USS Nautilus ( SSN - 571 ) USS " Nautilus " ( SSN - 571 ) is the world ' s first operational nuclear - powered submarine . She was the first vessel to complete a submerged transit to the North Pole on 3 August 1958 . Sharing names with the submarine in Jules Verne ' s " Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea " , and named after another that served with distinction in World War II , " Nautilus " was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954 . 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 . She has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in Groton , Connecticut , where she receives some 250 , 000 visitors a year . Planning and construction . In July 1951 the United States Congress authorized the construction of a nuclear - powered submarine for the U . S . Navy , which was planned and personally supervised by Admiral Hyman G . Rickover , known as the " Father of the Nuclear Navy . " On 12 December 1951 the US Department of the Navy announced that the submarine would be called " Nautilus " , the fourth U . S . Navy vessel officially so named . The boat carried the hull number SSN - 571 . " Nautilus " s keel was laid at General Dynamics ' Electric Boat Division in Groton , Connecticut by Harry S . Truman on 14 June 1952 , She was christened on 21 January 1954 and launched into the Thames River , sponsored by Mamie Eisenhower . " Nautilus " was commissioned on 30 September 1954 , under the command of Commander Eugene P . Wilkinson , USN . " Nautilus " was powered by the S2W naval reactor , a pressurized water reactor produced for the US Navy by Westinghouse Electric Corporation . Argonne National Laboratory , together with Westinghouse , developed the basic reactor plant design used in " Nautilus " after being given the assignment on 31 December 1947 to design a nuclear power plant for a submarine . Nuclear power had the crucial advantage in submarine propulsion because it is a zero - emission process that consumes no air . This design is the basis for nearly all of the US nuclear - powered submarine and surface combat ships , and was adapted by other countries for naval nuclear propulsion . The first actual prototype ( for " Nautilus " ) was constructed and tested by Argonne at the S1W facility in Idaho . " Underway on nuclear power " . Following her commissioning , " Nautilus " remained dockside for further construction and testing . At 11 am on 17 January 1955 she put to sea for the first time and signaled her historic message : " Underway on nuclear power . " On 10 May , she headed south for shakedown . Submerged throughout , she traveled from New London to San Juan , Puerto Rico and covered in less than ninety hours . At the time , this was the longest submerged cruise by a submarine and at the highest sustained speed ( for at least one hour ) ever recorded . From 1955 to 1957 , " Nautilus " continued to be used to investigate the effects of increased submerged speeds and endurance . The improvements rendered the progress made in anti - submarine warfare during the Second World War virtually obsolete . Radar and anti - submarine aircraft , which had proved crucial in defeating submarines during the War , proved ineffective against a vessel able to quickly move out of an area , change depth quickly and stay submerged for very long periods . On 4 February 1957 , " Nautilus " logged her 60 , 000th nautical mile ( ) , matching the endurance of her namesake , the fictional " Nautilus " described in Jules Verne ' s novel " Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea " . In May , she departed for the Pacific Coast to participate in coastal exercises and the fleet exercise , operation " Home Run , " which acquainted units of the Pacific Fleet with the capabilities of nuclear submarines . " Nautilus " returned to New London , Connecticut , on 21 July and departed again on 19 August for her first voyage of under polar pack ice . Thereafter , she headed for the Eastern Atlantic to participate in NATO exercises and conduct a tour of various British and French ports where she was inspected by defense personnel of those countries . She arrived back at New London on 28 October , underwent upkeep , and then conducted coastal operations until the spring . Operation Sunshine – under the North Pole . In response to the nuclear ICBM threat posed by Sputnik , President Eisenhower ordered the US Navy to attempt a submarine transit of the North Pole to gain credibility for the soon - to - come SLBM weapons system . On 25 April 1958 , " Nautilus " was underway again for the West Coast , now commanded by Commander William R . Anderson , USN . Stopping at San Diego , San Francisco , and Seattle , she began her history - making polar transit , operation " Sunshine " , as she departed the latter port on 9 June . On 19 June she entered the Chukchi Sea , but was turned back by deep drift ice in those shallow waters . On 28 June she arrived at Pearl Harbor to await better ice conditions . By 23 July her wait was over , and she set a course northward . She submerged in the Barrow Sea Valley on 1 August and on 3 August , at 2315 ( EDT ) she became the first watercraft to reach the geographic North Pole . The ability to navigate at extreme latitudes and without surfacing was enabled by the technology of the North American Aviation N6A - 1 Inertial Navigation System , a naval modification of the N6A used in the Navaho cruise missile . ( The N6A - 1 had been installed on " Nautilus " and after initial sea trials on the in 1957 . ) From the North Pole , she continued on and after 96 hours and under the ice , surfaced northeast of Greenland , having completed the first successful submerged voyage around the North Pole . The