The Opening of the Arctic Ocean ' 



By Lt. Comdr. James T. Strong,^ U.S. Navy 



[With 4 plates] 



Far-eeaching voyages under the Arctic ice by nuclear submarines 

 are now common enough to attract little interest. For the many who 

 regard them as stunts, there now seems little reason to continue them. 

 That they may well herald a new phase of naval operations, as im- 

 portant as any our Navy has ever seen, is perceived by only a few. 



Until 1958 the Arctic Ocean was untraveled by ship. Polar bears, 

 seals, and fishes shared this vast area with rare human intruders who 

 traveled there by air or on foot or by sled at great effort. A few pow- 

 erful armored icebreakers probed the edges of the perpetual icepack. 

 These ships and others entered the fringes of this region at great risk ; 

 frequently they were trapped and remained until rescued at great cost. 



Then Nautilus^ crossing of the entire Arctic Basin under the icepack 

 proved the feasibility of travel there by submarine. Within two years, 

 succeeding voyages have removed all the major questions in under-ice 

 navigation and the nuclear submarine has opened 5 million square 

 miles of ocean to travel by ship. Before considering the implications 

 of this breakthrough, a brief review of the conditions under which it 

 occurred will be profitable. 



The trip of U.S.S. Nautilus from the Pacific across the Pole to the 

 Atlantic is well known. Earlier in 1957, Nautilus had prepared for 

 this voyage by a brief but productive probe under the ice to within 

 180 miles of the Pole. Shortly after Nautilus crossed the Pole, the 

 nuclear-powered submarine Shate arrived there on an intensive voyage 

 of discovery. Among other significant achievements. Skate demon- 

 strated the ability of submarines to surface in the open-water leads, 



1 Reprinted by permission from Proceedings of the Uajted States Naval Institute, vol. 87, 

 No. 10, October 1961. Copyright 1961 by U.S. Naval Institute. 



2 A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy In the Class of 194SA, Lieutenant Commander 

 Strong served in U.S.S. Cochino (SS-345) which burned and sank in Arctic waters in 1949. 

 Subsequently, he has served in U.S.S. Sarda (SS^SS), U.S.S. Trout (SS-566), U.S.S. 

 Stickleback (SS-415), and U.S.S. Bashaw (SSK-241). He is presently (1961) a member 

 of the crew which commissioned U.S.S. Seadragon (SS(N)-584) and sailed her from 

 Portsmouth, N.H., to Pearl Harbor by way of the Northwest Passage and the North Pole. 



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