350-009 SSN-571 NAUTILUS

The USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was an American nuclear powered fighter submarine (SSN). The keel for this ship was laid in 1952, the launch took place in January 1954, and the entry into service in the US Navy - in September of the same year. The length of the ship was 97.4 m, width 8.4 m, and the underwater displacement - about 4,100 tons. The maximum underwater speed is approximately 20 knots. The USS Nautilus was the first nuclear-powered submarine in history - not only in the US Navy, but in general naval history. She was also the first ship to sail under the North Pole. The name of the unit obviously refers to one of the "heroes" of Jules Verne's novel "Twenty thousand miles of submarine navigation" emphasizing the uniqueness of the vessel all the more. The roots of the U.S. Navy's creation of a nuclear propulsion system for submarines lie in the Manhattan program of the Second World War, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb. On the other hand, one of the naval officers responsible for the creation and implementation of nuclear propulsion was the legendary and controversial Admiral Hyman Rickover (having Polish roots). On the other hand, the USS Nautilus itself had a very conservative hull shape, not significantly different from that used in German type XXI units. Also, many other design solutions were rather conservative. This was due to the fact that the American admiralty did not want to test too many avant-garde solutions on one unit. In the course of operation, the USS Nautilus showed a very high level of noise, a defect that was later corrected on subsequent American submarines. The USS Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and was declared a museum ship in 1982.