International Journal of Naval History

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover USN

and the

UK Nuclear Submarine Propulsion Programme

Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill

United Kingdom

Synopsis

    For thirty years Admiral Rickover served the USA both as director of the Division of Naval Reactors in the Department of Energy and as deputy commander for nuclear propulsion in the Naval Sea Systems Command, heading up the Office of Naval Reactors. He is universally recognized as the Father of the Nuclear Navy and his forthright , abrasive style and his promotion of excellence in engineering are legendary. Less well known is the influence he had on the UK Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme, resulting from his friendship with Admiral Earl Mountbatten, when he was First Sea Lord.

    This paper covers aspects of Rickover's remarkable career up to USS Skipjack with its S5W reactor and describes where the UK propulsion programme had got to by 1956, when the two great men first met. It describes their relationship and what resulted from their meeting. Those events still affect the programme today, while Rickover's principles are timeless.

Editor's Note:

    This paper first appeared in a limited print run as one of the Thomas Lowe Gray Memorial Lectures sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the United Kingdom. In an effort to preserve the original text and formatting the article may be acquired by clicking on the "PDF" option at the top of this page.

The lecture was presented by Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill on 19 April 2005.