Summary/Annotation - More than anyone else, Adm. Rickover made nuclear power a reality. Building on the scientific breakthroughs of the atomic bomb project, he created the nuclear Navy almost overnight, when nearly everyone else thought it was a pipe dream, and built the world's first commercial atomic power station. He did most of this in a single decade. Rickover's incredible ability to get things done won his program wide public acclaim and personal honors that included presidential citations, honorary doctoral degrees, and congressional gold medals.
Despite all this, Rickover was the subject of bitter controversy and was twice passed over for promotions. In 1953 he was saved from involuntary retirement only through congressional intervention. Nearly forty years later, when he was fired as a four-star admiral, all three living American ex-presidents attended his post-retirement party. Now, for the first time, one of Rickover's close associates tells what it was like to be with this remarkable man day and night as he accomplished his miracles, and why he was bitterly opposed by so many powerful people. Theodore Rockwell, the admiral's long time technical director, takes the reader behind the 'zirconium curtain' that protected the program to give an inside account of those turbulent times. Using on-the-spot anecdotes and little-known documents, he explores Rickover's methods and relationships with others to help us understand his strengths and weaknesses.
The author describes Rickover's successes beginning right after World War II in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His account includes the first submarine voyage from Pearl Harbor to England to the North Pole, the continuously submerged round-the-world journey of the USS Triton, and the buildup of the U.S. Nuclear fleet and the civilian nuclear power industry. This candid, insightful portrait could only have been written by a key player. The Rickover Effect makes and important contribution to the understanding to one of this century's most elusive personalities.
U of L magazine - The Rickover Effect The Rickover Effect Speed grads remember working with 'Father of the Nuclear Navy' by Kevin Rayburn Here was Charles Brown Jr., his heart pounding and his pores 'sweating bullets,' wondering just what the hell he was getting himself into. In February 1965, the University of Louisville senior majoring in electrical engineering at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering was a young midshipman and soon-to-be ensign in the U.S.
He had come to Washington, D.C., to be interviewed for assignment as an engineer in the headquarters of the Navy's elite nuclear propulsion program—where atomic-powered submarines and ships were designed and maintained. Here he sat, facing a Spartan desk and—4 feet away—the glaring eyes of the legendary and feared 'father' of America's nuclear navy, four-star admiral Hyman G. Rickover, who oversaw development of nuclear power in both the Navy and civilian atomic-power industry from the late 1940s to early 1980s, would determine if Brown got the elite assignment or was sent to sea for more mundane duties. Every single one of the thousands of officers assigned to work in the nuclear naval program, whether aboard ship or off, was interviewed by Rickover. The admiral's short, terse, challenging job interviews were famous, and Brown knew it. The interviews were filled with logical 'traps' that pushed emotional buttons and tested reactions under stress.
Recently several Speed graduates who worked under Rickover—many retired or near the end of their careers—reminisced about their service in the naval and civilian nuclear programs in the '60s, '70s and '80s. Surviving Rickover's interviews was among their most vivid memories. It is not known how many Speed graduates served under Rickover, but there were many. The names of nearly 20 were verified in researching this story. Attending Speed School, as it happened, helped a prospect's chances to work for Rickover, who saw UofL's engineering school as a place that instilled in its students values he respected: rigorous discipline, hard work and a solid knowledge base.
'Rickover respected the Speed School program; I heard many people say that,' says Ray Kulbitskas, Brown's 1965 classmate and a chemical engineering graduate. 'He figured if you were passing your courses and doing well in Speed School then you were eligible to be interviewed.' Both Brown and Kulbitskas passed their interviews with Rickover and won their posts as engineers at headquarters. Many other hopefuls did not.
Interview From Hell Typically, three senior Rickover staffers would pre-screen job candidates, looking over their academic and leadership history and testing their nuts-and-bolts engineering knowledge. The results went into a report given to Rickover to mull over before the final interview. Candidates were warned to answer the admiral's questions directly.
Business
'If he asked you how old you were, you told him your age, not what year you were born. He expected your answers to be precise,' Brown says. Rickover's interviews could last from two to 20 minutes. For many, those minutes seemed like hours. 'Rickover stared at me, rocking back and forth in an old rocking chair that must have been built in 1910,' Brown recalls.
'He was chewing a ham and cheese sandwich on a hamburger bun.' Looking up from his report, Rickover began: 'I see that you only study 20 hours a week.' 'I said, 'Yes sir,' ' Brown recalls. Asked to elaborate why, Brown told Rickover that he also spent time on extracurricular activities.
