USS Nautilus — Attraction in Groton

This thing is so cool! I mean where else can you walk around in a submarine?! And on top of that it's free. Even on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend it wasn't that busy so we were able to walk right in. They built up everything so that there are nice stairs going down into the submarine and you're on a linear path that is one way through the whole thing. It's nice because you know you're not going to miss anything and you just follow the path through. They have built a lot of glass walls so you can't touch anything, but they have little signs around explaining what things are. They have some mannequins playing the roles of sailors, But as you peek around corners, you're bound to be frightened a time or two when you're staring down a mannequin where you didn't expect one. My wife did this at 34 weeks pregnant so that should give you a certain gauge of the accessibility, but there are a few doors that are tough to get through because you have to lift your legs up and duck down low and there are a bunch of stairs throughout as well. They may have used an elevator for JFK, but they don't use it for you so get ready to take all those stairs . Plenty of handrails and signs telling you to watch your head. By my estimation, you're only exploring about 2/3 of the submarine or less because I'm sure the other parts are classified still, but either way it is a cool experience. If you're claustrophobic, it actually isn't as bad as you might think. The submarine sits only halfway submerged so it's acting more like a boat So if you think you will feel claustrophobic just time it so you're not going down with a big group of other people that way you won't ever feel trapped. It only took us 20 minutes or so to walk through, but if you wanted to get out of there quickly, you could probably get back out in 3 minutes or less with a pep...

The U.S. Nautilus is an historic and world renowned U.S submarine, and an absolute “must see” attraction in the state of Connecticut.

The U.S. Nautilus is recognized as the world’s first operational nuclear powered submarine. It is located at the Submarine Force Library & Museum which is positioned near the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.

When celebrating my wife’s birthday in September of 2024, I brought her and myself for a visit to the U. S. Nautilus, and we thoroughly enjoyed our exploration of this amazing ship!!!

When touring the submarine, my wife and I were able to visit and view many of the ship’s diverse sections ranging from the sailer’s bed rooms, the captain’s quarters, the kitchen and dining areas, the gallery, the control room, and the attack center. We learned that the Nautilus was fully launched in 1954 and was capable of carrying over a 100 navy sailors. The ship was in operation from 1954-1980.

We also learned that the submarine’s nuclear propulsion system allowed her to stay under the water far longer than previously built submarines, and that it was able to travel to farther remote locations, most notably the North Pole in the 1950’s.

Due to its pioneering technological capabilities and design, and its huge impact on naval history, the USS Nautilus is listed on the U.S.National Register Of Historic Places, and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Visiting the USS Nautilus gave me and my wife a chance to view and understand the layout, interior design and setting of a submarine, and provided a glimpse of what life is life for a Navy sailor.

Both my wife and I highly recommend for everyone to visit and explore this outstanding...

Submarines great and small!! Look at the size differences between the USS Ohio and the USS Holland! If you like to learn about submarines, this is the place for you! This was our second visit here. Some things have changed since the last time we were there. Santa is gone from the museum. There's a new NR-1 exhibit moving right along. One subtle thing noticed was the change made on the USS Nautilus. So, the USS Nautilus was the first ever nuclear powered submarine. It's so cool that it's right here on display for people to walk through, but obviously we won't be experiencing any nuclear one on ones with the submarine. So, last time we were there, we could walk through and basically half way through the submarine and the door would be closed so there would be no access to the other half of nucleur end of the submarine. The difference? Last time, we could peer through a tiny round window on the door. This time, the tiny round window was plated up. Glued down. Alarm on the door. A lot of extra precautions to keep people from looking at anything directly related to nuclear technology. When asked about the change on the way out and the gentleman wasn't really sure how to answer the question other than saying, even though it's old technology, there are still countries out there that would love to get their hands on certain information. I found that...