The Otto Hahn was one of only four nuclear-powered cargo vessels so far built. Planning of a German-built trade and research vessel to test the feasibility of nuclear power in civil service began in 1960, and Otto Hahn’s keel was laid down in 1963 by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG of Kiel. She was launched in 1964 and named in honour of Otto Hahn, the German chemist and Nobel prizewinner, who was credited with the discovery of nuclear fission of uranium in 1938. The first captain of the Otto Hahn was Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, a famous German U-Boat ace of World War II.

In 1968, the ship’s 38-megawatt nuclear reactor was taken critical and sea trials began. In October of that year, NS Otto Hahn was certified for commercial freight transport and research.

Configured to carry passengers and ore, Otto Hahn made her first port call in Safi, Morocco, loading a cargo of phosphate ores, in 1970. In 1972, after four years of operation, her reactor was refueled. She had covered some 250,000 nautical miles (463,000 km) on 22 kilograms of uranium.

In 1979 Otto Hahn was deactivated. Her nuclear reactor and propulsion plant were removed and replaced by a conventional diesel engineroom. In nine years, she had traveled 650,000 nautical miles (1,200,000 km) on nuclear power, visiting 33 ports in 22 countries.
In 1983, Otto Hahn was recommissioned as the container ship Trophy and leased into commercial service. On 19 November of that year, she was renamed Norasia Susan. She became the Norasia Helga in 1985, Hua Kang He in 1989, Anais in 1998, Tal in 1999 and finally Madre in the same year. Her last owner, from 2006, was the Liberian-based Domine Maritime Corporation, under the management of Alon Maritime Corporation of Athens, Greece. The ship was scrapped at Alang, India in 2009.

Her funnel is preserved at the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum (German Maritime Museum) in Bremerhaven.

Launched in Saint Petersburg Russia the NS Ural was not actually commissioned until 2007. By that time it had a new name, the NS Let Pobedy, and a new designation the largest nuclear icebreaker in the world.

The vessel is impressive with an overall length of 521 feet, capacity for 138 persons and service bays carrying two Ka-32 helicopters. But the size of this vessel barely seems to be enough to float it’s two greatest assets; a pair of nuclear reactors capable of producing over 55 megawatts of power and over 25,000 tons of displacement which, combined, allow the Pobedy to break through sheets of ice up 9 feet thick.

To put that in perspective just 15 inches of ice is needed to safely support a 10 ton truck while the USCGC Polar Sea, the first American surface vessel to reach the North Pole, has 6 feet of ice crush capability.

In all Russia built 10 purpose built nuclear icebreakers with seven classed for ocean service and two classed for river duty. The country also built a commercial nuclear icebreaker, the NS Yamal, which was planned to be converted to an exploratory drillship but is now being prepared for use as an arctic cruise ship.

The ship appealed to the Norwegian Coastguard for help and was allowed to anchor west of the island of Sørøya in the far north of Norway. An inspection by the Norwegian Coastal Administration vessel KV Farm revealed a burst valve on a pipe supplying sea water to the ship’s sanitation system. The crew was unable to stop the flow of water into the engine room until the leak was sealed by a magnetic patch provided by the KV Farm. The Miko patch is said to have immediately stopped the in-flow of water and enabled the Puma to be escorted to Hammerfest for permanent repair.

Packs of magnetic patches are carried aboard Norwegian Coastal Administration vessels so that they are available to make a repair with the minimum of delay. By re-ballasting the Puma it was possible to trim the ship to bring the leak above the water line. This enabled the patch to be applied without the use of divers and to be reinforced by powerful permanent magnets. After the 30 nautical mile open sea voyage to Hammerfest the patch was still found to be secure and maintaining the seal.

Miko points out that the low cost of the patch was in marked contrast to the cost of the disaster that could have followed if the ship had sunk. The potential for a major disaster has, according to the company, been noted by Norwegian environmental groups which are highlighting the severity of the disaster that would have occurred if the leak had happened a few days earlier when the magnetic patch might not have been available. Source : MARITIME PRESS CLIPPINGS

The United States first and only Nuclear powered merchant ship was designed in hopes of finding peaceful uses for Nuclear energy as part of the Atoms for Peace program. President Eisenhower had the ship built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million, which included a $28.3 million nuclear reactor and fuel core. At 596-feet-long she was the pride of the fleet with sleek lines like that of an oceangoing yacht. During her short 5 years of service (1965-1970) she saved over 29 million gallons of fuel oil but her high maintenance cost led to her downfall. In 1981, the Savannah was brought back to her cold war glory by re-activating her as a museum ship offering Americans a glimpse into the atomic age. Visitors could walk the ship’s decks and even tour the reactor from an observation window as well as look into staterooms and passenger areas but in 1994 the charter was terminated. The Maritime Administration, who is responsible for overseeing the Savannah, had the ship moved to Baltimore where she remains under a 3 year, $588,380 U.S. Maritime Administration contract with the Vane Brothers’ shipyard at the Canton Marine Terminal. Once the Savannah’s DDR (Decommissioning, Decontamination and Radiological) work is completed the U.S. Maritime Administration plans to eventually donate the famous maritime relic as a museum or public attraction.

Interesting Facts

• She produced nearly $12,000,000 in revenue, real money back then.
• She sailed over 450,000 miles in her five years of merchant service (1965 to 1970).
• She required a crew of more than 100 mariners.=
• The Army considered using her as a power plant to be used during national emergencies.
• She is being reconditioned primarily due to post 9/11 security concerns.

NS Savannah Documentary – Once Upon A Nuclear Ship

More videos and photos of the beautifully designed NS Savannah ship:

Nixon’s Moscow Mission; Nuclear Ship Comissioned 1959/7/23

2) NS Savannah nuclear ship commissioned, christened by Mamie before 15,000 spectators, cost $41 million (partial newsreel)

N/S Savannah Underway

A Look At Her Reactors

Photos Of Her Today

Other Nuclear Merchant Ships

Germany’s N/S Otto Hahn

Russia’s 1988 Nuclear Cargo ship and now drillship N/S Sevorput

Japan’s 1969 built N/S Mutsu

Nuclear Icebreakers

Russia has built a number of modern nuclear icebreakers including the Yamal.

Links:

• NSSavannah.net
• 2006 Photos
• Nuclear Fuel Transport Ship Launched
• A Complete List of Nuclear Powered Ships
• Russia’s Nuclear Icebreakers

For those of you who missed 10-hour PBS CARRIER marathon, have no fear as they were kind enough to post the full series online.

I am about halfway through episode 2 and it’s a great show. So click on the image to go to the episode list.

Full Episodes of CARRIER – PBS