SubBase New London, Though In Groton, USS Nautilus' Home: History 571

GROTON, CT —For some, a visit to the USS Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum on Crystal Lake Road in the Submarine Capital of the World is tradition.

The USS Nautilus is permanently berthed at Goss Cove near the Submarine Base alongside the Submarine Force Museum, which draws visitors from across the state and the globe.

There, visitors can participate in scavenger hunts, self-guided tours and even an Augmented Reality Experience via QR code.

There, visitors can research submarine history. The Submarine Library and Archives is the official repository for the records and history of the U.S. Submarine Force with over 6,000 titles and more than 2.5 million archival documents and photographs relevant to submarine history: personal papers and memoirs, original bound copies of WWII, Korean War, and post WWII simulated war patrol reports, books, images and more including documents from as early as 1890. It gets "inquiries" from around 150,000 annual visitors, scholars, the public, and the local Navy community.

In the museum theater, visitors can watch 'A Century of Silent Service' or 'Forty-One for Freedom' about the design, construction, and purpose of the Navy’s earliest ballistic submarines during the Cold War.

Submarine Capital of the World

In World War I, the existing Navy Yard on the Thames River was officially commissioned as a submarine base and during World War II, the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics would deliver 74 diesel submarines to the Navy. It was then that Groton became known as the Submarine Capital of the World.

Significantly, in 1954, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched "as she slid down the ways into the Thames River."

"In July of 1951, Congress authorized construction of the world’s first nuclear powered submarine. On December 12th of that year, the Navy Department announced that she would be the sixth ship of the fleet to bear the name NAUTILUS. Her keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman at the Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut on June 14, 1952.

After nearly 18 months of construction, NAUTILUS was launched on January 21, 1954 with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across NAUTILUS’ bow as she slid down the ways into the Thames River. Eight months later, on September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS became the first commissioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy."