Portal:Connecticut/Selected article/17

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first nuclear-powered boat, 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 "Dennis" Wilkinson, a widely respected naval officer who set the stage for many of the protocols of today's Nuclear Navy in the US, and who had a storied career during military service and afterwards.

The Nautilus was authorized in 1951. Construction began in 1952, and it was launched in January 1954, sponsored by Mamie Eisenhower, wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was commissioned the following September into the United States Navy and was delivered to the Navy in 1955.

Her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, and 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, and this information was used to improve subsequent submarines. (Full article...)