NS Savannah

NS Savannah was a nuclear-powered merchant vessel created under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program as a demonstration of the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Launched in 1959 and in service from 1962 to 1972, she was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship and one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built. Designed more as a technological ambassador than a practical freighter, she combined cargo space with passenger accommodations and striking Atomic Age styling. Her reactor-powered operation proved merchant nuclear propulsion technically feasible and notably safe, but high costs and limited cargo capacity kept her from commercial success. She is preserved in Baltimore as a museum ship.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States