(continued from KTB #115)

The ‘MANHATTAN Project’ not only produced a bomb, but it also produced a recommendation to pursue nuclear ship propulsion (imagine a submarine capable of 20 knots underwater, indefinitely!). But this propulsion system was not to be developed by the Navy. Instead the heart of it was to be developed by the new Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), where one Captain Rickover was assigned as the Navy’s liaison to the Committee. This resulted in ‘accelerating’ the development of the reactor. The keel was laid for the first boat to carry the reactor in 1952, and it became USS NAUTILUS when launched in 1954. The ship had a displacement of 3,530 tons but was only 10 feet longer than a WW II fleet boat.

The first refueling was two years later in April, 1957. The first few core lives were as follows:

1st core 62,500 nautical miles
2nd core 91,300 nautical miles
3rd core 150,000 nautical miles

Typically the S5W reactor of the 1960’s provided 140,000 miles. Later cores with much longer lives were developed, providing 400,000 miles of operation.

One major accomplishment of USS NAUTILUS was the 1958 Arctic transit to the Atlantic Ocean from Pearl Harbor which took the boat directly under the North Pole. Not only were long transits possible, but for the first time submarines could indeed keep up with the battle fleet i.e., a true Fleet Submarine was finally at hand. What was sought after with the old “T” Class of the 1920’s was finally achieved with this nuclear powered submarine of the 1950’s; yet it was called ‘a new type of warship’.

The second nuclear powered submarine was USS SEAWOLF (SSN 575) with its unique liquid sodium primary coolant loop. Then came four more ‘production’ SKATE Class submarines in 1957 and 1958. They also conducted a number of exercises around the North Pole. Plus, there were several more types developed in an effort to find a niche for nuclear powered submarines. There was a radar picket submarine USS TRITON (SSRN 586) - NED BEACH (1163-LIFE-1989) was the Skipper; a REGULUS missile firing submarine USS HALIBUT (SSGN 587); and a small hunter-killer submarine USS TULLIBEE (SSN 597). As you might remember, USS TRITON followed Ferdinand Magellan around the world - - only fully submerged and some 470 years later. Then more types quickly followed. So thoroughly did nuclear power take hold that only 17 diesel powered combat submarines were built by the U.S. after World War II.

More U.S. Submarines: A Technical History

S-Class (#111)
Pre-WWII Build-up and WWII Developments (#112)
Radar and Countermeasures (#113)
Post WWII Period (#114)
Missiles, Subs, and the USS Albacore (#115)
Early Nuclear Propulsion (#116)
Boomers and Fast Attack Submarines (#117)
Polaris and Other Missiles (#118)
Trident Missiles and Attack Subs (#119)