On April 11, 1986, eighty-six years to the day after the birth of the Submarine Force, Historic Ship NAUTILUS, joined by the Submarine Force Museum, opened to the public as the first and finest exhibit of its kind in the world, providing an exciting, visible link between yesterday's Submarine Force and the Submarine Force of tomorrow.In this essay, Peter Hayes describes how below the vast waters of Asia, new weapons of war and the methods of thwarting them are proliferating. Following an extensive historic ship conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, NAUTILUS was towed to Groton, Connecticut arriving on July 6, 1985. In recognition of her pioneering role in the practical use of nuclear power, NAUTILUS was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior on May 20, 1982. She was decommissioned on Maafter a career spanning 25 years and over half a million miles steamed. She reached Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California on her last day underway. In the spring of 1979, NAUTILUS set out from Groton, Connecticut on her final voyage. During the following 12 years, NAUTILUS was involved in a variety of developmental testing programs while continuing to serve alongside many of the more modern nuclear powered submarines she had preceded. In the spring of 1966, she again entered the record books when she logged her 300,000th mile underway. Over the next six years, NAUTILUS participated in several fleet exercises while steaming over 200,000 miles. Wilkinson, ordered all lines cast off and signalled the memorable and historic message, 'Underway on Nuclear Power.' Over the next several years, NAUTILUS shattered all submerged speed and distance records. 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 authorised construction of the world's first nuclear powered submarine. In 1986 she went on display and was opened to the public at the The United States Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum at Groton Connecticut.Ĭonstruction 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 Nautilus was decommissioned on 3 March 1980 and in 1982 was declared to be a National Historic Monument.

Anderson, Nautilus became the first submarine to travel submerged from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic by passing directly under the North Pole. It set a world record for the longest submerged cruise by a submarine and at the highest sustained speed ever recorded. Wilkinson transmitted the now famous message 'Underway on nuclear power.' In May The Nautilus travelled 1,200 nautical miles from New London Connecticut to San Juan Puerto Rico in less than ninety hours. The Nautilus was commissioned on 30 September 1954, on 17 January 1955 she pulled away from the dock and her skipper Commander Eugene P. Having spent most of my live as an aviator and painting aviation subjects I welcomed this departure from the sky and the chance to create something a bit different. In late 2017 I accepted a commission for two paintings of the world's first operational nuclear submarine: the USS Nautilus, SSN-571.

Dec 1958 nautilus submarine photo