The USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
It’s 1958, and it’s been over a year since the Soviets launched Sputnik. American needed to respond, and it needed it fast.
Enter USS Nautilus, a nuclear sub that changed the game. First to cross under the North Pole. First to run on nuclear power. First to stay underwater for weeks at a time.
Now she rests in Groton, Connecticut, teaching new generations about the birth of nuclear submarines.
Here’s the journey of the submarine that rewrote the rules of naval power.
The Rise of the USS Nautilus
The USS Nautilus started as blueprints in July 1951 when Congress approved the world’s first nuclear submarine.
President Harry Truman laid the keel at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut on June 14, 1952, launching an 18-month construction sprint.
First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christened the 323-foot vessel on January 21, 1954, smashing champagne across its bow as it slid into the Thames River.
The submarine displaced 3,533 tons surfaced and 4,092 tons submerged, carrying six 21-inch torpedo tubes forward.
Commander Eugene Wilkinson took command on September 30, 1954, leading a handpicked crew of 13 officers and 92 enlisted men.
Captain Rickover Battles the Navy Brass
Hyman G. Rickover, a 1922 Naval Academy graduate born in Poland, fought relentlessly for the creation of the the nuclear navy.
In 1947, this electrical engineering expert maneuvered around skeptical admirals by appealing directly to Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz about nuclear propulsion.
Rickover assembled elite scientists at the Naval Reactors Branch, establishing the punishing safety standards that define nuclear operations today.
His team developed the revolutionary S2W pressurized water reactor at Westinghouse’s Bettis Laboratory, begun on December 31, 1947.
Naval officials twice blocked Rickover’s promotion to admiral, but congressional allies forced his advancement in 1953.
Commander Wilkinson’s Historic First Words
At 11:00 a.m. on January 17, 1955, Commander Eugene Wilkinson flipped the switches in Nautilus’s control room and radioed a message heard around the world.
“Underway on nuclear power,” he announced, as the submarine moved silently from the pier at Groton.
Unlike diesel submarines that needed to surface regularly, the Nautilus could remain submerged indefinitely, breathing nothing from the atmosphere.
The S2W reactor produced steam for the submarine’s two geared turbines, generating 13,400 horsepower to the propeller shaft.
Shattering Records in the Puerto Rico Deep
On May 10, 1955, Nautilus left New London for shakedown trials, heading toward the Caribbean with Commander Wilkinson determined to set records.
The submarine plunged deep off Puerto Rico, sustaining speeds above 20 knots while remaining completely submerged for 1,381 miles over 89.8 hours.
This shattered the previous underwater endurance record held by USS Trigger at 11 days but much slower speeds.
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, wartime submarine commander, joined the crew for part of these historic trials.
Diesel submarines typically traveled submerged for only 2–3 days at 8–9 knots before needing to surface or snorkel.
The 60,000-Mile Nuclear Milestone
By February 4, 1957, Nautilus logged her 60,000th nautical mile, earning the nickname “Sixty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” from her proud crew.
Captain Wilkinson relinquished command to Commander William Anderson after establishing most operating procedures still used in today’s nuclear navy.
The submarine returned to Electric Boat Division that spring, becoming the first nuclear vessel to undergo refueling of her uranium core.
In April, Nautilus operated with USS Seawolf (SSN-575), America’s second nuclear submarine, conducting joint exercises in the western Atlantic.
First Attempt at the Frozen Ceiling
On August 19, 1957, Commander Anderson directed Nautilus north from New London on the first-ever submarine mission toward the Arctic ice pack.
The experimental 1,383-mile journey ventured into frozen regions previously considered death traps for submarines since diesel boats could not travel freely under ice.
Soviet territory became suddenly vulnerable as Anderson proved submarines could operate in waters they had long considered safe from American vessels.
Deep ice formations in the shallow Chukchi Sea ultimately forced Nautilus to abort her attempt at reaching the North Pole.
President Eisenhower’s Secret Arctic Mission
After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957, President Eisenhower sought to demonstrate American technological capability through Operation Sunshine.
Commander Anderson proposed a submerged transit beneath the North Pole, a mission that needed advanced navigation systems since magnetic compasses fail near the pole.
Naval Electronics Laboratory scientist Dr. Waldo Lyon joined the crew as ice pilot to interpret sonar readings of the overhead ice canopy.
