GROTON, Conn. (AP) – The Navy’s top officer is expected to visit Connecticut this week for a ceremony introducing a new exhibit at the submarine force museum in Groton.

Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, will be the guest speaker at Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting for the outdoor exhibit dedicated to submarine NR-1.

Greenert was himself a member of the crew aboard the small, deep-diving submarine earlier in his career.

The nuclear-powered NR-1 was one of the most secretive vessels in the U.S. undersea force. It was launched in Groton in 1969 and remained in service until 2008.

Its missions included work on an undersea submarine-detection network, mapping of the ocean floor and the salvage of parts of the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded over the Atlantic in 1986.

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