ADMIRAL HYMAN G. RICKOVER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/12/1978 - HFSID 251819

HYMAN G. RICKOVER
Rickover signed this typed letter while at sea on USS Mississippi letterhead to Congressman James H. Quillen after the cruiser's sea trials in 1978. With original mailing envelope.
Typed letter signed "H.G. Rickover". 3 pages, 8½x11, on letterhead of USS Mississipi c/o Fleet Post Office, New York City. Written "At Sea/North Atlantic", June 12, 1978. Addressed to the Honorable James H. Quillen, U. S. House of Representatives. Lightly toned, soiled and creased. Staple hole in upper left corner. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Original mailing envelope from Rickover's personalized USS Mississippi stationery. Postmarked U. S. Navy, USS Mississippi, June 12, 1978. Addressed to the Honorable James H. Quillen, U. S. House of Representatives. With one A stamp affixed. Lightly toned, discolored and creased. Staple hole in upper left corner. Envelope was opened neatly on verso. Otherwise in fine condition. This letter was written after the first sea trials of the USS Mississippi, the U. S. Navy's eighth nuclear cruiser and its 11th nuclear surface vessel. Rickover discusses the USS Mississippi's mission and goes into detail about its three predecessors: a sidewheel steam frigate commissioned in 1841 and two battleships commissioned in 1908 and 1917, the second participating in the Pacific war. About half of this letter, though, is dedicated to defending nuclear-powered naval vessels: "The increased mobility and tactical flexibility of the all-nuclear carrier task group increases its offensive capability and reduces its vulnerability to enemy attack. The uncertainty of being able to deliver oil to warships in combat areas and the continuing reduction in the number of our overseas bases emphasize the importance of freeing navel strike forces from the need for frequent refueling." The USS Mississippi, also designated CGN-40, was a Virginia-class guided missile cruiser. Her keel was laid on Feb. 22, 1975, and she was commissioned on July 31, 1976. The USS Mississippi participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, firing missiles into Iraq, before being decommissioned on July 28, 1997. Head of the United States Navy's electrical division in World War II, HYMAN G. RICKOVER (1900-1986, born in Makov, Russia) moved to the Atomic Energy Commission in 1947 and developed the first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, in 1954. He presided over the build-up of the U.S. nuclear-powered Navy. He also presided over the construction of the one-of a kind, super-secret NR-1 nuclear submarine. Despite cost overruns during its development, which earned the wrath of the General Accounting Office, the NR-1 fulfilled Rickover's fondest hopes. The story of the craft has now been told in Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Submarine by Don Davis and original crewmember Lee Vyborny (2002). Rickover was promoted to rear admiral in 1953, vice-admiral in 1959 and admiral in 1973. Republican JAMES H. QUILLEN (1916-2003, born in Scott County, Virginia) represented Tennessee's 1st Congressional District in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1997.