'But he was deaf to extracurricular activities,' Brown explains. 'Then he asked me, 'OK, just what do you think is the purpose of a university?' 'I gave the standard answer: to get an education and so on.
He stares at me, still rocking in the chair and rolling the sandwich around in his cheeks, and he tells me, 'The purpose of an education is to put your nose to the grindstone and acquire knowledge, and nothing else. Do you understand?'
'I said, 'Yes sir.' 'He was soft-spoken and polite, but here he was setting up his trap.' Rickover continued, ' 'Now that we understand each other and based on what we discussed, if you had your college to do all over again would you do it differently?'
'I said, 'No sir, I wouldn't do it any differently.' ' Without a pause, Rickover asked Brown if he planned to marry after graduation. 'After I told him yes,' Brown says, 'the officer behind me indicated the interview was over and I was escorted out.
There was no handshake or acknowledgment, it was just over and the officer knew it. After waiting awhile I was told I had the assignment. 'It was only after working for Rickover for many years that I later came to understand what he was looking for in those interviews. He was looking for integrity and character, someone who could act on initiative and think independently, not be a yes-man.' That same year Kulbitskas, who had a B average at Speed, remembers Rickover fixating on his grades during his interview.
'Right off the bat Rickover barks, 'How come you get so many goddamned C's?' ' says Kulbitskas, who was active in Speed's student council among other things. He knew that explaining his extracurricular activities to Rickover would be useless. 'I just told him that I made C's because I didn't study enough. Then he asked me what my father did, and I told him he was a barber.' Rickover countered: ' 'Do you want to be a barber, too?
Get the hell out of here!' ' Kulbitskas was escorted to a small room known as 'the box' to sweat it out for 45 minutes. He was accepted.
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George LaChance, a 1958 Speed graduate in chemical engineering, served seven years in the Navy before seeking a position at headquarters with Rickover in 1965. LaChance had an exemplary academic record, graduating summa cum laude from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., in 1964. 'The first thing Rickover said to me was, 'What makes you think you're so smart? I have people working here who are smarter than you are!'
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'I told him I didn't doubt that, and then he asked me if I was married and had children. I told him yes and he said, 'What are you, a goddamned nest builder? ' Confounded, LaChance was told moments later he was accepted and ordered to report for duty in July. Brothers Carl and William Schmitt, both Speed graduates, also were accepted for duty under Rickover.
William remembers his 1974 interview. 'Rickover asked me why I wanted to work at headquarters and I started off with something like, 'I have a sincere desire to ' and there he cuts me off and says to me, 'You damn well better be sincere about what you're doing!' 'Then he asks me if I can lose 15 pounds in 15 weeks! I had a weight problem, so I just answered him, 'Yes sir, I believe I can do that.' Then he made me promise to write a letter to him, the admiral, every single week reporting on my progress. I got the post and lost the weight!' A Flat Organization Rickover was no believer in middle management, the Speed alumni say.
'There were 20 section heads running various parts of the nuclear propulsion program, and they answered directly to Rickover. I answered to a section head, so basically there was just one management layer between me and Rickover,' says LaChance, who worked in ship design and repair and as a project officer for commissioned submarines.
'I was responsible for anything to do with nuclear reactor plants on those subs.' Rickover was hands-on and not prone to delegate many duties.
'He was the epitome of the micromanager,' LaChance recalls. 'Secretaries were under orders to put anything and everything that was typed, and I mean everything, including the first uncorrected and unproofed carbon copies, into his in-box.
Those copies would be returned filled with comments—good and bad—before the originators ever had a chance to correct them. 'He stayed on top of everything,' LaChance continues. 'It's not my style of management, but it worked for him, and he was very successful.' And he knew everyone and called each person by name. 'But it was always your last name, never your first,' LaChance recalls. 'He would say, 'Hello, LaChance.
What are you working on, LaChance?' ' Often the section heads bore the brunt of his yelling and screaming. 'But you couldn't take it personally,' says Brown, who had been promoted to a section director. 'If there was a problem, he wanted it fixed and expected you to take responsibility for it.'
Kulbitskas elaborates, 'He might get upset but it was OK as long as you told him about a problem right away and how you would fix it. But if you didn't tell him about a problem and he found out about it, he would fire you the next day.' Legacies Rickover's brusque, demanding taskmaster style and precise training and operational procedures served a higher purpose, say the Speed graduates. Naval nuclear fleet has never had a nuclear accident, unlike the Russian navy which has had several,' LaChance notes. 'His legacy is that he got nuclear power into U.S. Subs and ships years ahead of what would be expected. Probably nobody else could have done as much as he did in the timeframe he had.'
