21 January 1954 – On this date in 1954 the USS Nautilus, SSN 571, was christened by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and launched at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. Its power plant was designed by a team of engineers and scientists assigned to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN In July of 1951. A prototype of the nuclear plant was built and tested under sea simulated conditions by Argonne National Laboratory in 1953 at the Naval Reactors Testing Station in the high desert of Idaho. Hull shape was inspired by the German Type XXI U-Boat designed during World War Two for advanced speed and hydrodynamics. The revolutionary design and propulsion was a major turning point in submarine construction. PICTURED: Today the Nautilus is part of the US Submarine Force Museum and Library, Groton, CT and open to the public. If you’re going to the USS Idaho commissioning be sure to stop by.