NS Savannah - Service History

Service History

After christening on 21 July 1959, it took another 2 1⁄₂ years to complete the reactor installation and initial trials before the ship was moved to Yorktown, Virginia under temporary oil-fired power, where the reactor was started and tested. Full reactor power was achieved in April 1962. Savannah was delivered on 1 May 1962 to the Maritime Administration and turned over to her operators, the States Marine Lines. From August 1962 Savannah undertook demonstrations, first sailing to Savannah, her home port. During this trip a faulty instrument initiated a reactor shutdown, which was misreported as a major accident in the press. From there she passed through the Panama Canal and visited Hawaii and ports on the west coast of the United States, becoming a popular exhibit for three weeks at the Century 21 Exposition in Seattle. By early 1963 she arrived in Galveston, Texas for repair and system checks. There, a dispute over the compensation of nuclear-qualified engineering officers led to a reactor shutdown and strike by the nuclear engineering crew. The contract with States Marine Lines was canceled and a new operator, American Export Isbrandtsen, was selected, requiring a new crew to be trained. This involved a switch to non-union crew, which became a lingering issue in the staffing of proposed future nuclear ships.

By 1964 Savannah started a tour of the US Gulf and east coast ports. During the summer she crossed the Atlantic for the first time, visiting Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Dublin and Southampton. 150,000 people toured the ship during this tour.

Savannah served as a passenger-cargo liner until 1965, when passenger service was discontinued. By this time a total of 848 passengers had been carried along with 4,800 tons of cargo. The ship was converted to all-cargo use, with the removal of 1800 tons of ballast. Passenger spaces were closed. Savannah operated for three years and traveled 350,000 miles (560,000 km) before returning to Galveston for refueling. Four of the 32 fuel assemblies were replaced and the remaining units rearranged to even out fuel usage. She resumed service until the end of 1971, when she was deactivated.

During her active career Savannah traveled 450,000 miles (720,000 km), visiting 45 foreign and 32 domestic ports and was visited by 1.4 million people in her function as an Atoms for Peace project. Savannah's presence also eased access for nuclear powered naval ships in foreign ports, though the ship was excluded from ports in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Following her removal from active service, Savannah was first obtained by the City of Savannah and was docked at the end of River Street (near the Talmadge Memorial Bridge), with plans for eventually making her a floating hotel. However, investors could not be found. For a short period of time during the late 1970s she was stored in Galveston, Texas, and was a familiar sight to many travelers on State Highway 87 as they crossed Bolivar Roads on the free ferry service operated by the Texas Department of Highways.