responded to a medical emergency call around 5:00 a.m. this morning for a gunshot wound at the Electric Boat facility in Groton. Police say that a 22-year-old sailor on duty aboard a submarine at Electric Boat has died from an apparent gunshot wound. Due to federal jurisdiction, the investigation has been taken over by the local office of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service. The name of the victim nor the circumstances of the shooting have not been released.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Petty Officer 3rd Class Chad Kahl never suffered from a lack of open space while growing up in North Dakota. When he told friends and family there that he had volunteered to live aboard a 350-foot-long metal tube underneath hundreds of feet of water, they thought he was crazy. Kahl had done his homework on the submarine lifestyle. But as he prepared to get under way for the first time, he wondered if his friends may have had a point. "I think everyone that goes doesn’t really know what they’re getting into," said Kahl of...