American Notes Gratuities

At first, Navy Secretary John Lehman dismissed as "little trinkets" the gifts that defense contractors had lavished on Admiral Hyman Rickover. But Lehman's later response to the largesse, including a letter of censure inserted last month in the retired admiral's record, indicated that Rickover's take was more substantial. Last week the Navy released a 32-page report listing $68,703 worth of gifts that Rickover accepted over the years, and in some cases demanded, from General Dynamics, whose Electric Boat shipyard in Connecticut was a principal Navy contractor. Included were diamond earrings and a jade pendant (combined value: $1,125), cleaning bills for the admiral's suits ($1,871), chauffeur charges for 504 separate trips ($16,200) and food and other amenities amounting to $12,000, including such oddities as a long- standing Rickover request for 30 to 50 pounds of fresh fish at the launching ceremony for each new General Dynamics-built nuclear submarine.

General Dynamics, fined $676,283 for the improper gratuities, insisted in the report that the gifts did not affect Rickover's administration of Navy contracts. Rickover, 85, was not available for comment.