On August 5, 1958, the American nuclear submarine Nautilus completed its journey under the Arctic ice, becoming the first submerged vessel to cross the North Pole. This feat not only fulfilled an age-old dream of sailors but also provided a "back door" to reach the Soviet Union stealthily, a country with which the United States was engaged in a bitter nuclear arms race.
From Diesel to Nuclear
The first modern submarines used a diesel engine to generate electricity, which then powered the electric motors that drove them underwater. This system worked reasonably well, but it forced the submarine to surface periodically to take in air, which the internal combustion engines needed to operate.
In wartime, this was a serious disadvantage. A submarine on the surface was practically unprotected, diesel engines were noisy enough for the enemy to detect them from a distance, and the ship had to carry a large fuel reserve.
But advances in nuclear energy allowed a US Navy admiral to put an end to these problems.
Rickover's Vision
In 1946, Hyman Rickover was a young Navy captain. He decided to study nuclear physics and quickly realized that there were no major obstacles to building a submarine powered by a modern and compact nuclear reactor. The idea of using atomic energy to power submarines may have come from his compatriot Philip Abelson, but it was Rickover who worked hardest to make it a reality. When he presented the idea to the Navy, many of his colleagues doubted it. The reactors of the time were essentially piles of uranium and graphite surrounded by concrete containment vessels that occupied a couple of hectares. Trying to fit something like that into a submarine seemed ridiculous, and for years his superiors made sure to remind him of that whenever they could.
But Rickover did not give up. He worked hard and became the head of the Navy's Bureau of Ships' Nuclear Energy Division and, at the same time, chief of naval reactors at the Atomic Energy Commission. These positions automatically made him his own boss, so he could launch his project. In January 1954, after overcoming all difficulties, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine was built, named Nautilus as a tribute to Jules Verne, author of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". The following year, with hull number SSN-571 painted in white, it was launched and sailed for the first time.
The Nautilus
Powered by a pressurized-water reactor built by Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the Nautilus measures about 97.5 meters in length, 8.5 meters in beam, and 7.9 meters in draft. It is equipped with six torpedo tubes, weighs more than 3,000 tons, and its normal crew consisted of 13 officers and 92 enlisted men. What could this ship do for the Navy? First, its nuclear engine, which did not need fresh air to operate, allowed it to remain submerged for months without having to surface. Then there was the issue of noise: diesel engines were a thing of the past, and nuclear submarines could finally go unnoticed by enemy fleets. Moreover, its speed was superior to that of other submarines available at the time. Thanks to Rickover's persistence, the United States had a great advantage at sea.
In 1957, true to its name, the Nautilus made Verne's dream come true by traveling 60,000 nautical miles submerged, a distance equal to the 20,000 leagues (or 111,100 kilometers) of his famous novel. Not content to rest on its laurels, the submarine's officers set a new goal: to try to cross beneath the eternal ice that floats over the North Pole. To achieve this, the ship sailed from Pearl Harbor toward the Pole, beginning Operation Sunshine.
Operation Sunshine
With 116 men on board, including four specially chosen scientists, and commanded by William Anderson, the Nautilus had to travel more than 1,600 kilometers under the Arctic ice to reach the North Pole. After crossing the Bering Strait, the submarine submerged to 150 meters and began navigating under a layer of solid ice 3 to 15 meters thick. On August 3, Anderson addressed his crew over the ship's communication system:
"Attention. This is your commander speaking. In a few moments, the Nautilus will reach a goal long sought by humanity: to reach the geographic North Pole with a ship. If Providence continues to help us as it has so far, within two days we will achieve another goal of even greater historical significance: the completion of a rapid polar traverse from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. We are now four-tenths of a mile from the North Pole. As we approach, we will observe a few minutes of silence, giving thanks to God for having allowed us to carry out such an extraordinary journey successfully. Let us pray for world peace and remember those who have gone before us, whether in triumph or in failure."
Minutes later, the crew's cheers echoed throughout the ship as instruments confirmed that they had just passed the point of 90 degrees north latitude.
Legacy
This was the first time so many men reached the North Pole, and the first time the Atlantic was crossed by a route other than the Panama Canal or Cape Horn. Rickover's work made it possible for a submarine to use the route from the Bering Strait to Greenland beneath the ice, providing a tactical advantage to the US Navy. Of course, a few years later the Russians developed their own nuclear submarines, and the balance of the Cold War was restored, forcing both sides to continue developing new technologies.
After 25 years of service, the Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and, since May 20, 1982, it has been a historic site. It operates as a museum, moored at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, and more than 250,000 visitors tour it each year.
For more information, see the USS Nautilus on Wikipedia.
