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N0KFQ > TODAY 30.09.14 16:50l 44 Lines 1905 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 37080_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 30
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140930/1445Z 37080@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Sep 30, 1954:
USS Nautilus commissioned
The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, is
commissioned by the U.S. Navy.
The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy
Captain Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who
joined the U.S. atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in
charge of the navy's nuclear-propulsion program and began work on
an atomic submarine. Regarded as a fanatic by his detractors,
Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering the world's first
nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the Nautilus'
keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21,
1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne
across its bow as it was launched into the Thames River at
Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first
ran under nuclear power on the morning of January 17, 1955.
Much larger than the diesel-electric submarines that preceded it,
the Nautilus stretched 319 feet and displaced 3,180 tons. It
could remain submerged for almost unlimited periods because its
atomic engine needed no air and only a very small quantity of
nuclear fuel. The uranium-powered nuclear reactor produced steam
that drove propulsion turbines, allowing the Nautilus to travel
underwater at speeds in excess of 20 knots.
In its early years of service, the USS Nautilus broke numerous
submarine travel records and in August 1958 accomplished the
first voyage under the geographic North Pole. After a career
spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus
was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. Designated a National
Historic Landmark in 1982, the world's first nuclear submarine
went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the
Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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