USS Seawolf (SSN-575) - Initial Construction

Initial Construction

Seawolf's keel was laid down 7 September 1953 by the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut. She 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, in this case, the ubiquitous 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 nukes. Dennis B. Boykin III would lead EB's power plant installation, and return to the project two years later for the conversion. His counterpart at the Office of Naval Reactors, Gardner Brown, did the same.

Lieutenant James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, the only U.S. President to qualify in submarines, was to be her Engineering Officer, but had resigned his commission upon the death of his father in 1953.