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The US Navy and AEC began work on
developing a nuclear reactor to power
ships in 1947. Nautilus was the
sixth US warship to use this name and the
first ship in the world to be powered by
a nuclear reactor. At the time of
Nautilus entering service, the US
Navy had about 200 diesel-powered
submarines in service. The new nuclear
power plant would have allowed
Nautilus to travel twice around
the world under water before having to be
refueled. On her first deployment, she
completed a 1,300 mile submerged voyage
in the Atlantic. Nautilus departed
Pearl Harbor July 23rd 1958 with 116 men
on board to conduct Operation Sunshine.
By August 3rd, she had completed the
objective of that operation by traveling
under the Arctic icepack to reach the
North Pole.
Nautilus was put into Portsmouth Navy
Yard Kittery/Maine in May 1959 to undergo
her first nuclear refueling. After years
of tests and the arrival of more modern
nuclear powered submarines,
Nautilus set out on her final
voyage from Groton - Mare Island Navy
Yard California in May 1979. She was
decommissioned March 3rd 1980 after
covering 500,000 miles in her 25 years of
service. Nautilus then underwent
an extensive conversion at Mare Island
before being towed to the Submarine Force
Museum at Groton/Connecticut. On April
11th 1986, 86 years to the day of the US
Submarine Force being founded,
Nautilus was opened to the public
as a museum.
Below, Nautilus launch
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