The smiling newspaper reporters in this photograph belie the seriousness of the moment. The elfin figure in the center is none other than Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the man in charge of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. The AP photo was taken at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on April 19, 1963, nine days after the Portsmouth-built submarine USS Thresher sank in deep waters east of Boston. All 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard were killed. Rickover, now considered “the father of the atomic submarine,” was in town to testify about the tragedy at a closed door session of the Navy Board of Inquiry. He spoke to reporters during a 15-minute lunch break at the hearing - a meeting that remains controversial to this day.