Last Updated: February 25, 2025

In July 1951, Congress authorized the construction of the world’s first nuclear powered submarine. Five months later, the Navy announced that it would be called the Nautilus, the sixth Navy ship to hold that name. On June 14, 1952, President Harry S. Truman arrived at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton to lay the keel of this revolutionary vessel. The building of the Nautilus helped Groton sustain its title of “Submarine Capital of the World.”

Launching the World’s First Nuclear Submarine

On January 21, 1954, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower launched the world’s first nuclear submarine at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Shipyard in Groton. Mamie Eisenhower was the first president’s wife to ever christen a submarine in the United States Navy. As the first submarine to be powered by nuclear fuel, it could travel faster and farther than any other submarine in the history of the world.

On September 30, 1954, the USS Nautilus became the first commissioned nuclear-powered ship in the US Navy. On January 17, 1955, Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson USN ordered all lines cast off and signaled the historic message, “Underway on Nuclear Power.” The Nautilus eventually shattered all submerged speed and distance records.

Submarine Activities

Just across the Thames River from Groton, New London was the USS Nautilus home port. The submarine often participated in training exercises and was tested against anti-submarine warfare practices. As part of “Operation Sunshine,” the USS Nautilus succeeded in the first submerged crossing of the North Pole by ship on August 3, 1958. Among other assignments, the USS Nautilus was part of the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Connecticut’s State Ship

In the spring of 1979, after almost 25 years of active service to the United States Navy, the USS Nautilus set out from Groton to California on its final voyage. The Navy decommissioned the USS Nautilus on March 3, 1980 and the Secretary of the Interior designated it as a National Historical Landmark in 1982. In 1983, the Connecticut General Assembly named the USS Nautilus its official state ship. Eventually, the submarine was towed back to Connecticut, where it became part of the Submarine Force Museum in Groton and opened for public viewing. The USS Nautilus demonstrates Connecticut’s continuing maritime traditions and dedication to our national defense.

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