On this day 67 years ago, August 3, 1958 (June 18, 1958 lunar calendar), the first nuclear-powered submarine "Nautilus" built by the United States passed through the North Pole. August 3, 1958 - The first nuclear-powered submarine "Nautilus" built by the United States passed through the North Pole under a large piece of ice floe. It opened the North Pole Passage. The precise structure of the Nautilus is also a miracle of creation. Humans imitated the way the Nautilus drains water, absorbs water to rise and sink, and created the first submarine. In 1954, the world's first nuclear submarine "Nautilus" was born. The total weight of the "Nautilus" was 2,800 tons, and the total cost was 55 million US dollars. The entire hull is 90 meters long, with an average speed of 20 knots and a maximum speed of 25 knots. It can sail continuously for 50 days at maximum speed, and the whole journey is 30,000 kilometers without adding any fuel. Compared with ordinary submarines at that time, the speed of the boat was about half faster. The entire nuclear power plant accounted for about half of the hull. The hull shape and interior, power instruments and combat equipment were all the most sophisticated scientific products, all assembled with the most streamlined appearance and simple control. Compared with ordinary submarines, the hull of the "Nautilus" was thicker, and the diving depth was below 150 meters. When traveling in the deep sea, with its special sonar, it could freely explore the way, and there was no danger of hitting rocks. On January 21, 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine of mankind, the "Nautilus", was launched to the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators. After hard work, the "Nautilus" was completed by the end of this year. Theoretically, it could travel underwater for 50 days at maximum speed, 30,000 nautical miles without adding any fuel. The ship was also equipped with self-guided torpedoes. On January 17, 1955, the Nautilus made its first trial voyage, and the first nuclear submarine in human history officially began to sail the ocean. Its first captain was Lieutenant Colonel Eugene P. Wilkinson. In May, the Nautilus conducted more than 90 hours of underwater voyage tests, covering a range of 138l nautical miles, which was nine times the maximum underwater range of conventional powered submarines at the time. It also completed a voyage of 1397 nautical miles from Key West, Florida to New London at an average speed of 20 knots. From its launch on January 21, 1954 to the first replacement of the fuel rods in April 1957, the Nautilus had a total range of 62,526 nautical miles, consuming only a few kilograms of uranium. If a conventional submarine were to travel the same distance at the same speed, it would consume about 8,000 tons of fuel. The Nautilus is also famous for its first underwater voyage to the North Pole. The great charm of the nuclear submarine displayed by the Nautilus is not limited to this. According to the United States, since its service, the United States has used it for many submarine-ship confrontation and anti-submarine exercises. In July-August 1955, in the first combat exercise of the "Nautilus", it easily defeated the anti-submarine formation including an anti-submarine aircraft carrier. In this confrontation exercise, the "Nautilus" "sank" a total of 7 "enemy ships". Then in the NATO-organized exercise called "Counterattack", the number of surface ships attacked by the "Nautilus" reached 16, including 2 aircraft carriers, 1 heavy cruiser and 9 destroyers, and the remaining 4 were oil tankers and cargo ships. According to US statistics, the "Nautilus" suffered more than 5,000 attacks in the previous exercises. According to conservative estimates, if it were a conventionally powered submarine, it would be sunk 300 times, while the "Nautilus" was only three times. The "Nautilus" demonstrated that nuclear submarines are indeed invincible in combat. When we look back on the Cold War today, we can see that in the face of a powerful US Navy with an aircraft carrier formation as the core, its own economic and technological strength is not as good as that of the United States, and the political and geopolitical environment is poor, the reason why the Soviet Union has vigorously developed nuclear submarines cannot fail to mention the benefits of the "Nautilus" to its opponents, and the significance of this revelation cannot be underestimated even now. The advent of the "Nautilus" is of immeasurable great value, and its political and military significance is far-reaching. However, since the ship was mainly used for testing, no successor was built. The boat was decommissioned in 1980 and is permanently preserved as a commemorative boat in Groton, where it was born. Comments on the Nautilus nuclear submarine: The world's first battery-powered submarine and the first nuclear submarine were both named "Nautilus". It can be seen that the Nautilus is the key to unlocking the submarine concept.