Rickover believed small mistakes caught early would prevent bigger ones later—thus, his sterling safety record. 'He believed that people who didn't make some mistakes weren't really doing anything,' Kulbitskas says. William Schmitt remembers a story about Rickover told to him by his brother Carl that illustrates the admiral's respect for those who showed personal initiative and held their ground. 'Rickover told Carl that he really liked his tie and told Carl to give it to him. Carl told him no.' Wlan hacker programme free download free software.
Silently, Rickover led Carl to a cabinet, opened it and flashed a sly smile. Inside were dozens of ties.
' 'You see how many damn fools were willing to give me their ties?' ' (Special thanks to Dr. John Herweg with the Naval Reactors program in Washington, D.C., for providing photos and insight into Admiral Hyman Rickover.).
More than anyone else, Adm. Rickover made nuclear power a reality. Building on the scientific breakthroughs of the atomic bomb project, he created the nuclear Navy almost overnight, when nearly everyone else thought it was a pipe dream, and built the world's first commercial atomic power station. He did most of this in a single decade. Rickover's incredible abilit More than anyone else, Adm.
Rickover made nuclear power a reality. Building on the scientific breakthroughs of the atomic bomb project, he created the nuclear Navy almost overnight, when nearly everyone else thought it was a pipe dream, and built the world's first commercial atomic power station.
He did most of this in a single decade. Rickover's incredible ability to get things done won his program wide public acclaim and personal honors that included presidential citations, honorary doctoral degrees, and congressional gold medals. Despite all this, Rickover was the subject of bitter controversy and was twice passed over for promotions. In 1953 he was saved from involuntary retirement only through congressional intervention. Nearly forty years later, when he was fired as a four-star admiral, all three living American ex-presidents attended his post-retirement party.
Now, for the first time, one of Rickover's close associates tells what it was like to be with this remarkable man day and night as he accomplished his miracles, and why he was bitterly opposed by so many powerful people. Theodore Rockwell, the admiral's long time technical director, takes the reader behind the 'zirconium curtain' that protected the program to give an inside account of those turbulent times.
Using on-the-spot anecdotes and little-known documents, he explores Rickover's methods and relationships with others to help us understand his strengths and weaknesses. The author describes Rickover's successes beginning right after World War II in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His account includes the first submarine voyage from Pearl Harbor to England to the North Pole, the continuously submerged round-the-world journey of the USS Triton, and the buildup of the U.S.
Nuclear fleet and the civilian nuclear power industry. This candid, insightful portrait could only have been written by a key player. The Rickover Effect makes and important contribution to the understanding to one of this century's most elusive personalities. Rickover was awesome. He invented the high-stress engineering interview, for which we all might be thankful when we cross a bridge.
Nothing like a good engineering interview to get the blood flowing: Hire the Best There is little disagreement that successful organizations must have adequate leadership. Yet, the Naval Reactors experience strongly suggests that followers are just as important to organizational effectivenes-a fact that did not escape Rickover Rickover was awesome. He invented the high-stress engineering interview, for which we all might be thankful when we cross a bridge. Nothing like a good engineering interview to get the blood flowing: Hire the Best There is little disagreement that successful organizations must have adequate leadership. Yet, the Naval Reactors experience strongly suggests that followers are just as important to organizational effectivenes-a fact that did not escape Rickover. He stated, 'The only thing I've done is to hire people smarter than me.'
In this regard, Rickover went to extreme, and some would say, bizarre ends to ensure that Naval Reactors got only those with the 'right stuff' from both the U.S. Naval Academy and civilian universities. The selection process began with a long interview (perhaps several hours), conducted by Rickover's senior staff, in which the candidate was quizzed about his technical knowledge, intellect, and character. A report of the interview was then sent to Rickover. Eventually, the candidate was led into the admiral's office. Generally speaking, Rickover's interviews lasted a few minutes to perhaps one-half hour, and his techniques soon became legendary within the Navy. Some called them cruel, others in ane, but most candidates never forgot their few minutes with the admiral.
His purpose was to put the candidate under stress. 'I've got to shake them up,' Rickover told his senior staff. Thus, he often asked questions that were unexpected.