Engineers installed the top-secret North American Aviation N6A-1 Inertial Navigation System, previously used in Navaho cruise missiles.
Anderson carried sealed orders marked “For the President’s Eyes Only” containing his personal report on the under-ice mission.
Battling the Ice Knife Edges of the Bering Strait
On July 23, 1958, Nautilus departed Pearl Harbor on her second polar attempt with 116 men aboard, including four civilian scientists.
Heading north through the Bering Strait, the submarine navigated treacherous underwater ice formations extending 60 feet below the surface with bare clearance above the seafloor.
Commander Anderson maintained speeds of 18–20 knots despite the constant ping of ice detection sonar warning of overhead dangers.
The crew worked in three rotating shifts around the clock, with closed-circuit television monitors displaying the Arctic daylight conditions.
On August 1, Nautilus submerged in the Barrow Sea Valley, beginning the final 96-hour plunge toward the North Pole.
Ninety Degrees North: Standing on the Top of the World
At 11:15 p.m. Eastern Time on August 3, 1958, USS Nautilus reached 90° North, the precise geographical North Pole.
Commander Anderson marked this pivotal Cold War moment with nine simple words: “For the World, Our Country, and the Navy—The North Pole.“
The submarine didn’t pause but continued its historic journey, crossing underneath a region where all longitude lines converge.
Crew members signed special certificates marking their membership in the exclusive “Royal Order of the North Pole.”
The unprecedented 1,830-mile journey under ice proved nuclear submarines could operate undetected in waters previously considered inaccessible, shocking Soviet military planners.
Presidential Honors and New York Harbor Triumph
Commander Anderson was airlifted from Iceland to Washington D.C. on August 7, 1958, where President Eisenhower awaited at the White House.
Eisenhower awarded Anderson the Legion of Merit and bestowed the Presidential Unit Citation on Nautilus and crew—the first ever awarded during peacetime.
After crossing the Atlantic, the submarine sailed into New York Harbor on August 25, greeted by a 25-ship naval escort, screaming sirens, and water cannons.
An enormous ticker-tape parade welcomed the crew in Manhattan, with over 250,000 New Yorkers lining Broadway to cheer their Cold War heroes.
Racing Through the Cuban Missile Blockade
During the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, Nautilus patrolled the quarantine line at flank speed, intercepting and tracking Soviet vessels attempting to deliver missiles to Cuba.
By this time, Lieutenant Commander T.C. Shade had assumed command, leading the vessel through the thirteen tense days as the world teetered on nuclear brink.
Following the crisis, Nautilus crossed the Atlantic for a two-month Mediterranean cruise, visiting ports in England, France, and Italy.
The submarine returned to New London on December 12, 1962.
Half-Million Miles of Nuclear Pioneering
By the early 1970s, Nautilus had traveled nearly 500,000 miles—equivalent to circling the Earth twenty times—all powered by just a few pounds of uranium.
In June 1972, Commander Alex Anckonie III became the submarine’s captain, overseeing its entry into Electric Boat Shipyard for a comprehensive overhaul.
When Nautilus returned to service in January 1975, she participated in Exercise AGATE PUNCH with the Second Fleet in the Caribbean.
The aging vessel’s hull suffered from years of service, causing vibrations that limited her sonar effectiveness to speeds below 4 knots.
The Final Dive of a Naval Legend
On April 9, 1979, Captain Richard A. Riddell guided Nautilus out of Groton harbor for her final voyage after nearly 25 years of groundbreaking service.
The submarine transited the Panama Canal one last time before arriving at Mare Island Naval Shipyard near San Francisco on May 26, 1979.
After traveling over half a million miles and completing more than 2,500 dives, Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980.
The Navy struck her name from the Naval Vessel Register that same day, ending the operational career of America’s first nuclear-powered vessel.
Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton designated Nautilus a National Historic Landmark on May 20, 1982, ensuring her preservation.
Visiting the USS Nautilus
You’ll find Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum at 1 Crystal Lake Road in Groton, Connecticut, just outside Naval Submarine Base New London.
The museum opens Wednesday through Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (summer) and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (winter), closing Tuesdays year-round.
Your visit costs nothing—admission is completely free, including submarine tours and the museum’s extensive exhibits.
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