Nuclear power anniversary. US Navy ship and crew, 5 November 2001, celebrating 40 years of nuclear power. This ship is the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65), commissioned in November 1961. The crew (white) are arranged on the deck to spell out: E=mc2 x 40. The equation E=mc2 is the mass-energy relationship discovered by Einstein. The equation shows how a small amount of fissioning uranium, or other suitable material, produces large amounts of energy, and can power ships and submarines for many months. The USS Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered ship. The first nuclear-powered submarine (Nautilus) was launched in 1954.