The Life of the Characters in hyman george rickover's Works

Rickover, a Polish Jew, was born in Markoff, a remote village in the north of Warsaw, Poland, on June 27th, 1900. 1906 immigrated to the United States with parents who were tailors and settled in Chicago. Because of his poor family, Rickover completed the work-study program from primary school to middle school. At the age of 18, Rickover finished his high school education, but he was unable to pay the college tuition. Later, on the recommendation of a senator, Rickover was admitted to the famous American Naval Academy. After four years in college, Rickover devoted almost all his energy to study and sports activities. Rickover got a bachelor's degree in engineering. After being awarded the rank of second lieutenant, he volunteered to serve in the surface naval forces on the west coast. Five months later, eager to study, Rickover applied for further study at the Naval Graduate School, and was quickly approved. Only one year after entering the Naval Postgraduate School, Rickover was sent to Columbia University School of Engineering for further study, and obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering. Later, Rickover served as chief engineer of warships, captain of minesweepers and captain of submarines in the US Navy.

1939, Rickover was transferred to the naval ship bureau. In the summer of the same year, Ross Gunn, a US naval officer with a doctorate, submitted a report on the development of nuclear-powered submarines to the Navy Department. However, due to the low level of science and technology at that time and the involvement of the United States in World War II, the plan ran aground. After the end of World War II, Gunn and others once again ran for the use of nuclear submarines, which caused great concern. At the beginning of 1946, the US Navy sent a team of five outstanding technical officers to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the nuclear research center, to study nuclear technology. Rickover, who won the rank of naval colonel, was very excited after hearing the news. With his efforts, he finally got the responsibility of this team.

In the days of Oak Ridge, Rickover was completely fascinated by nuclear energy technology. Whenever he encounters problems, he always humbly asks experts from all sides; Together with other members of the team, we checked every research project and carefully explained thousands of data. Many things happen. In a short time, Rickover changed from a technical official to a nuclear engineering expert.

1948, 1 In May, 2008, under the active application of Colonel Rickover, the superior of the Service Shipping Bureau established the Nuclear Power Department, but it was only a department and did not get practical support. Rickover lobbied around, stating the benefits of combining nuclear technology with submarines. The highest decision-making body in the United States made a decision to build a nuclear submarine. Rickover was appointed as the director of the National Atomic Energy Commission and the Naval Ship Bureau, and concurrently served as the chief engineer of the nuclear submarine project.

Rickover began to build nuclear-powered submarines. That is to say, the correct design direction is determined for the development of nuclear submarines-designing and installing brand-new nuclear reactors in a narrow space. Using the heat generated by nuclear fission to drive the steam turbine to generate electricity, the submarine can sail underwater at high speed for a long time.

Just in case, the nuclear submarine was built in the barren Nevada desert. Nuclear reactor is the most critical device of nuclear submarine, and Rickover finally chose the large liquid metal cooled nuclear power plant built by General Electric Company. In order to ensure foolproof, Rickover insisted on conducting thermal and earthquake-proof tests on every component of the reactor. At the same time, he boldly decided to build two sets of reactors identical to those in the land laboratory and put them directly into the submarine engine room for synchronous test. In order to simulate the real combat environment of nuclear submarines, Rickover specially designed and built a scale submarine with a length of about 16 m and a diameter of 1 m, so that it can withstand the test of explosion damage such as deep-water bombs.

1952 On June 4th, the keel laying ceremony of the first nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus was held in groton Shipyard, Connecticut, USA. This submarine is named after the dream submarine in Verne's masterpiece Two Wan Li under the Sea. 1953, Rickover was promoted to major general. On June 25 of the same year, the nuclear reactor began full power test. After working continuously for 24 hours, all the engineering experts on the site thought that the data obtained were enough to prove that the device met the requirements, and asked to stop testing and conduct a comprehensive inspection. However, Rickover strongly disagreed and ordered the test to continue. He insisted that the whole test must fully meet the requirements of full power when the submarine crosses the Atlantic under water.

After 60 hours of test operation, it was found that some instruments could not display readings normally, and then a circulating water pump screamed. After several hours, the wall of the main condenser was damaged and the steam pressure dropped sharply. At this time, the representative of Westinghouse Electric Company in charge of construction suggested stopping the test. Even the authority of the Naval Reactor Department of the Atomic Energy Commission advocated stopping the test, but Rickover insisted on not ordering it to stop. It was not until the landmark on the control room chart arrived in Ireland from the United States that Rickover ordered it to stop. After the nuclear reactor stopped running and cooled down, relevant experts conducted a comprehensive inspection. The result is very surprising: no fatal damage was found, which shows that the first nuclear-powered submarine has the ability to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

1954 65438+1October 2 1 In the early morning, amid cheers, the nuclear submarine Nautilus slowly slid into the water. After hard work, Nautilus was completed by the end of this year. The ship has a maximum speed of 25 knots and a maximum dive depth of150m. The boat is 97.5 meters long, 8.4 meters wide, with a draft of 6.7 meters, with a displacement of 3,700 tons on the water and 4,040 tons under the water. Equipped with six 533mm torpedo tubes, which can carry 18 torpedoes; The dive depth is 200 meters, and the maximum speed when diving is 20 knots; It can sail continuously for 50 days and 30,000 kilometers at maximum speed without adding any fuel.

