John H. Ebersole

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Ebersole entered the U.S. Navy in July 1948 and trained in undersea medicine. As a future submarine doctor, Ebersole received extensive nuclear training. From 1949 to 1959, Ebersole was associated with nuclear submarines and had special training in nuclear physics at Duke University and at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Ebersole was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Nautilus and the USS Seawolf, the first two nuclear submarines. Ebersole was selected by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover as the medical officer for the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine and served under commanding officer Commander Eugene Parks Wilkinson. Ebersole was a member of the launching crew for the USS Nautilus. He went on to serve as medical officer aboard the USS Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine for the U.S. Navy. Ebersole was the first person to serve on more than one nuclear powered vessel.

On 26 September 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower boarded the USS Seawolf at Narragansett Bay and was greeted by skipper Commander Richard B. Lanning and Rear Admiral Frederick B. Warder, Atlantic Fleet submarine force commander. The President was briefed by Ebersole regarding radiation exposure aboard the Seawolf. According to the New York Times report:

During his tour, the Seawolf set a new record of submergence for 60 days under the command of Captain Richard Boyer Laning. Captain Laning and the Seawolf crew were greeted upon return to port at New London, Connecticut by Rear Admiral Hyman G. Rickover.

When the USS Seawolf was decommissioned, he started a residency in radiology at Bethesda Naval Hospital. In July 1963, he completed residency. He then became Chief of Radiation Therapy in the Medicine Section at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Eventually, the Navy established a routine training program for what would be called Nuke School. The coursework for officers to be assigned to nuclear submarines and ships began at Reed College in Oregon with 24 weeks of training. Then they received 6 weeks of field training at the Atomic Energy Commission's Hanford plutonium production facilities in Washington. Next the candidates spent 5 weeks at the Nevada Test Site and the Sandia nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico. They finished up with 6 weeks of additional training at the Walter Reed Laboratory in Maryland.

Source

• U.S. Navy Presidential Unit Citation - USS Nautilus SSN-571
• U.S. Navy Unit Commendation - USS Seawolf SSN-575
• Royal Naval Society of Sweden, Merit Citation
• Gorgas Medal, 1958. "Ebersole, Medical Officer of the Seawolf, record-breaking atomic submarine, received the Gorgas Medal, scroll, and $500 for outstanding service in radiation protection of the crew. He received the award for outstanding work in preventive medicine in the field of radiobiology and nuclear submarine development."