Initial work on nuclear powerplants for marine use was carried out under the direction of United States Navy (USN) Captain (later Admiral) Rickover. The first prototype naval reactor was constructed and tested at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho in 1953, and the first nuclear-powered vessel in service, the submarine USS Nautilus, put to sea in 1955. In parallel with the U.S. efforts, the Soviet Union also developed nuclear submarines. The initial types developed were part of the November class, the first of which sailed under nuclear power in 1958.In addition, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union worked on developing nuclear-powered surface ships. In 1959, the Soviet icebreaker Lenin was the world's first nuclear-powered surface vessel and remained in service for 30 years. Lenin was the precursor to today's Russian fleet of nuclear-powered polar icebreakers that supports navigation along the Northern Sea Route. The USN pursued the use of nuclear power for warships and in 1961 commissioned the cruiser USS Long Beach, the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant.
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