INTRODUCTION 



The USS NEREUS (AS17) and four submarines of Submarine 

 Squadron SEVEN, USS BOARFISH (SS327), USS CABEZON 

 (SS334), USS CAIMAN (SS323), and USS CHUB (SS329), made 

 a familiarization cruise to the Bering and Chukchi Seas during 

 the summer of 1947. The main purpose of the cruise was to 

 obtain operating experience in arctic waters. In addition to 

 this operational purpose, an oceanographic program aboard 

 the USS NEREUS was undertaken, designed to provide basic 

 scientific information for determining the general navigational 

 and operational conditions in these waters. For that purpose, 

 measurements were made of the thermal conditions, salinity, 

 depth, and transparency of the water. In addition, meteoro- 

 logical, sea, swell, ice, and slick observations were made. 

 The bottom of the sea was investigated from bottom samples 

 obtained by means of coring and snapping devices and, in 

 some instances, by bottom photographs. Ambient noise, 

 scattering layers, and biological populations were also meas- 

 ured. Information regarding currents and harbor conditions 

 was obtained wherever possible. The USS BOARFISH ob- 

 tained sea water temperatures and salinities in the Bering 

 and Chukchi Seas and bathythermograms in the ice region; 

 measurements of depth, sea, swell, and ice were made from 

 all submarines. 



Personnel and Itinerary. Aboard the USS NEREUS were: 

 J. A. Knauss, E. C. LaFond, G. W. Marks, and D. E. Root of 

 the Oceanographic Studies Section; R. E. McFarland of the 

 Photography Section; and H. J. Mann and W. H. Munk of the 

 Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Aboard the USS BOAR- 

 FISH were: W. K. Lyon of the Marine Studies Branch, L. L. 

 Morse of the Deep Submergence Section, and F. Baltzly, Jr. 

 and A. H. Roshon of the FM Sonar Section. 



The general track of the USS NEREUS in the Bering and 

 Chukchi Seas is shown in figure 1; the dates of arrival and 

 departure at the various points are listed below. 



DEPARTED 







ARRIVED 







San Diego 



28 



June 



Mare Island 





30 June 



Mare Island 



3 



July 



Pearl Harbor 





9 



July 



Pearl Harbor 



15 



July 



Adak 





22 



July 



Adak 



25 



July 



St. Paul Island 





27 



July 



St. Paul Island 



28 



July 



Chukchi Sea (Ice 



Pack) 



1 



August 



Chukchi Sea 



1 



August 



Kotzebue Sound 





4 



August 



Kotzebue Sound 



4 



August 



Port Clarence 





5 



August 



Port Clarence 



7 



August 



Norton Sound 





8 



August 



Norton Sound 



8 



August 



Kodiak 





16 



August 



Kodiak 



18 



August 



Seward 





19 



August 



Seward 



19 



August 



Juneau 





21 



August 



Juneau 



25 



August 



Vancouver, B. C. 





28 



August 



Vancouver, B. C. 



30 



August 



Mare Island 





3 



September 



