Jump to content

USS Nautilus SSN 571 Paperweight


Acharis
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone,

 

I have been a lurker for a while and have thouroughly enjoyed reading all of your posts and admiring your collections. This is my first post so please be easy on me and apologize for the quality of the pictures. I have a lot of Civil War documents that I plan on posting, but those will be scans so user error will be limited.

 

This appears to be a paperweight from 1975 commemorating the 10th anniversary of the USS Nautilus launch. It claims that it is a piece of the original pressure hull and does have some heft to it. I tried to find another one online to judge the veracity of the story but have come up with nothing.

 

Thanks for letting me post,

 

Acharis

post-117278-0-31316600-1367806125.jpg

post-117278-0-80085100-1367806132.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

USS Nautilus SSN-571 was launched Jan. 21, 1954. The 'paper weight' could not have been from the 10th Anniversary of the launch if it was made in 1975. Can't make out all the printing on it, but the 'paper weight' appears to say, " 16th Anniversary of Launch". The 'paper weight' would have to have been inscribed in 1970 if it is 'correct'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The paperweight clearly shows a 10th Anniversary date of 17 January 1965 which is correct for a boat completed in 1955. From wiki, "At 11 am on 17 January 1955 she put to sea for the first time and signaled her historic message: "Underway on nuclear power.""

Very cool piece!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wondering, since the Nautilus still exists, where did pieces of the "Original Pressure Hull" come from. On a side note, when I was stationed aboard USS St. Louis, my favorite CO was Captain William Gaines. Captain Gaines had been a Seaman Sonar striker "Plank Owner" on Nautilus. He was aboard for polar cruise and proudly wore the PUC with "N" device. A t the time I knew him, he had been in the Navy for 32 years and had commanded 5 Diesel submarines and been XO of a Sub Tender. He was not a "Nuke" so could not command "Nuke Boats". thus he ended up in the "gator Navy". He was one of the best Captains I served with (even though we had to learn to speak "Bubble Head"). He eventually retired and became a director at "Woods Hole Institute" . His wife Paula was great. She and my wife hung out (I was SM1 at the time). She said "Bill was a Seaman when I met him, he's still that same guy to me". Any way, sea stories

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I assume that a portion of the hull was replaced/repaired during her second overhaul from 1964-66. Again from wiki, "On her return she joined in fleet exercises until entering the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for her second overhaul 17 January 1964. On 2 May 1966, Nautilus returned to her homeport to resume operations with the Atlantic Fleet, and at some point around that month, logged her 300,000th nautical mile (560,000 km; 350,000 mi) underway."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...