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Since then there have been few announcements of progress on STR, but its undercover success has been phenomenal. It produces more power than it was designed for. It has given little trouble and has proved compatible with the mock-up submarine that was built around it. So much has been learned by its frequent operation that the second model, which will actually go into the Nautilus, is an even better reactor.
Dominant Pigboats. There are still some skeptics in the Navy, but as the Nautilus approaches her launching date, a fever of excitement is spreading in naval circles. The submariners, who have long grimly called themselves "the submerged service," now look forward to a time when their new boats will be the dominant ships of the Navy. The Nautilus will be the first "true" submarine, wholly independent of the atmosphere.
The Nautilus will certainly make 25 knots, and there is good reason to hope that she will make 30 knots (35 m.p.h.). The best destroyers steam only slightly faster (when the sea is not too rough), and most other small escort vessels are sluggards by comparison. If necessary, nuclear submarines can be made faster than any surface-going vessel. Since they lose no power in piling up waves, they get more speed out of the same expenditure of energy.
Submariners believe that the Nautilus and its successors will eventually make the oceans unsafe for any kind of hostile enemy craft—including aircraft carriers. But the nuclear submarine, say its admirers, will not stop when it has swept the sea of all surface warcraft. It can attack other submarines, hunting them when they are on the surface or running them down in the depths (if they are not nuclear too), with its greater speed and endurance.
Missile-Launcher. Perhaps their most important mission will be as missile-launchers. There is certainly some doubt that an aircraft carrier can approach an enemy-held coast and survive concentrated attack by land-based airplanes armed with atomic bombs. The nuclear submarine can. It can cruise to the enemy coast submerged, rise to the surface briefly at night, launch its atom-armed missiles at short range and cruise away under water. It is probable that some missiles can actually be launched from beneath the surface. A missile-launcher of this type would be well-nigh undetectable.
Most such developments are far in the future, but many ambitious young officers are already getting in on the ground floor of nuclear submarining. The first big prize, command of the Nautilus, went to Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, now known to his envious associates as "Captain Nemo."
Admiral Rickover is convinced that nuclear submarines will save the Navy from near-complete elimination as a fighting arm of the nation. He also believes that out of them will grow the use of nuclear power for constructive, rather than destructive, purposes.
Peaceful Payoff. At present, nuclear reactors do not seem to be practical competition for conventional sources of power. But the Idaho tests of the STR showed ways to save large sums of money in building the second model. Other savings are in prospect. Eventually, Rickover thinks, nuclear reactors will spread from the submarines and find profitable jobs on land.