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For other ships of the same name, see USS Nautilus and Ships named Nautilus.
The retired Nautilus heads for home on 8 May 2002, after preservation by the Electric Boat Division.
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| Career (U.S.) |  |
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| Name: | USS Nautilus |
| Operator: |  United States Navy |
| Awarded: | 2 August 1951 |
| Builder: | General Dynamics |
| Laid down: | 14 June 1952 |
| Launched: | 21 January 1954 |
| Sponsored by: | Mamie Eisenhower |
| Completed: | 22 April 1955 |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1954 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 March 1980 |
| Struck: | 3 March 1980 |
| Status: | Museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,533 tons surface, 4,092 tons submerged[1] |
| Length: | 320 ft (98 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Installed power: | 13,400 hp (10.0 MW)[2] |
| Propulsion: | STR nuclear reactor (later redesignated S2W) |
| Speed: | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)[3] |
| Complement: | 13 officers, 92 enlisted |
| Armament: | 6 torpedo tubes |
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Nautilus (Nuclear Submarine)
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USS Nautilus docked at the Submarine Force Library and Museum
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| Location | Groton, Connecticut |
| Built | 1954 |
| Architect | General Dynamics Corporation |
| Architectural style | Other |
| Governing body | Department of the Navy |
| NRHP Reference # | 79002653 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 16 May 1979[4] |
| Designated NHL | 20 May 1982[5] |
Nautilus was a component of SubRonTen (Submarine Squadron Ten). The squadron commander was stationed aboard the USS Fulton (AS-11), a submarine tender, stationed in New London, Connecticut. Nautilus and other submarines in the squadron made their home tied up alongside the tender, where they received preventive maintenance and, if necessary, repairs, from the well equipped Fulton and her crew of machinists, millwrights, and other crafts.
Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. The submarine has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in Groton, Connecticut, where the vessel receives some 250,000 visitors a year.
Contents
Planning and construction
Nautilus was powered by the S2W naval reactor, a pressurized water reactor produced for the US Navy by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, together with Westinghouse, developed the basic reactor plant design used in Nautilus after being given the assignment on 31 December 1947 to design a nuclear power plant for a submarine.[8] Nuclear power had the crucial advantage in submarine propulsion because it is a zero-emission process that consumes no air. This design is the basis for nearly all of the US nuclear-powered submarine and surface combat ships, and was adapted by other countries for naval nuclear propulsion. The first actual prototype (for Nautilus) was constructed and tested by Argonne at the S1W facility in Idaho.[citation needed]
"Underway on nuclear power"
Following her commissioning, Nautilus remained dockside for further construction and testing. At 11 am on 17 January 1955 she put to sea for the first time and signaled her historic message: "Underway on nuclear power."[9] On 10 May, she headed south for shakedown. Submerged throughout, she traveled 2,100 kilometres (1,100 nmi; 1,300 mi) from New London to San Juan, Puerto Rico and covered 2,223 km (1,200 nmi; 1,381 mi) in less than ninety hours. At the time, this was the longest submerged cruise by a submarine and at the highest sustained speed (for at least one hour) ever recorded.
On 4 February 1957, Nautilus logged her 60,000th nautical mile (110,000 km; 69,000 mi), matching the endurance of her namesake, the fictional Nautilus described in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.[10] In May, she departed for the Pacific Coast to participate in coastal exercises and the fleet exercise, operation "Home Run," which acquainted units of the Pacific Fleet with the capabilities of nuclear submarines.
Operation Sunshine – under the North Pole
In response to the nuclear ICBM threat posed by Sputnik, President Eisenhower ordered the US Navy to attempt a submarine transit of the North Pole to gain credibility for the soon-to-come SLBM weapons system.[11] On 25 April 1958, Nautilus was underway again for the West Coast, now commanded by Commander William R. Anderson, USN. Stopping at San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, she began her history-making polar transit, operation "Sunshine", as she departed the latter port on 9 June. On 19 June she entered the Chukchi Sea, but was turned back by deep drift ice in those shallow waters. On 28 June she arrived at Pearl Harbor to await better ice conditions. By 23 July her wait was over, and she set a course northward. She submerged in the Barrow Sea Valley on 1 August and on 3 August, at 2315 (EDT) she became the first watercraft to reach the geographic North Pole.[12] The ability to navigate at extreme latitudes and without surfacing was enabled by the technology of the North American Aviation N6A-1 Inertial Navigation System, a naval modification of the N6A used in the Navaho cruise missile. (The N6A-1 had been installed on Nautilus and Skate after initial sea trials on the USS Compass Island in 1957.)[13] From the North Pole, she continued on and after 96 hours and 1,590 nmi (2,940 km; 1,830 mi) under the ice, surfaced northeast of Greenland, having completed the first successful submerged voyage around the North Pole. The technical details of this mission were planned by scientists from the Naval Electronics Laboratory including Dr. Waldo Lyon who accompanied Nautilus as chief scientist and ice pilot.
