10. Rickover made further enemies as he developed the first nuclear submarine
To create the most innovative seagoing vessel in history, Rickover avoided unproven technology, preferring what was known to be reliable and effective. He applied this philosophy to both the reactor and the submarine from the very beginning of the project. Westinghouse Electric Corporation, a company with which Rickover had long experience, developed and built the pressurized water reactor to be used, with the first prototype becoming operational for testing purposes in 1953. By that time, an entirely new submarine to house a similar reactor was nearing completion at the Electric Boat Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. Rickover had selected the name Nautilus for the submarine, after the fictional submarine of that name in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Walt Disney Studios, who had made the film version of Verne’s novel, was hired to design the patch for the new submarine.
While Nautilus was under construction, Rickover’s lack of popularity within the Navy created a problem which caused him to once again go around his supervisors. In 1953 Captain Rickover was passed over for promotion to Rear Admiral. In ordinary circumstances, such an event would lead to mandatory retirement. Rickover alerted friends in Congress, who intervened to pressure the Navy’s Selection Board to include Rickover in that year’s list of Captain promoted to Admirals. Rickover’s disdain for Naval ceremonials and traditions was well known, but circumventing the Selection Board to gain promotion was virtually unheard of, and added to Rickover’s list of enemies within the Naval command structure. But he succeeded. Rickover was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1953 after Congress persuaded the Secretary of the Navy to convene a special Board of Selection for the purpose.