USS Nautilus submarine. USS Nautilus (SSN-571) with MACS (Mobile Acoustical Communication System) leaving New London, Connecticut, USA, in September 1977. The USS Nautilus was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and put to sea under nuclear power for the first time on 17 January 1955. It was powered by an S2W naval reactor and carried a crew of 105. Amongst its achievements was the first submerged transit of the North Pole. It was decommissioned in 1980, and in 2002 it was turned into a museum.