USS NAUTILUS WORLD’S FIRST NUCLEAR POWERED SUBMARINE 1956 GENERAL DYNAMICS PROMO FILM 20974

Produced by General Dynamics, this black & white educational film is about the world’s first atomic powered submarine - the USS Nautilus (SSN-571). This was released circa 1956, with the intent of touting the achievement represented by the “first true submersible“ -- a submarine which did not have to surface to recharge its batteries or operate its air-breathing engines. The film also suggests that nuclear power has a limitless future, and reactors could not only power ships, but entire cities and nations. At the time the film was made, the Nautilus was new under commission and had not yet transited the North Pole. USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world’s first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine, under Commander William R. Anderson, to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Her initial commanding officer was Eugene Parks “Dennis“ Wilkinson. Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. Opening titles: The USS Naut