page_title: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
caption_attribution_description: English: Groton, Conn., May 8, 2002 — Nautilus (SSN 571), the world's first nuclear powered submarine, leaves the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton en route Naval Submarine Base New London. Nautilus underwent a five-month preservation at a cost of approximately $4.7 million. On Jan. 17, 1955, USS Nautilus put to sea for the first time and signaled her historic message "Underway on nuclear power." She steamed submerged 1,300 miles from New London to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in just 84 hours. The success of Nautilus ensured the future of nuclear power in the Navy. Now a museum, Nautilus is expected to re-open to the public at Groton's Submarine Force Library and Museum by Armed Forces Day. The historic ship attracts some 250,000 visitors annually. U.S. Navy photo by Nicole Hawley.
context_page_description: USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Her initial commanding officer was Eugene Parks "Dennis" Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today's Nuclear Navy, and who had a storied career during military service and afterwards.
  Sharing names with Captain Nemo's fictional submarine in Jules Verne's classic 1870 science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus that served with distinction in World War II, the new nuclear powered Nautilus was authorized in 1951, with laying down for construction in 1952 and launched in January 1954, attended by Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States, wife of 34th President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and commissioned the following September into the United States Navy. Final construction was completed in 1955.
context_section_description: USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958.  Her initial commanding officer was Eugene Parks "Dennis" Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today's Nuclear Navy, and who had a storied career during military service and afterwards.
  Sharing names with Captain Nemo's fictional submarine in Jules Verne's classic 1870 science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II, the new nuclear powered Nautilus was authorized in 1951, with laying down for construction in 1952 and launched in January 1954, attended by Mamie Eisenhower, First Lady of the United States, wife of 34th President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and commissioned the following September into the United States Navy. Final construction was completed in 1955.
  Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation, and traveled to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction. This information was used to improve subsequent submarines.
  Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. The submarine has been preserved as a museum ship at the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut, where the vessel receives around 250,000 visitors per year.
caption: The retired U.S.S. Nautilus heads home on 8 May 2002, after preservation by the Electric Boat Division
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