The unfettered fancy of Jules Verne never conjured up such a monstrous metallic whale. Verne's fictional Naiitilus, 232 ft. long, could have nestled snugly in the belly of Triton, the eighth nuclear-powered submarine to join the U.S. fleet, scheduled for launching this week in the Thames River at Groton, Conn.
Triton is the largest submarine ever launched. She displaces 5,850 tons, measures 447½ ft. in length and 37 ft. at the beam, carries two nuclear reactors and a crew of 148, can make a zippy 30 surface knots. By comparison the Nautilus, first U.S. nuclear sub, displaces 2,980 tons, is...
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