| Construction of USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571) was made possible
by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and
engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the
leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN. Her keel was laid on June 14, 1952 at
the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut, by
President Harry S. Truman. On January 21, 1954 Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower broke the
traditional bottle of champagne across NAUTILUS' bow as she slid down the ways into the
Thames River.
On the morning of January 17, 1955 NAUTILUS' Commanding Officer, Commander Eugene P.
Wilkinson, ordered all lines cast off and signaled the historic message "UNDERWAY ON
NUCLEAR POWER." Over the next several years, NAUTILUS would shatter all
submerged speed and distance records.
NAUTILUS departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on July 23, 1958 under Top Secret orders to
conduct "Operation Sunshine," the first crossing of the North Pole by a ship.
At 11:15 pm on August 3, 1958 Commander William R. Anderson, Commanding Officer of
NAUTILUS, announced to the crew "For the world, Our Country, and the Navy - the North
Pole." With 116 men aboard, NAUTILUS had accomplished the
"impossible" - reaching the geographic North Pole, 90 North.
In the Spring of 1966 NAUTILUS again entered the record books when she logged her
300,000th mile underway. During the following fourteen years, NAUTILUS was involved
in a variety of developmental testing programs while continuing to serve alongside many of
the more modern nuclear powered submarines she had preceded.
In recognition of her pioneering role in the practical use of nuclear power, NAUTILUS
was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior on May 20,
1982. Following an extensive historic ship conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard,
NAUTILUS was towed to Groton, Connecticut, arriving on July 6, 1985. On April
20,1986 Historic Ship NAUTILUS (SSN 571) opened to the public at the Submarine Force
Museum. She remains the only nuclear powered submarine on display in the world. |
