US Navy`s mystic, NR-1, the world`s unique nuclear submersible NR-1 Class, Submersible Research Vehicle, was laid down on  June 10, 1967, at the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp., Groton, CT.; Launched January 25, 1969 and delivered to the US Navy and place in service, as (NR-1),  on October 22, 1969. Casully known as "Nerwin", never officially named or commissioned. In 1966, when the United States lost a hydrogen bomb off the coast of Spain, retrieving it took eighty days and at least three deep submersibles. The unacceptable length of time it took to avoid a near-disaster gave Admiral Hyman Rickover, the “father of the nuclear navy,” an irrefutable reason to forge ahead on the development of the craft he’d been working on for over a year. One that could do the job again if needed, and much more. With every aspect of its conception and its abilities overseen, studied, and scrutinized by Rickover, his intensely personal project would be a 400-ton submarine with a custom-built miniature nuclear reactor designed to dive deeper than any other submarine, traversing the untouched ocean floor with Goodyear truck tires. Such depths would also mean that the crew would be cut off from all possible rescue should something go wrong. It was impossibly expensive, extraordinarily dangerous, and as a secret weapon, completely unarmed The NR-1 is first and for most a design product of The Cold War era and as so it was meant to carry out different kinds of Naval and underwater intelligence operations, including the ability of searching, finding and retrieving objects from the depth. . For the American military, the state-of-the-art submersible, christened NR-1, would be the most closely guarded, and revolutionary, secret of the Cold War. The NR-1 is a compact, nuclear-powered, electric-drive undersea research and ocean engineering submarine. Her operation depth encompasses all of the continental shelves and much of the continental slopes, while her nuclear power plant provides a far greater endurance than any other research submarine. The NR-1 is capable of ocean search missions such as locating and identifying objects or ships lost at sea, and in situ examination and recording of ocean topographic and geological features. The ship is equipped and has the capacity for work near or on the seabed, performing sample gathering, recovery, implantation, or repair of objects in the ocean. The installed equipment can be supplemented by scientist-supplied sensors to conduct experiments and obtain knowledge of the ocean`s chemical, thermal, optical, biological, and acoustical characteristics.   Its still-active performance today as the oldest US Navy nuclear powered submarine still in service. Technical specifications, NR-I: Displacement (srf/sub tons): 380/700            Dimensions (L*B*D feet): 147`0*12`4*14`6 Propulsion: a unique `tailor made`, pressurized-water reactor, 1*turbo-alternator, 2*external motors, 2*propellers, 4*ducted thrusters (2 vertical, 2 horizontal) Speed (srf/sub knots): 4.5/3.5 Range (srf/sub n/miles@knots): not relevant Diving depth (feet): 3,000 Complement: 3 officers 9 crew members plus 2 scientists Armament:none Back to History Index   Image Country Year Description United States US Navy nuclear powered ocean engineering and research vehicle, Submarine NR-1, Submarine Base , Groton CT, May 23, 1978 United States US Navy nuclear powered ocean engineering and research vehicle, Submarine NR-1, Submarine Base , Groton CT, Oct' 17, 1977 Guyana 1995 Submarine NR-I (USA)