Inconceivable – It was just a plastic toy anyone could buy for $2.98

A most unusual executive session

This story is about the transcripts from a Congressional committee meeting of a most unusual nature. It was held on April 9, 1960 on board the USS George Washington.

Some interesting notes:

• The boat was underway, the depth was 400 feet at the time and had just conducted a practice missile shoot.
• Classification of information was one of the side discussions that occurred towards the end of Admiral Rickover’s testimony.
• Most of the testimony remains classified even now. Originally, this entire report was also but is now searchable on various publicly accessible web sites in this version.
• The subject of the plastic model of the George Washington was a very sore subject for Admiral Rickover. I will let him explain in his own words below. As I was reading the testimony and the response from one of the Congressmen, a scene from the movie Princess…