For instance, he would ask a midshipman about his marriage plans. After hearing the response, Rickover might ask if the candidate would be willing to postpone his wedding for the sake of Naval Reactors. Or, he might ask why a candidate's class rank was not higher, and why they had not done better. Such a question even prompted a future president (Jimmy Carter) to name his autobiography after a question Rickover had posed to him-'Why Not The Best?' There usually were no right or wrong answers. What Rickover hoped to discern was a person's motivation, strengths and weaknesses, along with their reactions under fire.
Joe simon drowning in the sea of love rare. Jimmy relates his Rickover interview: 'I had applied for the nuclear submarine program, and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job. It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover, and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours, and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss. Very carefully, I chose those about which I knew most at the time-current events, seamanship, music, literature, naval tactics, electronics, gunnery-and he began to ask me a series of questions of increasing difficulty.
In each instance, he soon proved that I knew relatively little about the subject I had chosen. He always looked right into my eyes, and he never smiled. I was saturated with cold sweat. Finally he asked a question and I thought I could redeem myself. He said, 'How did you stand in your class at the Naval Academy?' Since I had completed my sophomore year at Georgia Tech before entering Annapolis as a plebe, I had done very well, and I swelled my chest with pride and answered, 'Sir, I stood fifty-ninth in a class of 820!'
I sat back to wait for the congratulations-which never came. Instead, the question: 'Did you do your best?' I started to say, 'Yes, sir,' but I remembered who this was and recalled several of the many times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies, our enemies, weapons, strategy, and so forth. I was just human.
I finally gulped and said, 'No, sir, I didn't always do my best.' He looked at me for a long time, and then turned his chair around to end the interview. He asked one final question, which I have never been able to forget-or to answer. He said, 'Why not?' I sat there for a while, shaken, and then slowly left the room.'
Admiral Hyman Rickover was the father of the American nuclear Navy. He worked with Westinghouse Electric to build the reactor for the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, which was the world's first pressurized-water reactor. Building a nuclear reactor in the 1950s was difficult enough, but how do you do it in the confined space of a submarine hull, which can lean 45 degrees and experience the shock of depth charges? It was tested in the Idaho desert inside a mock hull surrounded by mo Admiral Hyman Rickover was the father of the American nuclear Navy. He worked with Westinghouse Electric to build the reactor for the world's first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, which was the world's first pressurized-water reactor. Building a nuclear reactor in the 1950s was difficult enough, but how do you do it in the confined space of a submarine hull, which can lean 45 degrees and experience the shock of depth charges?
It was tested in the Idaho desert inside a mock hull surrounded by mock ocean water. The reactor needed zirconium cladding for the fuel elements and hafnium control rods; there was no zirconium or hafnium industry in the United States, so Rickover launched them. There were many engineering problems with the new technology, but the nuclear Navy under Rickover's command overcame them all. Theodore Rockwell was Rickover's associate for many years. He portrays the admiral as a domineering workaholic micromanager, which was probably the only way someone could get done what Rickover got done.
Rickover was famous for interviewing all prospective officers of nuclear ships, including the future President Jimmy Carter. The interviews were designed to put the interviewee into a stressful situation, so Rickover could see how he behaves under stress: panics, gives up, or does the right thing; only the latter were deemed fit to be officers of nuclear ships.
Rickover also wanted to reform the American education system, but he failed in this effort probably because schools cannot choose their students like Rickover chose his naval officers. (review is incomplete) I picked this book off a library shelf on a whim, since I had heard of Rickover as being someone important but knew very little about him. This book is not very well-written nor comprehensive, but it is a relatively quick read for its length, and it gives a vivid if uneven description of what Rickover was like to work for during the years when he had his greatest impact. It is written by a civilian engineer who was one of Rickover's chief assistants at the Navy bureau of sh (review is incomplete) I picked this book off a library shelf on a whim, since I had heard of Rickover as being someone important but knew very little about him. This book is not very well-written nor comprehensive, but it is a relatively quick read for its length, and it gives a vivid if uneven description of what Rickover was like to work for during the years when he had his greatest impact.
It is written by a civilian engineer who was one of Rickover's chief assistants at the Navy bureau of ships. Rickover deserves great credit for advancing the development of nuclear-reactor propulsion for naval ships, particularly submarines. A submarine's most serious vulnerability is its need to surface; submarine technology up til WWII always required the boat to surface daily or nearly daily to run its engines and recharge its batteries. Thus a nuclear powerplant offered a revolutionary improvement in submarine capability by permitting the submarine to operate almost indefinitely without surfacing. Rickover, while not the first person to recognize this opportunity, was the first person with any authority or power to do so, and to recognize that it was technicially and budgetarily feasible.
