GROTON, Conn. – Lt. Cmdr. Derek A. Sutton will relieve Cmdr. Bradley M. Boyd as Officer-in-Charge of Historic Ship Nautilus (SSN 571) and Director of the Submarine Force Museum (HSN/SFLM) Wednesday, April 14, 2021 during a ceremony at the museum.
For Boyd, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, the ceremony marks the end of a remarkable 3-year tour leading the Submarine Force’s historical narrative. That included a number of important achievements.
During his tenure, Boyd implemented the first ever maintenance standard for a historic ship and coordinated the planning of Nautilus’ upcoming dry-dock availability that will allow her to continue as a museum for another 30 years. His work will serve to minimize the time Nautilus is away from the museum and reduce the cost of the availability, saving the taxpayers millions of dollars. The next time Nautilus will need to go into dry-dock will be when the hull is 100 years old! During her commissioned service, Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear powered submarine and the first submarine to reach the North Pole as President Eisenhower’s response to the USSR Sputnik program. She served 25 years before conversion to a museum ship and designation as the State Ship of Connecticut, the only nuclear powered warship open to the public.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Boyd led his team in finding new ways to bring the submarine force mission to the public. His staff filmed and/or produced 53 videos – to include an 18 part behind the scenes of Nautilus where the viewers get to see into areas that are inaccessible to the public, even when the museum and boat are open to the public. These videos are viewable on either the museum’s Facebook page or YouTube channel.
Boyd worked closely with the local community and state leadership to establish a water taxi dock at the museum. As one of almost 20 historic and cultural sites on the banks of the Thames River, the Submarine Force Museum is one of four anchor sites in the Thames River Heritage Park. When fully operational, the Thames River Heritage Park water taxi will transport visitors to “anchor sites” down river where the taxi is already running during summer months. His efforts will help highlight the “Submarine Capital of the World” and the region’s long contribution to national defense.
Boyd’s next tour will be as a student at the Naval War College located at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island.
As the officer-in-charge, Sutton comes to Nautilus with a great deal of experience and training. A native of McDonough, New York, Sutton enlisted in 2002 to be a nuclear-trained Machinist’s Mate. He received his acceptance to the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned in May 2007. Sutton completed the Submarine Officer Advanced Course at Submarine Base, New London before reporting to Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) in King’s Bay, Georgia as the engineer officer in September 2015. Sutton completed one deployment and an extended availability as the engineer officer and then reported to Norfolk, VA as the Submarine Squadron SIX Engineer Officer in 2018. Sutton also served a tour at sea aboard the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743).
The Submarine Force Museum is part of the Naval History and Heritage Command’s network of ten museums and has a staff of 30 military crew members representing almost every job rating on board a submarine. The museum is also supported by eight civilians managing the museums more than 20,000 artifacts and 22,000 linear feet of archival records. Located on the Thames River in Groton, Conn., the museum maintains the world's finest collection of submarine artifacts. It is the only submarine museum operated by the U.S. Navy, and as such is the primary repository for artifacts, documents and photographs interpreting the service and sacrifice of American submariners for visitors from around the world. The museum traces the development of the "Silent Service" from David Bushnell's Turtle, used in the Revolutionary War, to the Ohio and Virginia class submarines.
NOTE TO MEDIA: For more information about the museum, its leadership or the ceremony please contact the Naval Submarine Base New London public affairs office at 860-694-5980.
