In May 1959, NAUTILUS entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine for her first complete overhaul – the first of any nuclear powered ship – and the replacement of her second fuel core. Anderson, announced to his 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 degrees North. At 11:15 pm on August 3, 1958, NAUTILUS’ second Commanding Officer, Commander William R. Wilkinson, ordered all lines cast off and signaled the memorable and historic message, “Underway On Nuclear Power.” Over the next several years, NAUTILUS shattered all submerged speed and distance records.ĬDR Anderson On July 23, 1958, NAUTILUS departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii under top secret orders to conduct “Operation Sunshine”, the first crossing of the North Pole by a ship. On the morning of January 17, 1955, at 11 am EST, NAUTILUS’ first Commanding Officer, Commander Eugene P. Eight months later, on September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS became the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy. Truman at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut on June 14, 1952.Īfter nearly 18 months of construction, NAUTILUS was launched on Januwith First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across NAUTILUS’ bow as she slid down the ways into the Thames River. On December 12th of that year, the Navy Department announced that she would be the sixth ship of the fleet to bear the name NAUTILUS. In July of 1951, Congress authorized construction of the world’s first nuclear powered submarine.
The sub was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior two years later before being towed back to Groton in 1985 to become a part of the Submarine Force Museum.Construction of NAUTILUS 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. The USS Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980, after a 25-year career that included traveling more than a half-million miles.
The ship sailed from Portland, England, to New York where it met with a celebration of horns, whistles, a 25-ship honor escort, and towering fountains of water pumped into the air from local fireboats. Anderson received the Legion of Merit from President Eisenhower. Upon completion of Operation Sunshine, the crew received a Presidential Unit Citation and Nautilus Commander William R. Originally launched on January 21, 1954, by Mamie Eisenhower, the Nautilus became the first commissioned nuclear-powered ship in the United States Navy. The Electric Boat Division of the General Dynamics Corp., in Groton, Connecticut, constructed the ship. The 1,830-mile journey was launched from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on July 23, 1958, under the name “Operation Sunshine” and brought the sub and her crew to the shores of England in 19 days. On August 3, 1958, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) made history by becoming the first ship to pass underneath the North Pole.
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