He recognized the value to the country (not to mention his career) to develop this weapon, and thus embarked on a nearly decade-long quest to get it done. Starting as only a mid-level officer (a colonel) in 1945, he accomplished this project by sheer force of energy and determination, battling the bureaucracy for the staff and resources he needed, cajoling major corporations like Westinghouse and General Electric to develop prototypes for him, and personally overseeing the engineering with great technical skill.
He went on to lead the Navy's nuclear propulsion effort for nearly another forty years. His work, or at least the early part of it, is an inspirational story of successful technical leadership. Interviewing and selecting people reading assignments for staff thoroughness and technical quality commitment to joint civilian control and absolutely rigorous safety procedures crew quizzes and inspections story of initial prototyping and launch and sea trials and polar navigations, very compelling commitment to following rules yet broke them when needed rickover's involvement in the three mile island inquiry started to do important things while in his late 40s. Encouraging to think about almost ascetic lifestyle ferocious temper and abusive style of intimidating his underlings. I mixed feelings about this book.
It is generally competently written and interesting but doesn't quite cut it as a biography, history or modern business book. HG Rickover was interesting, brilliant and influential but the story told is limited in perspective and very one sided. Because of Rickover and his tremendous quotes the succeeds almost in spite of itself. Personally I have found the book's HG Rickover quotes extremely useful, well put lesson that I will be sticking on my wall at work - th I mixed feelings about this book. It is generally competently written and interesting but doesn't quite cut it as a biography, history or modern business book.
HG Rickover was interesting, brilliant and influential but the story told is limited in perspective and very one sided. Because of Rickover and his tremendous quotes the succeeds almost in spite of itself. Personally I have found the book's HG Rickover quotes extremely useful, well put lesson that I will be sticking on my wall at work - the man knew what was doing and the industrial world today would do well to follow his lessons. However, reading between the lines, I can see that there was mean, unfunny, micromanagement streak in him that would have made life hell and require real dedication to him and the goals of his program.
These negatives sides are hinted and mentioned in passing but are glossed over in general. The perspective limited - Theodore Rockwell's experience and some input from close friends from the program. Rockwell is not as interesting as the Admiral, nor does he show any particularly great insights. At times, especially the opening section, he goes on name listing / dropping of doubtlessly talented people of little-to-no public interest. Yes they are technically part of the team, but listing them off mostly does not advance the main story of Rickover's organisational and technical management advances.
I would recommend this book to all plant, development program managers and engineers as a useful text, but caution that you have to shift through the chaff and condense the key quotes and anecdotes in to your own bullet points. Admiral Hymen Rickover was the father of the nuclear Navy. Admiral Rickover is to technical program management what Einstein is to science, or Tesla to engineering. He is the best. Most of the books about him focus on leadership, but The Rickover Effect, written by one of his long-serving engineers, is about his ability to get the job done in a Big Government environment.
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He built an organization permeated by robust accountability and the ties that bind, in the form of an almost quasi-religiou Admiral Hymen Rickover was the father of the nuclear Navy. Admiral Rickover is to technical program management what Einstein is to science, or Tesla to engineering. He is the best. Most of the books about him focus on leadership, but The Rickover Effect, written by one of his long-serving engineers, is about his ability to get the job done in a Big Government environment. He built an organization permeated by robust accountability and the ties that bind, in the form of an almost quasi-religious devotion of the entire organization to its leader and to its mission.
Admiral Rickover is the perfect case study when it comes to the contrast between “technical” engineering and social engineering presented in. After he retired from the Navy, Admiral Rickover sought to apply his unique program management skills to the problem of American education – a social engineering project unlike the technical engineering projects he had always succeeded at so brilliantly. His failure at social engineering was as dismal, as his technical engineering successes were triumphant.
Find more information about: ISBN: 020 OCLC Number: 25315547 Notes: Includes index. Description: xviii, 411 pages: illustrations; 24 cm Contents: Foreword / James D. Watkins - Prologue: The Public Rickover - pt. Getting Ready (1939-1947) - pt. Building a Decisive Weapon (1947-1952) - pt. Putting the Atom to Work (1950-1957) - pt. Upgrading the Quality of U.S.
Industry (1959-1960) - pt. Proclaiming the Need for Excellence (1959-1964) - pt. Extending the Rickover Effect (1964-1986). Responsibility: Theodore Rockwell.