{{fartyg 
|             namn=Savannah  35px
|             bild=Ns savannah.jpg
|         bildtext=NS Savannah
|              typ=Lastfartyg, Styckegods
|           nummer=NB 529
|             varv=NY Shipbuilders, Camden NJ
|         beställd= -
|         planerad= -
|         påbörjad=16 november 1957
|          sjösatt=21 juli 1959
|           tjänst=1 maj 1962
|              öde=K-märkt, museifartyg
|      deplacement=21 840 ton
|          tonnage=9 500 nrt
|            längd=181,5 m
|            bredd=23,8 m
|       djupgående=9m
|           maskin=Ångturbin De Laval 20 000 ahk vid 107 rpm drivande en 5-bladig propeller över en dubbel reduktionsväxel.
|        kraftkälla=Tryckvattenkärnreaktor på nominellt 74 MW
|        hastighet=21 kn
|         räckvidd=teor. 300 000 NM
|       besättning=25 befäl, 85 sjömän
|      passagerare=60
|           hytter=30
}}
'''NS Savannah''' är ett av världens första atomdrivna fartyg i kommersiellt bruk.  (Det första var den ryska Isbrytaren ''Lenin'', som togs i drift bara några månader tidigare.) NS står för ''Nuclear Ship'' och namnet fick hon för att hedra det första ångfartyget, SS Savannah, som korsade Atlanten 1819.

==Bakgrund==
Som följd av ett linjetal Hiroshima, fick konstruktionsbyrån ''George G. Sharp Inc'' uppdraget att konstruera ett atomdrivet fraktfartyg för fredligt bruk. Kölen sträcktes på varvet ''New York Shipbuilders'' 1957 i närvaro av ''Patricia Nixon'', hustru till dåvarande vicepresident Richard Nixon, och hon sjösattes i juli 1959. Dopet förrättade rikets första dam, ''Mamie Eisenhower''. Kärnreaktorn levererades av ''Babcock and Wilcox''. På grund av de rigorösa säkerhetskraven, då allting måste kollas och dubbelkollas, skedde leveransen först i maj 1962. Som beställare stod Atomenergikommissionen samt USA:s Sjöfartsverk och Handelsministerium i samarbete.

==Fartygets vidare öden==
NS Savannah förväntades aldrig vara lönsamt, utan fungerade som experimentprojekt. I början var också PR och goodwill ett av hennes främsta uppdrag. Därför var fartygets linjer närmast passagerarutrymmena företedde en diskret lyx; de hade en altan, en simbassäng och ett bibliotek till förfogande och den rymliga matsalen fungerade också som biosalong. 

Smekmånaden måste dock ha ett slut. medelhavshamnar. Till en början förde hon både styckelast och passagerare, men skepticismen mot Containertekniken), besättningen var en tredjedel större än på motsvarande oljedrivna fartyg och behövde vara specialutbildad för reaktordrift, etc. Ironiskt är att oljepriset bara två år senare hade stigit med 30%, och lönsamheten hade kunnat vara en annan.

{|
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=300px
|Ship caption=The NS ''Savannah'' passing under the Golden Gate Bridge
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=NS ''Savannah''
|Ship owner=U.S. Maritime Administration<ref> </ref>
|Ship operator=1962—1965: State Marine Lines<br>1965—1972: American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines<ref name=FoF></ref>
|Ship registry=Savannah, 
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=1955
|Ship builder=USA
|Ship original cost=$46,900,000 ($18,600,000 for the ship, and $28,300,000 for the nuclear plant and fuel)
|Ship yard number=529<ref name=FoF />
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=21 July 1959<ref name=FoF />
|Ship completed=December 1961<ref name=FoF />
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=1 May 1962<ref name=FoF />
|Ship maiden voyage=20 August 1962<ref name=FoF />
|Ship in service=1964<ref name=FoF />
|Ship out of service=10 January 1972<ref name=FoF />
|Ship identification=
|Ship fate=Decomissioned
|Ship status=Museum ship
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=Nuclear-powered cargo ship
|Ship tonnage=13599 GRT<ref name=FoF />
|Ship displacement=<ref name=FoF />
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=One 74 MW Babcock & Wilcox nuclear reactor powering two De Laval steam turbines<ref name=FoF />
|Ship propulsion=20,300 hp to a single propeller
|Ship speed= (servíce speed)<ref name=FoF /><br> (maximum speed)
|Ship range=300,000 miles at 20 knots on one single load of 32 fuel elements
|Ship capacity=60 passengers<br>14,040 ton cargo capacity
|Ship crew=124
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''NS ''Savannah''''', named for SS ''Savannah'', was the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9&nbsp;million, including a $28.3&nbsp;million nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built.

