Nuclear submarine nuclear-powered submarine was first proposed in the United States Navy by the Naval Research Laboratory's Ross Gunn in 1939. Construction of the world's first nuclear powered submarine was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Bureau of Ships and the Atomic Energy Commission. In July 1951 the U.S. Congress authorized construction of the first nuclear-powered submarine, "Nautilus", under the leadership of Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN (sharing names with Captain Nemo's fictional submarine in Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea",
Jules Verne Trophy holder of the trophy, Francis Joyon, also holds the around the world sailing record, this has not always been the case. In 2004 Steve Fossett broke the world record with the catamaran "Cheyenne" but was not awarded the trophy. According to reports, the trophy organizers requested a higher entrance fee from Fossett than from the other competitors, the difference which he refused to pay. The winner of the trophy that year was Olivier de Kersauson on "Geronimo", with a time which was five days slower than Fossett's world record. The "Trophy Jules Verne" was the subject of a public order