Nice job on completing this type medal set. Very impressive endeavor. Wonder if any other nuclear power has similarly celebrated their nuclear fleet? Peace Roy
@tokenpro said:
I knew that I still had an example of this USS Nautilus SSN571 aluminum medal somewhere and it finally turned up. It's actually for the 125th Anniversary of Mare Island which is also where the Nautilus (the first nuclear sub in the world) was decommissioned. The 48mm medal also occurs in bronze.
That’s a nice one, thank you for sharing it!
@SoCalBigMark said:
TDN was an engineer on a nuclear sub.
Very interesting! I wonder if he operated the reactor plant (i.e., a “Navy Nuke”)? I’ll tag him to see if he wants to share. @tradedollarnut
@Namvet69 said:
Nice job on completing this type medal set. Very impressive endeavor. Wonder if any other nuclear power has similarly celebrated their nuclear fleet? Peace Roy
Russia may have a couple, but I think the US has everyone beaten. That said, I wish there were more medals like the ones I’ve acquired, since there’s only maybe a couple others that I would like to get (that I know of).
The Medallic Art Company made a larger rendition of the USS Enterprise medal with a different reverse. This medal comes in silver and in bronze. I got the bronze version in late February, and the silver version just arrived today! These are both very impressive medals, which is quite fitting when you consider what ship they were made to commemorate. Both are roughly 63 mm in diameter. The silver medal weighs 130 grams and the bronze medal weighs 121 grams.
The Enterprise’s eight A2W reactor plants safely powered the ship over one million nautical miles during her 51 years of service. While this Enterprise has been decommissioned, a new Enterprise (CVN-80) is actively being constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding.
It’s been awhile since I’ve purchased a piece for my “Nuclear Navy” collection, but this Babcock & Wilcox medal arrived this weekend and is now the newest addition to the group. This medal appears to be made of brass, and is approximately 38 millimeters in diameter. The medal is definitely not in perfect condition, since it exhibits wear and a couple of rim nicks, suggesting that this may have been a Babcock & Wilcox employee’s pocket piece.
Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) was founded in 1867 for the purpose of making boilers. B&W made boilers for a wide variety of applications, including power generation, locomotives, and naval propulsion. B&W proved to be incredibly proficient boilermakers, and during World War II, B&W manufactured over 4,000 boilers to support the US Navy and Merchant Marine.
Since B&W wielded such dominance over the boiler market, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that they played a significant role in the development of nuclear power. In 1953, B&W established an Atomic Energy Division in Barberton, Ohio to consolidate their work in the nuclear power industry. In the 1950s, B&W supplied components for the USS Nautilus, the very first nuclear powered vessel.
In May 1956, B&W opened a nuclear facilities plant in Lynchburg, Virginia. According to B&W’s website, this facility was dedicated to the fabrication of nuclear fuel elements. This medal was evidently commissioned to commemorate the opening of the Lynchburg location. The obverse features the traditional B&W aeolipile logo with orbiting electrons superimposed over it, creating an image reminiscent of Niels Bohr’s model of the atom. The reverse features an image of a building at the new Lynchburg facility.
B&W’s involvement in nuclear power definitely did not end with the USS Nautilus, and the company continued to be involved in the commercial nuclear and naval nuclear industries. In fact, B&W got to be part of some other nuclear power “firsts.” B&W manufactured components for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first civilian nuclear power plant, and designed and built the nuclear reactor for the NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered commercial ship.
Component for Shippingport Atomic Power Station (Credit: Babcock & Wilcox).
NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered commercial ship (Credit: Wikipedia).
My first job was at Babcock & Wilcox in 1974. I have a Phd in Nuclear Engineering. I developed methods used to design commerical power reactors. However, I never did work on the marine side of the business.
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Nice job on completing this type medal set. Very impressive endeavor. Wonder if any other nuclear power has similarly celebrated their nuclear fleet? Peace Roy
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That’s a nice one, thank you for sharing it!
Very interesting! I wonder if he operated the reactor plant (i.e., a “Navy Nuke”)? I’ll tag him to see if he wants to share. @tradedollarnut
Russia may have a couple, but I think the US has everyone beaten. That said, I wish there were more medals like the ones I’ve acquired, since there’s only maybe a couple others that I would like to get (that I know of).
The Medallic Art Company made a larger rendition of the USS Enterprise medal with a different reverse. This medal comes in silver and in bronze. I got the bronze version in late February, and the silver version just arrived today! These are both very impressive medals, which is quite fitting when you consider what ship they were made to commemorate. Both are roughly 63 mm in diameter. The silver medal weighs 130 grams and the bronze medal weighs 121 grams.
The Enterprise’s eight A2W reactor plants safely powered the ship over one million nautical miles during her 51 years of service. While this Enterprise has been decommissioned, a new Enterprise (CVN-80) is actively being constructed by Newport News Shipbuilding.
Probably the most important person on the boat except for, of course, the cook.
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Babcock & Wilcox Medal
It’s been awhile since I’ve purchased a piece for my “Nuclear Navy” collection, but this Babcock & Wilcox medal arrived this weekend and is now the newest addition to the group. This medal appears to be made of brass, and is approximately 38 millimeters in diameter. The medal is definitely not in perfect condition, since it exhibits wear and a couple of rim nicks, suggesting that this may have been a Babcock & Wilcox employee’s pocket piece.
Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) was founded in 1867 for the purpose of making boilers. B&W made boilers for a wide variety of applications, including power generation, locomotives, and naval propulsion. B&W proved to be incredibly proficient boilermakers, and during World War II, B&W manufactured over 4,000 boilers to support the US Navy and Merchant Marine.
Since B&W wielded such dominance over the boiler market, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that they played a significant role in the development of nuclear power. In 1953, B&W established an Atomic Energy Division in Barberton, Ohio to consolidate their work in the nuclear power industry. In the 1950s, B&W supplied components for the USS Nautilus, the very first nuclear powered vessel.
In May 1956, B&W opened a nuclear facilities plant in Lynchburg, Virginia. According to B&W’s website, this facility was dedicated to the fabrication of nuclear fuel elements. This medal was evidently commissioned to commemorate the opening of the Lynchburg location. The obverse features the traditional B&W aeolipile logo with orbiting electrons superimposed over it, creating an image reminiscent of Niels Bohr’s model of the atom. The reverse features an image of a building at the new Lynchburg facility.
B&W’s involvement in nuclear power definitely did not end with the USS Nautilus, and the company continued to be involved in the commercial nuclear and naval nuclear industries. In fact, B&W got to be part of some other nuclear power “firsts.” B&W manufactured components for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the first civilian nuclear power plant, and designed and built the nuclear reactor for the NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered commercial ship.
Component for Shippingport Atomic Power Station (Credit: Babcock & Wilcox).
NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered commercial ship (Credit: Wikipedia).
Very neat medals, one and all!
My first job was at Babcock & Wilcox in 1974. I have a Phd in Nuclear Engineering. I developed methods used to design commerical power reactors. However, I never did work on the marine side of the business.
Interesting and good pix. When i first saw the thread i thought it might be about Nuqular Power plants! Worked in one for over 40 years.