What Is the Name of the First Atomic Submarine?

What is the name of the first atomic submarine? That would be the USS Nautilus (SS-571), launched in 1955. This submarine has had an interesting and record-setting life.

Buoyancy is an upward force on an object which keeps it afloat, and occurs when the weight of the water, displaced by the object, is equal to the object's weight.  A submarine can control its buoyancy, so it can dive and surface. 

To do this, the submarine has ballast tanks and auxiliary tanks that can be alternately filled with air or water. When on the surface, the ballast tanks are filled with air. To dive, the ballast tanks are filled with water, making the submarine's density greater than the outside water. To help steer and control the angle of the dive, the submarine has hydroplanes on the back, which are like small wings.    

History of the Submarine

Now that you know the answer to the question, "What is the name of the first atomic submarine?" perhaps you would like to know when submarines were invented. Cornelius van Drebbel built a submarine in 1620. He wrapped a rowboat in waterproof leather and attached air tubes with floats to the surface for air. He and 12 men stayed under the water for three hours.

The first military submarine was built in 1776 by David Bushnell. It would hold only one man, and had hand-turned propellers. During the American Revolution, this submarine would attach explosives to the hulls of British ships.

The 1890s saw the first really useful submarines. They were built by two rival inventors; John P. Holland and Simon Lake. They had gas or steam engines and used electric motors for traveling under the water. Torpedoes were also invented which used electric motors for propulsion.  

Nautilus

The answer to, "What is the name of the first atomic submarine?" is the "Nautilus," but it is not the first ship to bear that name. The name "Nautilus" first appeared as the name of a schooner with 12 guns, in 1799. It was purchased by the United States Navy in 1803 and named USS Nautilus.

The second USS Nautilus was a 76-foot schooner that was used in 1847 in the Mexican–American War. In 1911, the name "Nautilus" appeared in the submarine division and was decommissioned in 1922. The name, "Nautilus," was the name of a Motor Patrol Boat used during World War I. The fifth ship named Nautilus, SS-168, was built in 1930 and was one of the largest ever built for the Navy. She was the predecessor to the Nautilus (SSN-571).  

What Is the Name of the First Atomic Submarine?

"UNDERWAY ON NUCLEAR POWER" was the message signaled by the commander of the USS NAUTILUS (SSN-571), Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, on the morning of January 17, 1955, at 11:00 EST.

The Nautilus's first voyage was from New London to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and broke several records. This was the longest distance a submarine had traveled and the longest a submarine had stayed submerged. It was also the first time a submerged submarine had maintained a high speed, about 16 knots, for over an hour. This was the fastest trip from New London to Puerto Rico by any submarine.

After two years, she had gone 62,562 miles, of which more than half were submerged and her Uranium fuel core had to be replaced. A conventionally-powered submarine the size of Nautilus would have used over two million gallons of diesel fuel to do the same.

Another great "first" was a trip northward in 1958. On August third, Nautilus had reached the geographic North Pole. That was the first ship to cross the North Pole.

Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980, after traveling almost half a million miles in 25 years. On May 20, 1982, she was designated a National Historic Landmark. She can be seen at the Submarine Force Museum, which opened in 1986, in Groton, Connecticut.