Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
March 26, 1914 The U.S. Navy submarine USS K-6 (SS-37) was launched at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yards in Quincy, Massachusetts. This vessel was one of the Navy’s eight K-class submarines. All of these submarines were designed by the Connecticut-based company Electric Boat (present-day General Dynamics Electric Boat). K-6 was one of the three... Continue Reading →
Kayla Barron, whose passion for exploration has motivated her to both travel beneath the sea and fly into space, was born on September 19, 1987, in the city of Pocatello, Idaho. Her family eventually moved from the Gem State to the city of Richland, Washington. After graduating from Richland High School in 2006, Barron entered... Continue Reading →
April 25, 1960 A global circumnavigation milestone took place when the U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) completed the first submerged voyage around the world. The U.S. Navy’s code name for this pioneering circumnavigation was Operation Sandblast. Triton, which had been commissioned the previous November and was under the command of Captain Edward L. “Ned” Beach,... Continue Reading →
August 3, 1958 At 11:15 p.m., the U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to make it to the top of the world when she passed under an ice cap at the geographic North Pole. Navy Commander William R. Anderson, the commanding officer of Nautilus, formally announced the achievement to his crew of... Continue Reading →
June 15, 2004 A diesel-electric submarine for the South African (SA) Navy was launched at the shipyard for the company Howarldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, Germany. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, executive mayor of Naledi Local Municipality in South Africa’s North West Province and a leading veteran of the longtime struggle against apartheid in her homeland, served as... Continue Reading →
June 8, 1968 The U.S. Navy diesel-electric submarine USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was launched at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire. Approximately 1,500 people were at the shipyard that Saturday morning to watch the launch, and hundreds of others viewed it from nearby Peirce Island. Those in attendance included Jacques Piccard, the renowned Swiss oceanographer,... Continue Reading →
The USS Tullibee, the smallest nuclear-powered attack submarine in the US fleet was launched in Groton, Connecticut. Small, in this case, is relative: Tullibee was 273 feet (83.2m) long and displaced 2300 tons at the surface. In comparison, the other notable nuclear-powered sub of the time, the USS Nautilus, was 320 feet (97.5m) and displaced... Continue Reading →
U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Rafael Celestino Benítez (1917-1999), who was born in the Puerto Rican municipality of Juncos, became a highly decorated submarine commander during his longtime military career. After retiring from the Navy in 1959, he served as Pan America World Airways’ vice president for Latin America. For more information about Rafael Celestino Benítez,... Continue Reading →
Inventor and engineer Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, who made significant contributions to maritime transportation, was born in Madrid. Monturiol invented the first air-independent and combustion-engine-driven submarine. He died in 1885 at the age of 65. For more information about Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcís_Monturiol.
Transportation History 