Ross Gunn

Ross Gunn was an American physicist whom the New York Times called one of the true fathers of the nuclear submarine program. Born in Cleveland in 1897 and raised in Oberlin, Ohio, he studied electrical engineering and physics at the University of Michigan, worked at McCook Field on aircraft radio, and from 1927 to 1947 served at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he took out 45 patents. After the discovery of fission he attended Enrico Fermi's March 1939 briefing to the Navy and was struck by the idea of using nuclear power to drive ships, since it needs no oxygen. He backed uranium isotope separation by thermal diffusion, which led to the S-50 plant at Oak Ridge, and in November 1945 organized a symposium arguing that nuclear submarines could stay submerged for years without refuelling. Later he directed physical research at the Weather Bureau and taught at American University. He died in 1966. He is included as an early advocate of nuclear propulsion.