The most difficult part of the journey was in the Bering Strait. The ice extended as much as 60 feet (18 m) below sea level. During the initial attempt to go through the Bering Strait, there was insufficient room between the ice and the sea bottom. During the second, successful attempt to pass through the Bering passage, the submarine passed through a known channel close to Alaska (this was not the first choice as the submarine wanted to avoid detection).
The trip beneath the ice cap was an important boost to America as the Soviets had recently launched Sputnik, but had no nuclear submarine of their own. During the address announcing the journey, the president mentioned that one day nuclear cargo submarines might use that route for trade.[14]
As the Nautilus proceeded south from Greenland, a helicopter airlifted Commander Anderson to connect with transport to Washington, D. C. At a White House ceremony on August 8, President Eisenhower presented him with the Legion of Merit and announced that the crew had earned a Presidential Unit Citation.[15]
At her next port of call, the Isle of Portland, England, she received the Unit Citation, the first ever issued in peace time, from American Ambassador J.H. Whitney, and then crossed the Atlantic reaching New London, Connecticut, USA on 29 October. For the remainder of the year Nautilus operated from her home port of New London.
Operational history
Nautilus operated in the Atlantic, conducting evaluation tests for ASW improvements, participating in NATO exercises and, during October 1962, in the naval quarantine of Cuba, until she headed east again for a two-month Mediterranean tour in August 1963. On her return she joined in fleet exercises until entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for her second overhaul 17 January 1964.
On 2 May 1966, Nautilus returned to her homeport to resume operations with the Atlantic Fleet, and at some point around that month, logged her 300,000th nautical mile (560,000 km; 350,000 mi) underway. For the next year and a quarter she conducted special operations for ComSubLant and then in August 1967, returned to Portsmouth, for another year's stay. During an exercise in 1966 she collided with the aircraft carrier USS Essex on 10 November, while diving shallow. Following repairs in Portsmouth she conducted exercises off the southeastern seaboard. She returned to New London in December 1968.
In the spring[when?] of 1979, Nautilus set out from Groton, Connecticut on her final voyage under the command of Richard A. Riddell. She reached Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California on 26 May 1979, her last day underway. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 3 March 1980.
Noise
The hull and superstructure of Nautilus vibrated sufficiently that sonar became ineffective at more than 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) speed.[16] Also, noise generation is extremely undesirable in submarines as this makes the vessel vulnerable to detection. Lessons learned from this problem were applied to later nuclear submarines.Awards and commendations
Presidential Unit Citation
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For outstanding achievement in completing the first voyage in history across the top of the world, by cruising under the Arctic ice cap from the Bering Strait to the Greenland Sea.
During the period 22 July 1958 to 5 August 1958, U.S.S. NAUTILUS, the world's first atomic powered ship, added to her list of historic achievements by crossing the Arctic Ocean from the Bering Sea to the Greenland Sea, passing submerged beneath the geographic North Pole. This voyage opens the possibility of a new commercial seaway, a Northwest Passage, between the major oceans of the world. Nuclear-powered cargo submarines may, in the future, use this route to the advantage of world trade.
The skill, professional competency and courage of the officers and crew of NAUTILUS were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Armed Forces of the United States and the pioneering spirit which has always characterized our country.[17]
Museum
Nautilus was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Secretary of the Interior on 20 May 1982.[5][19]She was named as the official state ship of Connecticut in 1983.[20] Following an extensive conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Nautilus was towed back to Groton, Connecticut arriving on 6 July 1985. On 11 April 1986, Nautilus opened to the public as part of the Submarine Force Library and Museum.[12]
Nautilus now serves as a museum of submarine history, after undergoing a five-month preservation in 2002 at the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics, at a cost of approximately $4.7 million ($6.16 million in present-day terms[21]). Nautilus attracts some 250,000 visitors annually to her present berth near Naval Submarine Base New London.
Nautilus celebrated the 50th anniversary of her commissioning on 30 September 2004 with a ceremony that included a speech from Vice Admiral Eugene P Wilkinson, the first Commanding Officer of Nautilus, and a designation of the ship as an American Nuclear Society National Nuclear Landmark.
Visitors may tour the forward two compartments, with guidance from an automated system. Despite similar alterations to exhibit the engineering spaces, tours aft of the control room are not permitted due to safety and security concerns.
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