Nautilus is also the name of perhaps the world's most famous
submarines, one
fictional and one not.
Jules Verne conceived of many of the features of the modern nuclear submarine in his excellent novel
Twenty Thousand Leagues Beneath The Sea.
Captain Nemo was master of the
Nautilus, a 'submersible boat.' This boat made its own
oxygen through separation of seawater (modern
nuclear submarines 'crack' seawater with electricity to make oxygen). It was powered by an electric drive (the U.S. Navy is in the process of planning to move its entire force, including submarines, to an all-electric drive whether powered by a
nuclear reactor or
gas turbine). It was opulently luxurious (well, okay, got me there, but the
British Navy has
John Courage beer on tap on its boats, I hear...).
In addition, the world's first operational nuclear submarine was named Nautilus in homage to Verne's prescience. It was a U.S. Navy ship, and set many 'firsts,' including the first submerged global circumnavigation*, the first submarine trip to the North Pole, etc. Today the Nautilus is a museum and can be visited at the submarine base at New London, CT USA.
*: DerekL has informed me that I'm wrong, and the USS Triton was the first nuc to circumnavigate the world while submerged. Thanks!