Saturday, May 20, 2023

Easy one: 1st surface nuke ship?

Hey, naval buffs and regional shipbuilders! What US Navy surface vessel was the first nuclear-powered warship? 

That's an easy one, right?

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarineUSS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

But you would be wrong to assume that CVN-65 was also the first Navy surface warship to be powered by nuclear energy. 

In fact, it was the USS Long Beach (CGN-9), a warship originally intended to be no bigger than a frigate but during design was rapidly increased to dimensions of a heavy cruiser, which has the distinction of being the first nuclear-powered surface vessel. (1945 May 2023) USS Long Beach: The U.S. Navy Warship That Changed Everything (msn.com)

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