PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Retired sailors who served aboard the USS Albacore have joined in a weekend event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the submarine’s opening to the public in Portsmouth, N.H.

The Albacore was launched in 1953 as a test vessel. The diesel-electric submarine featured a teardrop design that allowed it to maneuver quickly underwater; many of its features were later incorporated in other submarines including the Nautilus, the U.S. Navy’s first nuclear-powered sub.

Butch Jordan, who served on the Albacore from 1966 to 1968, survived being caught in a hurricane in 1967. He tells Foster’s Daily Democrat that it’s a “unique vessel.”

Saturday’s event marked the 25th anniversary of the sub being saved from the scrapyard. It opened as museum in Albacore Park in 1986.