The contract to build Jimmy Carter was to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 29 June 1996, and her keel was laid on 5 December 1998. Original schedules called for Jimmy Carter to be commissioned in late 2001 or early 2002. Electric Boat was awarded an $887 million extension to the Jimmy Carter contract on 10 December 1999 to modify the boat for testing new submarine systems and classified missions previously carried out by USS Parche.[8] During modification, her hull was extended 100 feet (30 m) to create a 2,500-ton supplementary middle section which forms a Multi-Mission Platform (MMP). This section is fitted with an ocean interface for divers, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and special operation equipment; ROV handling system, storage, and deployment space for mission systems, and a pressure-resistant passage between the fore and aft parts of the submarine to accommodate the boat's crew.[9][10][11]
Jimmy Carter was christened on 5 June 2004, and the ship sponsor was former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. One result of the changes was that Jimmy Carter was commissioned more than six years after USS Connecticut and almost four months after the commissioning of USS Virginia, the first of the Virginia-class subs.
Jimmy Carter has additional maneuvering devices fitted fore and aft that allow her to keep station over selected targets in odd currents. Intelligence experts speculate that the MMP may find use in missions as an underwater splicing chamber for optical fiber cables.[12][13][14][15]
Deployments
On 19 November 2004 Jimmy Carter completed alpha sea trials, her first voyage in the open seas. On 22 December, Electric Boat delivered Jimmy Carter to the US Navy, and she was commissioned 19 February 2005 at NSB New London.
Jimmy Carter began a transit from NSB New London to her new homeport at the Bangor Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, Washington on 14 October 2005 but was forced to return when an unusually high wave caused damage while the submarine was running on the surface. The damage was repaired and Jimmy Carter left New London the following day, arriving at Bangor the afternoon of 9 November 2005.
In April and September 2017 Jimmy Carter returned twice to her homeport at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, flying a Jolly Roger flag, traditionally indicative of a successful mission.[16]
^Alan Kuperman; Frank von Hippel (10 April 2020). "US study of reactor and fuel types to enable naval reactors to shift from HEU fuel". IPFM Blog.
^ a b"Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. June 2015. p. 32. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^"S6W Advanced Fleet Reactor". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
^Schank, John F.; Cesse, Cameron; Ip, Frank W.; Lacroix, Robert; Murphy, Mark V.; Arena, Kristy N.; Kamarck; Lee, Gordon T. (2011). "Learning from Experience: Volume II: Lessons from the U.S. Navy's Ohio, Seawolf, and Virginia Submarine Programs". rand.org.
^"Attack Submarines - SSN". United States Navy Fact Files. United States Navy. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
^"The US Navy -- Fact File". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
^"Lieutenant James Earle Carter, Jr., USN". Naval History & Heritage Command. United States Navy. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^Zimmerman, W. Frederick (2008). SSN-23 Jimmy Carter: U.S. Navy Submarine (Seawolf Class). Nimble Books. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-934840-30-6.
^RADM Davis, J. P. USS JIMMY CARTER (SSN23): Expanding Future SSN Missions, Undersea Warfare, Fall 1999, pp. 16-18.
^PCU Jimmy Carter Christened at Electric Boat Archived 17 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Navy, Story Number: NNS040609-07, Release Date: 6/9/2004
^The Navy's underwater eavesdropper, Reuters, 19 July 2013
^"New Nuclear Sub Is Said to Have Special Eavesdropping Ability". The New York Times. Associated Press. 20 February 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2009.