The nuclear plant on board the Nautilus was the first viable use of a nuclear reactor in the world. Until this point, reactor technology had been largely experimental, but the prototype reactor for Nautilus, called S1W, was the first nuclear project to produce real work.

In 1948, Admiral Hyman Rickover teamed the Navy with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to create the Naval Reactors Program. In the shadow of World War II, and at the beginning of the Cold War, the Navy prepared to bring nuclear technology to shipbuilding.

Congress authorized the plan for a nuclear submarine in July, 1951, and in December of that year, the Navy announced that the ship would carry the name Nautilus. The keel was laid in Groton, CT at Electric Boat by President Truman on June 14, 1952. A year and a half later, on January 21, 1954, Mrs. Dwight Eisenhower crashed the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow and the ship slid into the Thames River.

Underway on Nuclear Power
On January 17, 1955, Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson took the Nautilus out to sea propelled by the nuclear reactor for the first time. As he sent the famous message "Underway on Nuclear Power," he probably did not fully realize the new era he had just help usher in.

The nuclear plant enabled the Nautilus to remain submerged for weeks, even months at a time. Prior to the advent of nuclear technology, submarines were powered by a combination of diesel engines and batteries. The diesels could only be run while the ship was on the surface. Battery power was necessary when submerged. Batteries only lasted so long, so submarines would need to surface from time to time and run the diesel engines to charge the batteries.

To the North Pole
With a nuclear reactor, it was no longer necessary to surface and recharge batteries. Longer underwater runs were now possible. The Nautilus demonstrated this in 1958 when she sailed beneath the Arctic icepack to the North Pole. When the ship arrived, the crew broadcast the famous message "Nautilus 90 North."

Only the Beginning
Hundreds of nuclear submarines followed the Nautilus, slowly replacing the United States' fleet of diesel powered boats. She was decommissioned in 1980, and is now open to the public in Groton, Connecticut, at the Submarine Force Museum.