I toured the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. Take a look inside.

Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Commissioned in 1954, the USS Nautilus was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. It was the first ship to visit the North Pole and participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade. Nautilus is now an exhibit at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut. On January 17, 1955, the USS Nautilus transmitted a historic message: "Underway on nuclear power." As the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus could remain submerged for two weeks at a time and travel at speeds of over 20 knots, or about 23 miles per hour. Previously, World War II submarines powered by diesel engines and electric batteries could stay underwater for just 12 to 48 hours at a time. Since their batteries only charged while surfaced, diesel-electric US Navy vessels like the USS Cobia had to move at around 2 or 3 miles per hour to conserve power and hit maximum speeds of 9 knots, or about 10 miles per hour. Nautilus is now part of the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut. Visitors can walk through the historic nuclear submarine and see how its crew members lived and worked while submerged up to 700 feet below the surface. I visited the museum in March to tour Nautilus. Take a look inside. Between 1954 and 1980, the USS Nautilus participated in scientific and military operations around the world. Nautilus, which was commissioned in 1954, hosted the first-ever underwater legislative meeting when 13 members of Congress rode Nautilus in 1955. Its nuclear power allowed Nautilus to sail under the polar ice cap and become the first ship to traverse the North Pole in 1958 in an expedition known as Operation Sunshine. Nautilus also participated in the naval blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. The submarine is now a museum operated by the US Navy in Groton, Connecticut, a short distance from the shipyard where it was built. After 26 years of service, Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1982. It opened to the public as part of the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, in 1986. In 2021, Nautilus underwent $36 million of preservation work and reopened in 2022. The Submarine Force Museum is open Wednesday through Monday and is free to visit. Measuring 3,400 tons with a length of 319 feet, Nautilus is longer than a football field. I was amazed by the size of the submarine. As I climbed aboard, the deck provided gorgeous views of the Thames River. The first stop on my self-guided tour was the forward torpedo room, which featured two torpedo tubes with bronze doors. Here, crew members loaded torpedoes for firing. Mannequins depicted crew members working in the forward torpedo room. After the torpedoes were loaded, the tubes were flooded with water. When the command to fire was issued, high-pressure air from the submarine's ejection pump then forced the water and the torpedoes out of the tubes. The space...

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