USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

Date: 30 Sep 1954 to 3 Mar 1980
Location: Groton, Connecticut
Surnames/tags: Nuclear Submarine US Navy

First nuclear powered submarine

USS Nautilus (SSN-571), 1954-1980

• Laid down: 14 June 1952 at Electric Boat Co., Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Connecticut
• Launched: 21 Jan 1954 by Mrs. Dwight D. (Mamie) Eisenhower, at Groton, Connecticut
• Commissioned: 30 Sep 1954
• First Commander: CDR Eugene P. Wilkinson
• Shakedown Cruise: 10 May 1955
• Namesake: Jules Verne's fictitious ship, Nautilus from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
• First voyage under Arctic ice pack: 1958
• First overhaul: 1959
• Final voyage: 1979
• Decommissioned: 3 Mar 1980
• Designated National Historic Landmark: 1982
• Opened as Museum Ship: 11 April 1986

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the fourth US Navy vessel and second submarine to bear the name.

Construction of the Nautilus was under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain Hyman G. Rickover, Russian-born engineer and later a Vice Admiral. In 1947, he was assigned to the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic-powered submarine.

For a grouping of profiles of persons affiliated with the Nautilus, please see the category for the ship.

Sources

• Navy.mil page for USS Nautilus
• History.com
• O'Neil, Paul. "The Voyage Of The 'Nautilus' Beneath The North Pole." Life 1 Sept. 1958: 57-72. Print.