Everything about Uss Nautilus Ssn-571 totally explained
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational
nuclear-powered submarine and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the
North Pole.
In July 1951 the
US Congress authorized the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for the
U.S. Navy, which was planned and personally supervised by
Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy." On
December 121951 the
U.S. Department of the Navy announced that the submarine would be called
Nautilus — the sixth US Navy vessel
so named — and would carry the
hull number SSN-571.
Nautilus's keel was laid at General Dynamics'
Electric Boat Division in
Groton, Connecticut by
Harry S. Truman,
President of the United States, on
June 14,
1952. She was
christened on
January 21,
1954 and launched into the
Thames River, sponsored by
Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of Truman's successor
Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Nautilus was
commissioned on
September 30,
1954, under the command of Commander
Eugene P. Wilkinson, USN.
Nautilus was powered by the
S2W naval reactor, a
pressurized water reactor produced for the US navy by
Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
"Underway on nuclear power"
Following her commissioning,
Nautilus remained dockside for further construction and testing. At 11:00 hours on
January 17,
1955 she put to sea for the first time and signaled her historic message: "Underway on nuclear power." On
May 10, she headed south for
shakedown. Submerged throughout, she traveled 2,100 km (1,100
nautical miles) from New London to
San Juan, Puerto Rico and covered 2,223 km (1,200 nmi) 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.
From 1955 to 1957,
Nautilus continued to be used to investigate the effects of increased submerged speeds and endurance. The improvements rendered the progress made in
anti-submarine warfare during the
Second World War virtually obsolete.
Radar and
anti-submarine aircraft, which had proved crucial in defeating submarines during the War, proved ineffective against a vessel able to move out of an area in record time, change depth quickly and stay submerged for very long periods.
On
February 4,
1957,
Nautilus logged her 60,000th
nautical mile (111,120 km), matching the endurance of the fictional
Nautilus described in
Jules Verne's novel
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. 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.
Nautilus returned to
New London, Connecticut, on
21 July and departed again on
19 August for her first voyage of 2,226 km (1,202 nmi) under polar pack ice. Thereafter, she headed for the Eastern Atlantic to participate in
NATO exercises and conduct a tour of various British and French ports where she was inspected by defense personnel of those countries. She arrived back at New London on
28 October, underwent upkeep, and then conducted coastal operations until the spring.
Operation Sunshine - Under the North Pole
On
25 April 1958 she was underway again for the West Coast, now commanded by Commander
William R. Anderson, USN. Stopping at
San Diego, California,
San Francisco, California, and
Seattle, Washington, she began her history-making polar transit, operation "Sunshine," as she departed the latter port
9 June. On
19 June she entered the
Chukchi Sea, but was turned back by deep draft 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 (EDST) she became the first watercraft to reach the geographic
North Pole. From the North Pole, she continued on and after 96 hours and 2,945 km (1,590 nmi) under the ice, she surfaced northeast of
Greenland, having completed the first successful submerged voyage across 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.
Navigation beneath the arctic ice sheet was difficult. Above 85 degrees both
magnetic compasses and normal
gyrocompasses become inaccurate. A special gyrocompass built by
Sperry Rand was installed shortly before the journey. There was a risk that the submarine would become disoriented beneath the ice and that the crew would have to play "longitude roulette". Cmdr Anderson had considered using
torpedoes to blow a hole in the ice if the submarine needed to surface. Before the journey was made, there were only enough emergency breathing apparatuses to save one third of the crew if the submarine filled with smoke.
As mentioned above, the most difficult part of the journey was in the
Bering Strait. The ice extended as much as below sea level. During the initial attempt to go through the Bering Strait, there was insufficient room for the submarine to pass 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 wasn't the first choice way through the Bering Strait 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.
Proceeding from Greenland to the
Isle of Portland,
England, she received the
Presidential Unit Citation, the first ever issued in peace time, from American Ambassador J H Whitney, and then set a westerly course which put her into the Thames River estuary at New London
29 October. For the remainder of the year she operated from her home-port,
New London, Connecticut.
Operational History
Following fleet exercises in early 1959,
Nautilus entered the
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in
Kittery, Maine, for her first complete overhaul (
28 May 1959-
15 August 1960). Overhaul was followed by refresher training and on
24 October she departed New London for her first deployment with the
Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea, returning to her home-port
16 December.
Nautilus operated in the Atlantic, conducting evaluation tests for ASW improvements, participating in
NATO exercises and, during the autumn of 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 home-port to resume operations with the Atlantic Fleet, and at some point that spring, logged her 300,000th mile (555,600 km) 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, following which she conducted exercises off the southeastern seaboard. She returned to New London in December 1968.
In the spring of 1979,
Nautilus set out from
Groton, Connecticut on her final voyage. 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.
Awards and Commendations
» 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.
To commemorate the first submerged voyage under the
North Pole, all members of the
Nautilus crew who made the voyage are authorized to wear their Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with a special clasp in the form of a gold block letter N. (see image above)
Museum
Nautilus was designated a
National Historic Landmark by the
United States Secretary of the Interior on
20 May 1982.,
She was named as the official state ship of
Connecticut in 1983. Following an extensive conversion at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard,
Nautilus was towed back to
Groton, Connecticut arriving on
6 July 1985.
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. The historic ship
Nautilus attracts some 250,000 visitors annually to her present berth near the
Naval Submarine Base New London, at the U.S. Navy
U.S. Navy Submarine Force Museum and Library in Groton.
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 are able to walk through the submarine, with guidance from an automated tour system.
Further Information
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