technical details of this mission were planned by scientists from the Naval Electronics Laboratory including Dr . Waldo Lyon who accompanied " Nautilus " as chief scientist and ice pilot . Navigation beneath the arctic ice sheet was difficult . Above 85°N both magnetic compasses and normal gyrocompasses become inaccurate . A special gyrocompass built by Sperry Rand was installed shortly before the journey . There was a risk that the submarine would become disoriented beneath the ice and that the crew would have to play " longitude roulette " . Commander Anderson had considered using torpedo es to blow a hole in the ice if the submarine needed to surface . The most difficult part of the journey was in the Bering Strait . The ice extended as much as below sea level . During the initial attempt to go through the Bering Strait , there was insufficient room between the ice and the sea bottom . During the second , successful attempt to pass through the Bering passage , the submarine passed through a known channel close to Alaska ( this was not the first choice as the submarine wanted to avoid detection ) . The trip beneath the ice cap was an important boost to America as the Soviets had recently launched Sputnik , but had no nuclear submarine of their own . During the address announcing the journey , the president mentioned that one day nuclear cargo submarines might use that route for trade . Proceeding from Greenland to the Isle of Portland , England , she received the Presidential Unit Citation , the first ever issued in peace time , from American Ambassador J . H . Whitney , and then crossed the Atlantic reaching New London , Connecticut , USA on 29 October . Captain Anderson would also be awarded the Legion of Merit by Eisenhower . For the remainder of the year " Nautilus " operated from her home port of New London . Operational history . Following fleet exercises in early 1959 , " Nautilus " entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery , Maine , for her first complete overhaul ( 28 May 1959 – 15 August 1960 ) . Overhaul was followed by refresher training and on 24 October she departed New London for her first deployment with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea , returning to her home - port 16 December . " Nautilus " operated in the Atlantic , conducting evaluation tests for ASW improvements , participating in NATO exercises and , during October 1962 , in the naval quarantine of Cuba , until she headed east again for a two - month Mediterranean tour in August 1963 . On her return she joined in fleet exercises until entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for her second overhaul 17 January 1964 . On 2 May 1966 , " Nautilus " returned to her homeport to resume operations with the Atlantic Fleet , and at some point around that month , logged her 300 , 000th nautical mile ( ) underway . For the next year and a quarter she conducted special operations for ComSubLant and then in August 1967 , returned to Portsmouth , for another year ' s stay . During an exercise in 1966 she collided with the aircraft carrier USS " Essex " on 10 November , while diving shallow . Following repairs in Portsmouth she conducted exercises off the southeastern seaboard . She returned to New London in December 1968 . In the spring of 1979 , " Nautilus " set out from Groton , Connecticut on her final voyage under the command of Richard A . Riddell . She reached Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo , California on 26 May 1979 , her last day underway . She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 3 March 1980 . Noise . The hull and superstructure of " Nautilus " vibrated sufficiently that sonar became ineffective at more than speed . Also , noise generation is extremely undesirable in submarines as this makes the vessel vulnerable to detection . Lessons learned from this problem were applied to later nuclear submarines . Awards and commendations . Presidential Unit Citation . To commemorate the first submerged voyage under the North Pole , all " Nautilus " crewmembers who made the voyage may wear a Presidential Unit Citation ribbon with a special clasp in the form of a gold block letter N ( image above ) . Museum . " Nautilus " was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Secretary of the Interior on 20 May 1982 . She was named as the official state ship of Connecticut in 1983 . Following an extensive conversion at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , " Nautilus " was towed back to Groton , Connecticut arriving on 6 July 1985 . On 11 April 1986 , " Nautilus " opened to the public as part of the Submarine Force Library and Museum . " Nautilus " now serves as a museum of submarine history , after undergoing a five - month preservation in 2002 at the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics , at a cost of approximately $ 4 . 7 million ( $ in present - day terms ) . " Nautilus " attracts some 250 , 000 visitors annually to her present berth near Naval Submarine Base New London . " Nautilus " celebrated the 50th anniversary of her commissioning on 30 September 2004 with a ceremony that included a speech from Vice Admiral Eugene P Wilkinson , the first Commanding Officer of " Nautilus " , and a designation of the ship as an American Nuclear Society National Nuclear Landmark . Visitors may tour the forward two compartments , with guidance from an automated system . Despite similar alterations to exhibit the engineering spaces , tours aft of the control room are not permitted due to safety and security concerns . " Nautilus " is the subject of an episode of the syndicated television anthology series , " The Silent Service " , which aired during the 1957 – 1958 season .