U.S. Navy Submarine Force Museum and Library
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The U.S. Navy Submarine Force Museum and Library, located on the Thames River near Groton, Connecticut, USA, is one of the world's most oustanding submarine museums. It is also the only submarine museum in the world to be managed exclusively by the U.S. Navy, which makes it an important repository for many special submarine items of national significance.
The museum has been in operation since 1955 and displays some of the most important historical submarine items in the world.
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[edit] History
Established in 1955, the museum was originally operated by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics and was known solely as the "Submarine Library." In 1964, it was donated to the U.S. Navy and moved to its current location along the Thames. It received its official title in 1969.
[edit] The collection
The museum has over 30,000 artifacts from various periods of U.S. submarine development, including the first nuclear-powered submarine in the world, the USS Nautilus.
[edit] The library
In addition to its large collection of submarines and related objects, the museum also has a library filled with around 20,000 documents and 30,000 photos related to the history of submarine development. The library also boasts a sum of 6000 books related to the field of submarine history, including a 1551 text on submarine retrieval, and an original 1870 copy of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
