Rickover Stories

Glenn L. Duncan

Everyone has heard of the Rickover interview meetings. Here are two Rickover stories that do not include interviews.

While assigned as the Asst. SSN Material Officer at DEPCOMSUBLANT in NLON, I was scheduled to ride the Haddo on construction sea trials out of New York Shipyard in New Jersey. I arrived to find the riders for the second and third sea trials would board the boat at the canal in Del. We were transported to the canal by van. An hour after arriving at the canal a message came in for us to board a tug for a meeting in the Chesapeake for transfer. We boarded the tug and met the Pollack. We were told to get onboard the Pollack post haste so that Rickover could get onto the tug and take off. I got to the hatch, called out "down the hatch" and took a lookout drop down the ladder. At the bottom I landed hard and the boat rolled throwing me off balance. I hit a body standing near the ladder and sent it against the bulkhead. When I turned I was looking into the eyes of Rickover. He mumbled something like "these dam clumsy lieutenants". Yes I had met Rickover. LOL I loved it.

Rickover always rode the first nuclear construction sea trials. During the Patrick Henry first sea trials we were doing the standard engineering trials. I was standing by the control room as the ship went from full ahead to full astern. The young, slight, man on the throttles did his best to close down the ahead and open the astern throttle. When the test was done Rickover pounded his hands together and said " I want you to give that throttle man more beef, so he can operate those throttles faster", with that statement he left the compartment.

Glenn