She returned to her homeport of New London on 16 December.īy 1961, the Navy had about a dozen nuclear powered submarines in service. Although the deployment was relatively short, she managed to visit Rota, Spain Valleta, Malta and La Spezia, Italy. On 24 October 1960, Nautilus departed Portsmouth for her first deployment with Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Updates included the second replacement of the reactor core, overhaul of almost all machinery, new sensors, and other equipment. Eisenhower and awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.įollowing fleet exercises in early 1959, Nautilus entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for her first complete overhaul. Anderson, and the crew were subsequently personally congratulated by President Dwight D. The commanding officer, Commander William R. Nautilus submerged in the Barrow Sea on 1 August, transited the geographic North Pole on 3 August, and, after running submerged an additional 96 hours, surfaced off Greenland on 7 August. Her second attempt, begun on 23 July, proved successful. However, the first attempt was blocked by drift ice in the relatively shallow waters of the Chukchi Sea, and the submarine returned to Pearl Harbor. On 9 June, Nautilus departed Seattle to conduct the highly secret “Operation Sunshine,” a fully submerged transit under the North Pole. west coast where she made stops in San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. On 25 April 1958, Nautilus was once again headed for the U.S. Nautilus returned to New London on 28 October where she underwent upkeep. From the Arctic, Nautilus set sail for the eastern Atlantic to participate in NATO exercises off Norway and to visit various British and French ports. The opening of the Arctic to Navy submarines allowed access to the previously protected waters of the Soviet Union. submarines did not travel to the frozen northern oceans due to diesel-electric boats could not travel freely under ice. The 1,383 mile journey was significant, because previously U.S. On 19 August, Nautilus departed New London for her first voyage under the Arctic polar ice pack. While there, Nautilus participated in multiple exercises designed to acquaint the units of the Pacific Fleet with the capabilities of nuclear submarines. It also marked another first for the boat, as the submarine was put into the Electric Boat Company Division of General Dynamics Corporation at Groton to replace the nuclear fuel core in her Westinghouse Electric submarine thermal reactor. In early April, Nautilus operated off Bermuda with USS Seawolf (SSN-575)-the second nuclear powered submarine-before departing for the U.S. On 4 February 1957, Nautilus logged her 60,000th nautical mile. In between testing, Nautilus conducted press tours and hosted several dignitaries from the Navy and Capitol Hill. The study found that anti-submarine practices, such as was used during World War II, were ineffective against a submarine which did not need to surface, could dive deeper, and could clear a search area in record time. The following year, Nautilus operated out of Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, where the effects of a submarine with increased speed and endurance were tested on contemporary anti-submarine warfare practices. She rounded out the year visiting several east coast Navy bases, a battery of torpedo firing tests, and standardization trials. In July and August, Nautilus conducted rigorous exercises with hunter-killer groups in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and off Bermuda. While enroute to Puerto Rico, she remained submerged traveling 1,381 miles in 89.8 hours, the longest submerged cruise, to that date, by a submarine, and at the highest sustained submerged speed ever recorded for a period of more than one hour’s duration. After sea trials and preliminary acceptance by the Navy, Nautilus headed south for shakedown on 10 May. On 17 January 1955, she was underway on nuclear power. Following commissioning, Nautilus remained dockside for further construction and testing for the next several months. Rickover, at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission. The construction of Nautilus-the world’s first nuclear powered submarine-was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was commissioned at Groton, Connecticut, on 30 September 1954 with Commander Eugene P.
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