USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole.

In July 1951, following work by the physicist Philip Abelson, the U.S. Congress authorized the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for the U.S. Navy. On December 12, 1951 the U.S. Navy Department announced that the submarine would be called Nautilus – the sixth U.S. Navy vessel so named – and would carry the hull code SSN-571.