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Nautilus SSN-571 Division actually did not start as Nautilus SSN-571 Division. Our division started as Groton Division.
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Groton Division was warranted under the Eastern Connecticut Council Navy League of the United States and commissioned into the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps July 3rd, 1978. The original Warrant for Commissioning was signed by the Executive Director of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and the Chairman of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and is on display in the Wardroom currently.
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The division was named Groton Division as it found the Naval Submarine Base in Groton CT it's home. The division only supported Sea Cadets at the time.
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Ten years later, the division expanded to include League Cadets and needed a proper home for them. Again, the Eastern Connecticut Council Navy League of the United States warranted the commissioning of Navy League Cadet Training Ship Nathan Hale on March 28th, 1987. The original Warrant for Commissioning was signed by the Executive Director of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and the Chairman of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps and is also on display in the Wardroom currently.
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Training Ship Nathan Hale finds several meanings behind the namesake. Nathan Hale was born on June 6th 1755, in Coventry CT and was an American Revolutionary Officer who attempted to spy on the British and died protecting the birth of our country. Before the military, he attended Yale University and was a schoolteacher in East Haddam and then New London. After teaching for two years he joined a Connecticut Army Regiment in 1775, served in the siege of Boston, and was commissioned as Captain in the Continental Army in 1776. In September of 1776 he went to New York and participated in the capture of a provision sloop under the funs of a British man-of-war. Hale was captured by the enemy and sentenced to death. Hale is regarded by American Revolutionary tradition as a hero and a martyr. Before his death he stated, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country".
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Later in Naval History the USS Nathan Hale (SSBN-623) was built by Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut and commissioned November 23rd, 1963. She was the sixth Lafeyette class nuclear powered fleet ballistic missile submarine produced and operated with pride. She performed deterrent patrols in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. She was out fitted with the Polaris Missile System and later upgraded to the Poseidon Missile System. She completed 69 deterrent patrols and decommissioned on November 3rd, 1986.
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Groton Division changed names to Nautilus SSN-571 Division in the early 2000's to honor the worlds first nuclear submarine which is now part of the Submarine Force Museum and available for tour just steps outside Submarine Base New London.
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Nautilus SSN-571 Division has supported countless of Basic and Advanced trainings, multiple International Exchange Program trips both foreign and domestic, and has guided cadets into amazing adult careers. Cadets graduating have enlisted into all branches of the military, as well as commissioned as officers into all branches as well. Nautilus SSN-571 Division has assisted cadets into being accepted to every Military Academy, as well as various different ROTC programs for commissioning. The division has also supported cadets going to college or directly into the workforce in a civilian life style. The division prides itself in the countless success stories of our cadets graduating the program and doing amazing things in which the program has helped them achieve.
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Nautilus SSN-571 Division continues to call Naval Submarine Base New London it's home and continues to support the Submarine Capital of the World!
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