On August 5, 1958 the nuclear American submarine “Nautilus” was concluding his trip under the Arctic ice, turning into the first ship plunged in crossing the North Pole. Not only an old longing of the navigators was making concrete, but there was obtained a new ” back door ” to come secretly Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, country with which USA was faced in a sickly nuclear arms race.

The first modern submarines were using a diesel engine to generate the electricity with which then there could make go the electrical engines that were stimulating them under the water. This system was working enough good, but tape-worm the disadvantage of forcing to the submarine to approaching from time to time the surface in order that it was possible to gather the necessary air in order that the internal combustion engines were doing his work. In times of war this supposed really a great disadvantage, since a submarine that one finds in the surface is practically unprotected. In addition, the diesel engines are it sufficiently noisy as in order that the enemy could detect them from a good distance, and demand to the ship to transport a great reservation of fuel. But the advances realized in the field of the nuclear power allowed to an admiral of the sea-coast of the USA to end with these problems.

In 1946 Hyman Rickover was a young person captain of the Sea-coast. It decided to study nuclear physics, and rapidly it discovered that there were no big impediments to construct a submarine that was stimulated by a modern and small nuclear reactor. Actually, it seems that the idea of using atomic power to make to go to the submarines had belong to his compatriot Philip Albelson, but Rickover was harder the one that worked to turn her actually. When it exposed his idea in the area of the Marine, good part of his companions they doubted his aim.

The reactors of the epoch were basically a battery of uranium and graphite surrounded by a container of concrete that they were occupying a couple of hectares. To try to put something as it inside a submarine was to all lights a ridiculous idea, and for years his Superiors took charge clarifying it well in whenever they could. But far from giving up itself, Rickover worked five-peseta coin up to turning into the chief of the Division of Nuclear power of the Office of Ships of the Sea-coast and – to the same time – chief of the branch of naval reactors of the Commission of Atomic power.  These charges converted automatically into his own chief, for what it could start his project and in January, 1954 – overcome all the difficulties – there was constructed the first submarine of nuclear propulsion of the world, baptized “Nautilus” as an honoring to Julio Verne, the author of ” 20.000 leagues of submarine trip “. On the following year, with the number of hull SSN-571 identical with white color, it was thrown and sailed along the first time.