Atoms Aweigh

Sailors in orange life preservers over foul-weather gear bustled through the routine tasks of taking a sub to sea at Groton, Conn, one morning last week. When the Nautilus had quietly backed into the Thames River, made a smooth 180DEG turn and started pushing its massive, whalelike snout south toward Long Island Sound, the abovedeck crew relaxed and waved to the workers lining the docks. At n a.m. on Jan. 17, the Nautilus' blinker snapped out a historic message: "Under way on nuclear power." The crew--and more than 60 special officers and civilians--were quietly jubilant.

The guest with the most reason for satisfaction was Rear Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, who long fought the pressure of Navy brass and the skepticism of many scientists about the practicality of nuclear power. (As late as 1949, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer said, "Nuclear power for planes and battleships is so much hogwash.") In last week's test runs, the Nautilus behaved as well as Rickover and his associates hoped it would. Afterwards an officer confidently reported: "Hell, we could have gone to Europe and back without coming up." The Nautilus is powered by steam turbines. The heat comes from a nuclear reactor with a small uranium core. The Nautilus can outrun any other sub (an estimated 28 knots) and dive deeper than any other (beyond 500 feet). Armed with torpedoes (she can also carry atomic missiles), the Nautilus is scheduled to enter active service with the Atlantic Fleet in just six weeks.

A sister ship is now under construction at Groton. Two more atom subs have been authorized by Congress, and three more will be requested in the President's 1956 shipbuilding program. And that is only the beginning.

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