by LMS Member Bill Ogle
NS Savannah
In 1955 US President Dwight Eisenhower proposed an “Atoms for Peace” initiative, a key component being construction and operation of a nuclear-powered merchant ship; which he saw as a “peace ship” serving as an ambassador for the peaceful use of nuclear power and as he stated to Congress “… the President seeks no return on this vessel except the goodwill of men everywhere … Neither will the vessel be burdened by proving itself commercially feasible by carrying goods exclusively.”
Authorised by Congress the following year she was constructed by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, NJ at a cost of $46.9million, launched on 21 July 1959 and named after the ss Savannah which crossed the Atlantic in 1819, although the passage was mainly under sail. Principal details of ns Savannah are:
Length 596ft, beam 78ft and draft 30ft 13,599grt, 9,900dwt
Installed power from one 74mw Babcock & Wilcox nuclear reactor powering two de Laval steam turbines (20,300shp) geared to a single shaft
Service speed 21 knots, maximum 24, range at 21 knots 300,000 n. miles
The turbines were specially adapted to use the saturated steam typically provided by a nuclear power source. It was also unusual in having a 750-horsepower electric motor geared to the high-pressure turbine for use in an emergency. The motor was driven by either the ship’s steam turbogenerators or the emergency diesel generators. These generators could provide basic propulsion to the motor while running the reactor coolant pumps in the event of the reactor having to be shut down.
In service from 1962 until 1972 Savannah became the first of only four nuclear powered civilian ships ever constructed. The others were the German Otto Hahn completed in 1968 which sailed over 650,000 miles without any technical problems. However, the Japanese Mutsu completed in 1972 did experience some difficulties resulting in her nuclear plant being replaced by diesel electric propulsion in 1995, enabling her to remain in service as the survey vessel Mirai. Finally the Russian Sevmorput, completed in 1988 as a ‘LASH’ ship experienced a varied career with much of her time being laid up for a number of reasons although as of 2021 she
remains in service.
Savannah herself was deactivated in 1971 and after several moves is now located in Baltimore, Maryland. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark; her future is secure.
