After almost eighteen months of construction, NAUTILUS was launched on January 21, 1954 with First Lady Mamie Eisenhower breaking the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow, as the 571 boat slid down the ways into the Thames River in Connecticut.
In the following photograph you can see Nautilus and the commissioning crew just as she entered the Thames River at the Electric Boat Company in New London.
September 30, 1954 NAUTILUS (SSN571) became not only the first nuclear submarine, but also the first commisioned nuclear powered ship in the United States Navy.
On the morning of January 17, 1955, at eleven AM eastern standard time, NAUTILUS' first Commanding Officer Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson ordered all lines cast off and signaled the historic message, "Underway On Nuclear Power."
