Historic Ship NAUTILUS

Topside and the Torpedo Room

Your tour of Historic Ship NAUTILUS begins with a short walk to the pier. You will notice the NAUTILUS has a white "E", a red "E" and a white "A" painted on the sail. These letters represent awards that the ship had received for being the best in its class. The blue, gold and red flag flying from the sail is a Presidential Unit Citation pennant. This significant award was presented to the NAUTILUS by President Dwight D. Eisenhower after the ship completed its historic journey under the north pole. The NAUTILUS was the first ship to have received this award for peace time operations.

From the pier, visitors will cross the bow and enter a glass building on the forward end of the ship where they will receive an "Audio Wand" which describes the different areas they will see during their tour. The glass house is not an original structure of the NAUTILUS. It was added during the conversion to a museum. Visitors will proceed down 30 stair steps into the NAUTILUS Torpedo Room. The stairs, Plexiglas partitions and other modifications were made to the NAUTILUS during conversion.

The Torpedo Room has 6 torpedo tubes and could carry 24 weapons. Two Mk 14 Torpedoes are on display in the same fashion that they were stowed when the ship went to sea.

Directly aft in the torpedo room is a small berthing area with 10 bunks, toilets, shower, and sinks. Each of the bunks could be opened to reveal a stowage area for crew members personal belongings. The only privacy offered to crew members was by a small curtain on their bunks. Visitors will notice many pin-up pictures throughout the ship. These pictures are historical, often representing wives and girlfriends of former crew members.

From the torpedo room you will go through a water tight door to the Wardroom