Compared with conventional submarines at that time, Nautilus was about half as fast. The hull shape and interior, power instruments and combat equipment are all cutting-edge scientific products, with streamlined appearance and simple control, and nuclear power devices account for about half of the hull. Compared with ordinary submarines, Nautilus has a thicker hull. When driving in the deep sea, it can freely explore the road with its special sonar, and there is no danger of hitting the rocks. It was the most advanced underwater weapon at that time. People can't hear the rumbling noise of conventional submarines, and the operators on board can't even feel the difference from sailing on water. It dived 65,438+0,300 kilometers in 84 hours, which is about 65,438+00 times more than the maximum range of any conventional submarine.

After more than three years of trial voyage, the Nautilus nuclear-powered submarine only replaced one reactor activity area and consumed only a few kilograms of uranium. The voyage reached 62526 nautical miles. However, if a conventional submarine sails the same distance at the same speed, it will consume about 8,000 tons of fuel. After the successful trial of Nautilus, Rickover suggested to the decision-making authorities of the navy that it should participate in anti-submarine confrontation exercises with several conventional submarines. During the exercise, the nuclear submarine Nautilus once again showed its unique advantages. 1In July and August, 955, Nautilus easily defeated an anti-submarine formation including an anti-submarine aircraft carrier in its first combat exercise. In this confrontation exercise, Nautilus sank seven enemy ships. Subsequently, in the NATO exercise called counterattack, the number of surface ships attacked by Nautilus reached 16, including 2 aircraft carriers, 1 heavy cruisers and 9 destroyers, and the remaining 4 were oil tankers and cargo ships. Conventional submarines are often found in exercises, while nuclear submarines are difficult to find. Even if they are found, the high speed of nuclear submarines can get them out of pursuit. Because the nuclear submarine has a great endurance and does not need to surface, it can avoid air strikes. According to American statistics, Nautilus suffered more than 5,000 attacks in previous exercises. According to conservative estimates, if it is a conventional submarine, it will be sunk 300 times, while Nautilus has only three times. Nautilus shows that nuclear submarines are truly invincible.

By April of 1957, Nautilus had sailed more than 1 10000 kilometers without refueling, most of which was underwater. At this point, many people think that nuclear submarines have developed to such a point that they can be built in batches and delivered to troops. However, Rickover did not make a hasty decision, but once again asked the Nautilus nuclear submarine to conduct underwater navigation and exploration in the Arctic Ocean. He believes that only by passing under the ice of the Arctic Ocean can he be qualified to sail in other sea areas. 1957 In August, the nuclear submarine Nautilus officially accepted the task of exploring the North Pole. The nuclear submarine Nautilus departed from Greenland in the North Atlantic. After diving 1 1 days, when it surfaced, it had reached the edge of the Arctic ice sheet. Completed the unimaginable feat of conventional power submarines. After that,1June, 958, Nautilus sailed to the North Pole again, breaking out an ice route. Later, the United States announced that it would no longer manufacture conventional power submarines. Since then, the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China have successively built their own nuclear submarines.

After a long period of hesitation (and public pressure), in 1959, Rickover was promoted to vice admiral. President Kennedy announced that he would continue to extend his term of office after taking office. In fact, it was not until 1973 that Rickover was promoted to general. However, although Rickover reached retirement age early, he was determined not to retire. Later, the president of the United States simply announced that he could serve indefinitely. 1982, Rickover retired at the age of 8 1.

In order to cooperate with nuclear-powered submarines, during Rickover's tenure, he and arleigh albert burke, then Minister of the Navy, made every effort to build a nuclear-powered fleet, including an enterprise-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a nuclear-powered missile cruiser named "Long Beach" and a nuclear-powered destroyer named "bainbridge". But in the end, because it was too expensive, the US Navy only built one such fleet. Rickover presided over the construction of all nuclear-powered submarines of the US Navy before the 1980s. The final masterpiece was eighteen Ohio-class strategic missile nuclear submarines, which were specially used to carry and launch Trident ballistic missiles.

Rickover died in July 1986. He studied tirelessly all his life, wrote diligently and dabbled in a wide range. His major works include Education and Freedom, Failure of American National Education, etc. Therefore, he was also regarded as an educator, and named "Rickover Building" in his alma mater, that is, the engineering department building of Annapolis Naval Academy.