Navy's New Sub

The first U.S.S. Seawolf, which sank 18 Japanese ships before it went down in World War II,* was one of the most famed boats in the U.S. Navy's submarine service. Last week, at Groton, Conn., Navy Secretary Robert Anderson presided at the keel-laying/- of a new Seawolf, the second U.S. atomic-powered submarine. The first, the Nautilus, will be launched in January, and workmen were busy hammering and welding on its hull, while guests gathered on the adjoining ways for the Seawolf's ceremony.

The Seawolf, which will take ten months to finish, will be powered by an improved atomic reactor of higher speed than that used on the Nautilus. Both boats, Secretary Anderson explained, will be faster and more powerful than any undersea vessels ever built. Said Anderson: "For the first time in history, the Navy will have the ideal vessel to send under the sea to combat enemy submarines lurking in the depths."

* In a tragic mistake, the Seawolf, with all hands aboard, was depth-charged and sunk by a U.S. destroyer whose commander was not informed that Seawolf was in the area.

/- So called only for ceremony's sake. A submarine, made of prefabricated parts fitted together, has no keel like other ships. Submarines are called "boats."

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