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O/C Cold War Submarine Painting, USS Nautilus 571

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O/C Cold War Submarine Painting, USS Nautilus 571. Signed by S.H. Geer. Depicts the submarine surfacing near a city with seagulls flying overhead. Nicely framed with a brass insignia plaque on bottom.
Work Size: L. 20" x W. 16"
Frame Size: L. 23.5" x H. 19.5" x D. 1.5"
Weight: 4lbs
Condition: very good

The Nautilus was the first US nuclear submarine. On December 12, 1951, the Navy Department announced that the world's first nuclear submarine, SSN-571, would carry the name NAUTILUS. Construction of NAUTILUS was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN. Authorized by Congress in July 1951, her keel was laid on June 14, 1952 at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut., by President Harry S. Truman. A year and a half later, on January 21, 1954, Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne across her bow as NAUTILUS slid down the ways into the Thames River.
On September 30, 1954, NAUTILUS became a commissioned ship in the United States Navy. Present on this occasion were many distinguished guests, including Admiral Donald H. Duncan, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. In the commissioning speech Admiral Wright stated, "Today the Navy turns a channel marker in the course of history", and indeed they did.
However, many months of painstaking construction and dockside testing followed. The nuclear propulsion plant was designed and constructed for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Navy by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and first operated on December 20, 1954. The plant developed full power alongside the dock on January 3, 1955.
On the morning of January 17, 1955, at 1100 hours EST, NAUTILUS' Commanding Officer, Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, USN, ordered all lines cast off and signaled the memorable and historic message "UNDERWAY ON NUCLEAR POWER", to the Submarine Force Commander, thus adding a new page to world and naval history.
On April 22, 1955, after rigorous and detailed testing of the ship's surface and submerged capabilities, USS NAUTILUS (SSN-571) was preliminarily accepted by the United States Navy.

very good

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