World's First Nuclear Sub Remembered on 50th Anniversary

Newswise — The January 2004 issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine looks back on the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine and the human vision behind its creation and development.

The publication of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) says the SSN 571 Nautilus, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, “set a new course for the Atomic Age.”

The Nautilus, says Mechanical Engineering, represents the first application of controlled nuclear power and strongly influenced the growth of nuclear-based electric generating plants in the United States. Less than four years following the launch of the Nautilus on January 21, 1954, the first commercial nuclear power plant commenced operations in Shippingport, Pa.

Both the submarine and electric power facility used a pressurized water reactor, which became the design standard for naval nuclear programs and the nuclear power industry.

A key player in the development of the Nautilus as well as the Shippingport facility was Hyman Rickover of the U.S. Navy, who strongly believed in the potential of a nuclear submarine and recruited the best and brightest scientists and engineers to study a range of topics relative to fission, radiation, heat transfer and shielding. Rickover also assembled the massive industrial infrastructure that was required for the Nautilus program.

According to Mechanical Engineering, Hyman Rickover influenced the U.S. Congress to fund the construction of 200 nuclear-powered submarines, cruisers and aircraft carriers.

In addition to outlining the technical challenges of building a nuclear submarine, the ASME publication discusses the Nautilus in the context of the tense political events in the years between the conclusion of World War II and beginning of the Cold War between the United States and former Soviet Union. For example, when the Soviets launched the world’s first orbiting space satellite in 1957, touching off fears among many Americans of weapon strikes from space, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s response was to send the Nautilus on a difficult and dangerous mission to traverse the polar ice cap via the North Pole.

“Eisenhower needed to restore American prestige,” says Mechanical Engineering. “The reaffirmation of United States superiority was celebrated with a tickertape parade for the crew in New York, while the Nautilus was escorted up the East River.”

The Nautilus ended active duty in 1979. Since April 11, 1986, the ship has been opened to the public as a premier exhibit at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Conn.

For further information about Mechanical Engineering or to access the article “Nuclear Navy,” visit the ASME Web site, http://www.asme.org.

ASME is a 120,000-member professional organization focused on technical, educational and research issues of the engineering and technology community. ASME conducts one of the world’s largest technical publishing operations, holds numerous technical conferences worldwide, and offers hundreds of professional development courses each year. ASME sets internationally recognized industrial and manufacturing codes and standards that enhance public welfare and safety.