As Chief Of The Boat, Mr. Ingles was assistant to the NAUTILUS's executive officer and had the most authority of any enlisted man on board. He was a big, friendly man who called the sailors "my kids." They called him Pappy Ingles.

"He was father confessor to all the kids," said Adm. Kenneth Carr, who served on the NAUTILUS as a young Lieutenant and went on to command all the submarines in the Atlantic Fleet before becoming Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In 1954, Mr. Ingles was personally selected as the Chief Of The Boat aboard the NAUTILUS by Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, who led the program to develop submarines powered by nuclear reactors.

Mr. Ingles was on the NAUTILUS on Jan. 21, 1954, when Mamie Eisenhower, the first lady, broke a bottle of Champagne across its bow, and the vessel slid into the Thames River at Groton, Conn. Eight months later, the NAUTILUS became the first nuclear-powered ship in the Navy.

On Jan. 17, 1955, Mr. Ingles was at his station when the submarine's first commanding officer, Cmdr. Eugene P. Wilkinson, ordered all lines cast off and radioed the historic message, "Under way on nuclear power."

The NAUTILUS's shakedown cruise to Puerto Rico set records, proclaiming the dawn of a revolutionary means of warfare in which missile- carrying submarines could prowl in the ocean depths for months.

That first voyage was 10 times as long as a submarine had previously traveled without using a snorkel, and it was the first time a submerged submarine had reached such a high speed, 16 knots. It was also the longest a submarine had remained underwater.

Mr. Ingles, the son of a laborer, was born in Rushville, Ill., in 1916. In the second grade, his wife said, he told his teacher that his ambition was to be a torpedoman on a submarine. But when he tried to enlist in the Navy at 18, the recruiter turned him down, telling him he had a crooked back.

He went down the hall to the Army recruiter, who arranged an immediate physical. "I've never seen a better specimen than you," the recruiter said. "You're in the Army."

Mr. Ingles was in the Army for three years. He applied to the Navy again in 1938. By then, the Navy was seeking more sailors and accepted him, supposedly crooked back and all.

His first assignment was on the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA. His next duty was on the USS STURGEON, his first submarine. During World War II, he was on another submarine, the USS PADDLE, making 13 war patrols.

After the war, he was assigned to a succession of submarines and was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer. After two years, he decided he would rather be an enlisted man and asked to be demoted to Chief Petty Officer.

In 1954, he applied to be Chief Of The Boat of the first atomic submarine. He was thrilled when he learned that Admiral Rickover would interview him.

Admiral Rickover, a famously difficult interviewer, personally examined all officers, anybody who would be involved with the nuclear reactor and candidates for the Chief Of The Boat. A favorite question for naval officers was, If Washington decided to eliminate the officer or a street cleaner, whom would it save?

Most candidates, suspecting the Admiral wanted modesty, would say the street cleaner. Admiral Rickover would then slam his fist down and exclaim: "No! Anyone can sweep the streets, but the street cleaner cannot do the job of a naval officer," Norman Polmard wrote in his book "Atomic Submarines" (D. Van Nostrand, 1963).

Mr. Ingles's interview ended with the Admiral ordering him to get "the hell out" of his office. A few days later, Mr. Ingles's phone rang. The caller was Admiral Rickover, who said, "Let me be the first to congratulate you."

Mr. Ingles served on the NAUTILUS for about three years, before being transferred to other submarines, including the THEODORE ROOSEVELT. In 1958, when the Navy created a new rank, Master Chief Petty Officer, his rank changed from Chief Torpedoman to Master Chief Torpedoman, making him the first to hold that rank.

He retired after 30 years of military service, 27 of them in the Navy, to work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He later transferred to a new submarine base at Bangor, Wash., where he worked as a missile assembler for Lockheed.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a brother, William, of Bellevue, Wash.; a sister, Myrtle Ellen Haynes of Fort Myers, Fla.; a son, Lt.Col. Ralph Ingles of San Diego a Marine; two daughters, Dodie Ness of Port Orchard, Wash., and Debi Young of Olympia; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandson.