Connecticut State Ship

USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

Adopted in 1983

Built by Connecticut craftsmen and women, USS Nautilus was the world's first nuclear powered submarine and logged more than 500,000 nautical miles during her distinguished 25 year career.

The USS Nautilus, named Connecticut's State Ship by the 1983 General Assembly, has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is permanently berthed next to the Submarine Force Library and Museum at Goss Cove in Groton.

Connecticut State Ship: USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine. The vessel was the first submarine to complete a submerged transit to the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Sharing names with the submarine in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II, Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation, and traveled to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction. This information was used to improve subsequent submarines.

Nautilus was a component of SubRonTen (Submarine Squadron Ten). The squadron commander was stationed aboard the USS Fulton (AS-11), a submarine tender, stationed in New London, Connecticut. Nautilus and other submarines in the squadron made their home tied up alongside the tender, where they received preventive maintenance and, if necessary, repairs, from the well equipped Fulton and her crew of machinists, millwrights, and other crafts.

Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. The submarine has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in Groton, Connecticut, where the vessel receives some 250,000 visitors a year.

Connecticut Law

The law designating the submarine, USS Nautilus as the official Connecticut state ship is found in the Connecticut General Statutes, Title 3, Chapter 32, Section 3-110d.

TITLE 3. STATE ELECTIVE OFFICERS.
CHAPTER 32. SECRETARY.
SECTION 3-110d. State ship.

Sec. 3-110d. State ship. The submarine, USS Nautilus, shall be the state ship.

(P.A. 83-313.)