![]() ![]() The Soviet Union soon followed the United States in developing nuclear-powered submarines in the 1950s. Recognizing the utility of such vessels, the British Admiralty formed plans to build nuclear-powered submarines. The submarine was 320 feet (98 m) long and cost about $55 million. On 17 January 1955, she departed Groton, Connecticut, to begin sea trials. After the submarine was completed at the Electric Boat Company, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne on Nautilus ' bow, and the submarine was commissioned USS Nautilus (SSN-571), on 30 September 1954. The Westinghouse Corporation was assigned to build its reactor. Rickover, USN (sharing a name with Captain Nemo's fictional submarine Nautilus in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and another USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II). Congress authorized construction of the first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Ĭonstruction of the world's first nuclear-powered submarine was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers in the United States at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Bureau of Ships and the Atomic Energy Commission. The Royal Navy began researching designs for nuclear propulsion plants in 1946. The idea for a nuclear-powered submarine was first proposed in the United States Navy by the Naval Research Laboratory's physicist Ross Gunn in 1939. The smallest nuclear-powered submarine, the U.S. History USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine. Radiation incidents have occurred within the Soviet submarines including serious nuclear and radiation accidents, but American naval reactors starting with the S1W and iterations of designs have operated without incidents since USS Nautilus (SSN-571) launched in 1954. The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few of the world's military powers have fielded nuclear submarines. The limited energy stored in electric batteries means that even the most advanced conventional submarine can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed, though recent advances in air-independent propulsion have somewhat ameliorated this disadvantage. The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods, and the long interval between refuelings grants a range virtually unlimited, making the only limits on voyage times being imposed by such factors as the need to restock food or other consumables. Nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for conventional submarines. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. ( September 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
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