Submarine Force Library & Museum

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The United States Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum, located on the Thames River near Groton, Connecticut, United States, is the only submarine museum managed exclusively by the Naval History & Heritage Command division of the U.S. Navy, which makes it a repository for many special submarine items of national significance, including.Visitors may take a 30-minute self-guided audio tour of the submarine. In a 2009 visit to the museum, a writer for Connecticut magazine found several veterans of the U.S. submarine force who talked about their experiences while visiting the Nautilus.HistoryEstablished 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 next to Naval Submarine Base New London. It received its official title in 1969. Hoping to convince the U.S. Navy to donate the Nautilus to the museum, in 1984 the "Connecticut Nautilus Committee" was formed to raise funds for an improved museum. A new, 14000sqft facility was built with funding from the state, individuals and businesses, opening in 1986. In late 1997 the Committee decided to start planning and raising funds for a 13465sqft addition to the museum building. Fundraising started the next year, and construction project ran from 1998 to early 2000. The new addition was officially opened to the public on April 28, 2000 "in conjunction with the Centennial Celebration of the United States Submarine Force", according to the museum.