She slipped into the water at Newport News on a warm August day in 1965, sleek and silent like the role she was built to play. But the USS George Washington Carver (SSBN-656) was more than just a machine. She was a symbol. Named for an African-American scientist who had turned peanut shells into salvation for poor farmers, she stood out in a fleet named for politicians, admirals, and mythic figures. Her sponsor, the legendary contralto Marian Anderson, broke another barrier when she christened the boat, the first African-American woman to do so. And when her first crew walked aboard, they knew they weren’t just stepping onto a submarine. They were becoming part of something bigger.