USS Nautilus' history is focus of program

Navy Capt. Mike Riegel will share the history of the USS Nautilus during a Mystic River Historical Society program on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

MYSTIC - Navy Capt. Mike Riegel will share the history of the USS Nautilus during a Mystic River Historical Society program on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Mystic Congregational Church at 43 East Main St.

The Nautilus was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine. She was the first vessel to complete a submerged transit beneath the North Pole on Aug. 3, 1958. Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged for far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation and was able to travel to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. The Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. She has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in Groton where she receives some 150,000 visitors a year.

Riegel, a native of Dodge City, Kan., enlisted in the Navy in 1961 as a nuclear machinists mate. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with the Class of 1970 under the NESEP program. He spent his entire career in submarines, commanding the fast attack submarine USS Archerfish (SSN 678) and the Trident fleet ballistic missile submarine USS Kentucky (SSBN 737). Riegel's last active duty assignment was commanding officer, Naval Submarine Base, New London.

Following retirement, he remained active with the submarine community as vice president and currently as executive director of the Submarine Force Library and Museum Association.