page_title: USS Seawolf (SSN-575)
section_title: Initial construction
hierarchical_section_title: USS Seawolf (SSN-575) / Initial construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Atomic Submarine Seawolf launching, Groton, Conn. Subjects: Military facilities Places: Connecticut &gt; New London (county) &gt; Groton Notes: Title from item. Extent: 1 print (postcard)&#160;: linen texture, color&#160;; 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Accession #: 06_10_004124
context_page_description: USS Seawolf (SSN-575), a unique submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the seawolf, the second nuclear submarine, and the only US submarine built with a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor known as the Submarine Intermediate Reactor or Liquid Metal Fast Reactor, later designated S2G. Her overall design was a variant of Nautilus, but with numerous detail changes, such as a conning tower, stepped sail, and the BQR-4 passive sonar mounted in the top portion of the bow instead of further below. This sonar arrangement resulted in an unusual bow shape above the water for a U.S. submarine. Her distinctive reactor was later replaced with a standard pressurized water reactor, the replacement process lasting from 12 December 1958 to 30 September 1960.
context_section_description: Seawolf's keel was laid down 7 September 1953, by the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. It was launched on 21 July 1955 sponsored by Mrs. W. Sterling Cole, and commissioned on 30 March 1957, with Commander R. B. Laning in command.
  Like all of the original nuclear subs, the project manager at Electric Boat was the general manager of the company, Bill Jones.  During the parallel construction of the first nuclear submarines, the Navy, the Atomic Energy Commission, its independent labs, and the shipyard all worked together to learn together.
  For the yard, the Power Plant Project manager was a separate function on these original nuclear subs.  Dennis B. Boykin III would lead EB's power plant installation, and return to the project two years later for the reactor conversion.  His counterpart at the Office of Naval Reactors, Gardner Brown, did the same.
  Lieutenant James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, the only US President to qualify in submarines, was to be her Engineering Officer, but had resigned his commission upon the death of his father in 1953.
caption: Postcard showing launch
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