In 1951, the US congress authorised the construction of the first nuclear powered submarine, which was overseen and designed by Hymen Rickover (the father of the nuclear navy). In 1954, nautilus was launched and commissioned. Her first cruise, from new london to puerto rico, broke records on the longest submerged cruise and the highest sustained speed.


Nautilus' ability to stay under as long as necessary, and her speed improvements over previous submarines, made her essentially immune to WW2 anti submarine weaponry.
In 1958, Nautilus conducted operation "sunshine," the first submarine transit under the north pole.
In 1966 she collided with the carrier Essex (CV-9) while underway.

At the end of nautilus' active service, the hull began to make large amounts of noise, making sonor ineffective at speeds higher than 4 knots and making the submarine highly prone to detection.

Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980. In 1986, Nautilus opened in her new life: a museum ship at the submarine force library and museum, in Groton CT.

Full interior