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USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

USA / Connecticut / Conning Towers-Nautilus Park / Crystal Lake Road, 1
 museum, military, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark, United States Navy, nuclear submarine, submarine museum, U.S. National Historic Landmark

1 Crystal Lake Road
Groton, CT 06340
www.ussnautilus.org/

USS Nautilus is the sole member of her Class of Attack Submarines built for the US Navy, designed from the outset to be the first Submarine in history to operate solely under nuclear power. Laid down at General Dynamics Electric Boat Shipyard at Groton in June 1952, the Nautilus commissioned into US Navy service in September 1954 as a member of the US Atlantic Fleet.

Standing out of Naval Submarine Base New London at 1100hrs on January 17th, 1955, the Nautilus engaged her S2W Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor and began her transit of the Thames River, broadcasting her famous signal "Underway on nuclear power" as she entered the history books enroute to her shakedown cruise. Submerging off Long Island, the Nautilus made for San Juan, PR in a 90-hour underwater journey which shattered all previous underwater endurance and submerged speed records and signaled the start of the nuclear era in Submarine warfare.

Engaged in extensive training, evaluation and battle exercises throughout the balance of her career, the Nautilus and her crew once again entered the history books in July 1958 as they completed the first submerged navigation of the Arctic Sea, which included an underwater stop beneath the North Pole as she made her way from Alaska to Greenland. Receiving the Presidential Unit Citation for her efforts the Nautilus resumed her busy schedule of training and evaluation as she familiarized US and NATO naval forces with the new scope of submarine warfare. Assigned for potential combat duty during the US Naval Blockade of Cuba during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Nautilus toed the defensive line in the Caribbean alongside her WWII-era Fleet Submarine sisters until Soviet forces abandoned their efforts to resupply Cuba with Nuclear arms.

By the late 1970's the Nautilus was beginning to show her age in numerous respects, chief among which was the amount of underwater noise her WWII-era hull design radiated while she was submerged. With her contribution to the US Navy's Submarine force already being realized with large numbers of Nuclear-Powered Ballistic and Attack Submarines being built and placed into service, the Nautilus stood out of New London in April 1979 bound for the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on her final voyage. Formally decommissioned at Mare Island in March 1980 following a lengthy nuclear-deactivation process (another first for the US Navy), the Nautilus entered the Mare Island Reserve Fleet where she would remain for the next three years.

Formally declared a National Historic Landmark in 1982 and the State Ship of Connecticut in 1983, the Nautilus was successfully purchased for use as a museum ship and was extensively overhauled for her future service at Mare Island before being towed back to Groton. Arriving at her birthplace on July 6th, 1985, the Nautilus was eventually berthed at her current location where she officially opened as the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum on April 11th, 1986. Given a comprehensive overhaul at Electric Boat from 2001-2002 to maintain her hull integrity, the Nautilus continues to serve as a museum ship for the US Nuclear Submarine force and is the only Nuclear-Powered Attack Submarine presently open for public tours in the United States.
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Coordinates:   41°23'13"N   72°5'17"W
This article was last modified 4 years ago