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The fourth Nautilus, the
first nuclear powered submarine, was laid down 14 June 1952,
President Harry S. Truman officiating, at the Electric Boat
Co., Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Connecticut;
launched 21 January 1954; sponsored by Mrs. Dwight D.
Eisenhower, wife of President Eisenhower, and commissioned
30 September 1954, Comdr. E. P. Wilkinson in command.
Following commissioning Nautilus
remained at dockside for further construction and testing
until 17 January 1955. Then, at 1100, her lines were cast
off and she was "underway on nuclear power."
Trials followed and on 10 May Nautilus headed south
for shakedown. She remained submerged while enroute to
Puerto Rico, covering 1,381 miles in 89.8 hours, the longest
submerged cruise, to that date, by a submarine, and at the
highest sustained submerged speed ever recorded for a period
of over one hour's duration. Throughout 1955, and into 1957,
she investigated the effects of the radically increased
submerged speed and endurance, such changes in submerged
mobility having virtually wiped out progress in
anti-submarine warfare techniques. The airplane and radar,
which helped defeat submarines in the Atlantie during World
War II, proved ineffective against a vessel which did not
need to surface, could clear an area in record time, and
swiftly change depth simultaneously.
On 4 February 1957, Nautilus
logged her 60,000th nautical mile to bring to reality the
achievements of her fictitious namesake in Jules Verne's 20,000
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 21 July and departed again 19 August for her first
voyage, of 1,383 miles, under polar pack ice. Thence, 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 28 October,
underwent upkeep, and then conducted coastal operations
until the spring.
On 25 April 1958 she was underway
again for the West Coast. Stopping at San Diego, San
Francisco, and Seattle she began her history making Polar
transit, operation "Sunshine," as she departed the
latter port 9 June. On 19 June she entered the Chukchi Sea,
but was turned back by deep draft ice in those shallow
waters. On the 28th 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 1 August and on 3 August, at 2315 (EDST) she became
the first ship to reach the geographic North Pole. From the
North Pole, she continued on and after 96 hours and 1830
miles under the ice, she surfaced northeast of Greenland,
having completed the first successful voyage across the
North Pole.
Proceeding from Greenland to
Portland, England, she received the Presidential Unit
Citation, the first ever issued in peace time, from American
Ambassador J. H. Whitney, and then set a westerly course
which put her into the Thames River estuary at New London 29
October. For the remainder of the year she operated from her
homeport, New London, Connecticut.
Following fleet exercises in early
1959, Nautilus entered the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,
for her first complete overhaul (28 May 1959-15 August
1960). Overhaul was followed by reresher training and on 24
October she departed New London for her first deployment
with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, returning to her
homeport 16 December.
Nautilus operated in the
Atlantic, conducting evaluation tests for ASW improvements,
participating in NATO exercises and, during the fall of
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. 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, following which she
conducted exercises off the southeastern seaboard. She
returned to New London in December 1968, and into 1970 she
continues in operations as a unit of the 2nd Fleet.
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