== Creation ==
In 1955, Congress authorized NS ''Savannah'' as a joint project of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Maritime Administration (MARAD), and the U.S. First Lady launching on July 21, 1959.<ref name=Sandia />

thumb|left|130px|The [[pressurized water reactor of NS Savannah]]
== Economics of nuclear propulsion ==

''Savannah'' was a demonstration of the technical feasibility of nuclear propulsion for merchant ships and was not expected to be commercially competitive.  She was designed to be visually impressive, looking more like a luxury staterooms (each with an individual bath), a dining facility for 100&nbsp;passengers, a lounge that could double as a movie theater, a veranda, a swimming pool and a library.  By many measures, the ship was a success.  She performed well at sea, her safety record was impressive, her fuel economy was unsurpassed, and her gleaming white paint was never smudged by exhaust smoke.  Even her cargo handling equipment was designed to look good.  From 1965 to 1971, the Maritime Administration leased ''Savannah'' to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines for revenue cargo service.

However, ''Savannah'''s cargo space was limited to 8,500&nbsp;tons of freight in 652,000&nbsp;cubic feet (18,000 m³).  Many of her competitors could accommodate several times as much.  Her streamlined hull made loading the forward holds laborious, which became a significant disadvantage as ports became more and more automated.  Her crew was a third larger than comparable oil-fired ships and received special training after completing all training requirements for conventional maritime licenses.  Her operating budget included the maintenance of a separate shore organization for negotiating her port visits and a personalized shipyard facility for completing any needed repairs.

No ship with these disadvantages could hope to be commercially successful.  Her passenger space was wasted while her cargo capacity was insufficient.  As a result of her design handicaps, ''Savannah'' cost approximately US$2 million a year more in operating subsidies than a similarly sized Mariner-class ship with a conventional oil-fired steam plant.  The Maritime Administration decommissioned her in 1972 to save costs, a decision that made sense when fuel oil cost US$20 per ton.  In 1974, however, when fuel oil cost $80 per ton following an energy crisis, ''Savannah'''s operating costs would have been no greater than a conventional cargo ship. (Maintenance and eventual disposal are other issues, of course.)

For a short period of time during the 1970s, after the ''Savannah'' was decommissioned, she was stored in State Highway 87 as they crossed Boliver Roads on the free ferry service operated by the Texas Department of Highways.
{{Infobox_nrhp | name =SAVANNAH (nuclear ship)
  | nrhp_type = nhl
  | image = 
  | caption = 
  | nearest_city= Newport News, Virginia
  | lat_degrees = 32
  | lat_minutes = 47
  | lat_seconds = 18
  | lat_direction = N
  | long_degrees = 79
  | long_minutes = 54
  | long_seconds = 31
  | long_direction = W
  | locmapin = Virginia
  | area =
  | built =1958
| architect= Sharpe,George W.,Inc.; New York Ship Building Corporation
| architecture= 
| designated= July 17, 1991<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1845&ResourceType=Structure
|title=N.S. SAVANNAH (Nuclear Merchant Ship)|accessdate=2008-06-27|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>
 | added = November 14, 1982
 | governing_body = State
 | refnum=82001518
<ref name="nris"></ref>
}}

== Museum ship ==

In 1981, the ''Savannah'' was obtained via Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum near Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.  Although the museum had use of the vessel, ownership of ''Savannah'' remained with the Maritime Administration, and the Patriots Point Development Authority had to be designated a "co-licensee" for the ship's reactor.  Periodic radiological inspections were also necessary to ensure the continued safety of the ship.  Once ''Savannah'' was open for display, visitors could tour the ship's cargo holds, view the reactor spaces from an observation window, look into staterooms and passenger areas, and walk the ship's decks.