This April 1955 feature in All Hands magazine covers USS Nautilus (SSN-571) as she entered active service as the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Commissioned at Groton, Connecticut, on 30 September 1954, Nautilus made her first underway run on nuclear power on 17 January 1955 — transmitting the historic message “Underway on nuclear power.” Nuclear propulsion eliminated the need for diesel submarines to surface and recharge batteries, giving Nautilus virtually unlimited submerged endurance and speeds that far exceeded any conventional submarine. This six-page article documents the dawn of the nuclear submarine era.
This article is part of a series of All Hands features tracking the Nautilus program. An earlier article previewing the submarine while still under construction: Atomic Age Goes Beneath the Surface — April 1953.
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