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Contact Info
Home Town Mayfield, Kentucky
Last Address Judson Retirement Community, Cleveland, Ohio.
Kenneth Monroe Carr, USNA '49
Navy Vice Admiral
Chair Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Kenneth M. Carr, a retired Navy vice admiral and nuclear submariner who in retirement served five years on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the last two as chairman, died Nov. 15 at a retirement center in Cleveland. He was 90.
The cause was pneumonia and lung cancer, said a nephew, Richard Pace.
Adm. Carr retired in 1985 after a 43-year Navy career that began during World War II aboard an assault landing craft in the Pacific. In his final active-duty assignment, he was deputy and chief of staff to the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet and the Atlantic Command.
He was appointed in 1986 to the NRC, the federal agency that regulates commercial nuclear power. As chairman, he said one of his primary missions would be to press the search for ways to overcome public opposition to nuclear power plants.
“I think it’s going to be a generational change before you get the public acceptance,” he told the Journal of Commerce in 1989.
Kenneth Monroe Carr was born in Mayfield, Ky., on March 17, 1925. He grew up there and in Arkansas and California, where his father was a railroad worker.
After sea duty in the Pacific during World War II, he was assigned to an officer candidate program at the University of Louisville before graduating in 1949 from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
He then entered the submarine school in New London, Conn., and spent many years as a crew member on the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus. He was an officer on the Nautilus when it crossed under the North Pole in 1958, seen at the time as an important achievement in the Cold War.
Among later assignments, he commanded the nuclear-powered submarine Flasher and the ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine John Adams. From 1977 to 1980, he commanded the Submarine Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
His medals included the Defense and Navy distinguished service medals, the Legion of Merit and the Defense Superior Service Medal.
Adm. Carr was a former resident of Arlington, Va., and also had a home in Groton, Conn., near the Navy’s submarine school. He moved to Cleveland about five years ago.
Other Comments:
Kenneth Carr graduated high school in San Bernadion, California in 1941. After attending San Bernardino Valley College for two years, VAdm Carr enlisted in the Navy as a Seaman.
He was a crewman/coxswain on an assault landing craft attached to the USS President Jackson (APA-18) in late 1943, and participated in the landings at Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and the initial landing in February 1944 at Green Island, Bismarck Archipelago.
USS Nautilus: Vice Adm. Carr was first assigned as the Gunnery Officer, in charge of Torpedo Division, on Nautilus. As a young Lieutenant on the ship's crew, he was credited with coining the popular phase "The sun always shines on Nautilus," after the cloudy skies parted just before the submarine's launching in 1954. With the exception of twelve months spent at nuclear power training from June 1956 to May 1957, he served in a number of billets on the ship, including as the ship's engineer during her first overhaul. He transferred in December 1960. He had the distinction of being the only officer who was both a Nautilus plank owner (member of the commissioning crew) and a "PANAPO" (member of the 1958 Nautilus crew who traveled to the North Pole. He was on watch as the ship's conning officer when USS Nautilus made history on August 3rd 1958, as the first ship to voyage under the North Pole. The submarine proceeded to Portland, England where her crew received the Presidential Unit Citation, the first ever issued in peacetime.
NEC 112X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Submarine Warfare
Base, Station or City Not Specified
State/Country Not Specified
Patch
USS James Monroe (SSBN-622) Details
Radio Call Sign: November - Juliet - Yankee - Oscar
Hull number SSBN-622 Following shakedown off Cape Kennedy, Florida, the USS James Monroe (SSBN-622) spent the early months of 1964 in ballistic missile tests. The first missile firing took place on Feb. 17, 1964. She departed from Charleston, SC with 16 Polaris A-2 missiles for her first patrol on 1 June 1964, emphasizing the expanded peacekeeping role of Polaris submarines.
It is fitting that a submarine named for President Monroe belong to a modern United States peacekeeping force since his famous Monroe Doctrine is one of the cornerstones of American freedom. "The American continents ..." he warned, "are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power."
On 17 January 1967 the USS James Monroe completed her 12th deterrent patrol. She operated from both of the European Polaris replenishment anchorages as part of Submarine Squadron 14 in Holy Loch, Scotland and as part of Submarine Squardon 16 in Rota, Spain; maintaining her creed and motto of "Watchful Waiting."
Her ability to remain on patrol station is limited only by the amount of food carried and the mental and physical endurance of her crew.
The USS James Monroe on 9 January 1968 became the first submarine with POLARIS A2's to enter overhaul and to receive POLARIS A3 capability.
On December 31, 1969, USS James Monroe departed overhaul and headed for Pearl Harbor and Guam via the Panama Canal to begin deterrent patrols from the Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Refit Site III site at Polaris Point in Apra Harbor, Guam as part of Submarine Squadron 15. On 3 March 1970 the Monroe deployed for her second on-line patrol cycle with 16 A-3 Polaris missiles. She was supported by the submarine tenders USS Proteus (AS-19) and USS Hunley (AS-31).
In December, 1971 the USS Hunley relieved the USS Proteus at Apra Harbor, Guam. The USS Hunley serviced the boats of SUBRON 15 until January, 1973, when relieved by the USS Proteus returning from overhaul. On 22 August 1972, the USS James Monroe received a Meritorous Unit Commendation for consistently exhibiting outstanding readiness to perform her assigned strategic deterrent mission. This was demonstrated by exceptional performance in comprehensive inspections, completion of five uniformly outstanding Polaris deterrent patrols, and fleet-wide recognition for achieving career motivation excellence during the period 2 October 1970 to 31 December 1971. The USS James Monroe made 15 strategic deterrent patrols from Guam before returning to Pearl Harbor for crew consolidation and transiting to Newport News in October, 1974 to commence her second overhaul and conversion to Poseidon C-3 capability.
After completing her second overhaul in 1977 the USS James Monroe was based in Charleston, SC and operated from Holy Loch, Scotland.
On July 2, 1979, the commander of Submarine Squadron 16 greeted the submarine tender USS Simon Lake (AS 33) when it arrived at Kings Bay. Four days later, the USS James Monroe entered Kings Bay and moored alongside the USS Simon Lake's starboard side to begin a routine refit in preparation of another deterrent patrol. Kings Bay has been an operating submarine base since that day.
The USS James Monroe was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List on 25 September 1990 and disposed of through the SRP at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton on 10 January 1995.
Other Memories Following his service on Nautilus, Vice Admiral Carr served as the Executive Officer of USS Scorpion (SSN 589) and USS James Monroe (SSBN 622) and as the first Commanding Officer of USS Flasher (SSN 613) and USS John Adams (SSBN 620) (Gold Crew). Shore assignments included the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Research and Development) and as a senior member of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board. In 1972 Admiral Carr was assigned as Chief of Staff to the Commander, Submarine Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1973, he assumed the duties of Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
