(MILITARY) Group of photographs and ephemera from the launch

Sale 2633 - Lot 124

Price Realized: $ 594

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(MILITARY.) Group of photographs and ephemera from the launch of the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine. 24 items in one box; generally minor wear. Groton, CT, 1954 and undated

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Additional Details

The USS Nautilus was the world's first nuclear submarine, launched on 21 January 1954 by Electric Boat of Groton, CT, a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It was decommissioned in 1980, but remains open for tours as a museum ship in Groton. Included in this lot are:

15 publicity photographs from the launch, 8 x 10 inches; minor wear, some filing numbers and crop marks in manuscript. One shows First Lady Mamie Eisenhower smashing a bottle of champagne to christen the craft, and three others show her at the ceremony. Two of these are captioned in pencil on verso, identifying other dignitaries such as Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover and Secretary of the Navy Robert B. Anderson. One unusual shot shows a model of the Nautilus made of sugar by the Culinary Institute of America.

A photograph of a cross-section rendering of another Electric Boat nuclear submarine, the USS Triton launched in 1959.

7 pieces of printed ephemera: an illustrated paper label, "For U.S.S. Nautilus, First Nuclear Powered Submarine, Expedite"; admission ticket for the Nautilus launching ceremonies (stained); engraved invitation to the launching ceremonies; 3-page "Launching Program" (vertical fold); issue of Time Magazine with Admiral Rickover and the Nautilus on the over; "E.B. [Electric Boat] Meal Ticket" dated 21 January 1954; elaborate commemorative program issued by General Dynamics with photographs of the launch.

General Dynamics flag, 48 x 75 inches, double-sided in blue, white and black with two grommets, created by Bailey & Staub of New London, CT.