Thursday, August 24, 2023

USS Nautilus: On Top of the World, Under the Ice - gconk@fordham.edu - Fordham University Mail

USS Nautilus: On Top of the World, Under the Ice - 

The various quests to reach the North Pole were equal parts danger and glory, with scientists and thrill-seekers alike pushing the limits of human endurance and technology. While the explorers Frederick Cook in 1908, Robert Peary in 1909, and Richard E. Byrd in 1926 all claimed to have first reached the geographic North Pole on foot, and the 1926 journey of the Italian-built, semi-rigid airship Norge  was the first verified craft to reach it by air, the USS Nautilus was the first sea vessel to accomplish the same feat in 1958.

The USS Nautilus (SSN-571), a nuclear-powered submarine that was created from the ambitious mind of Admiral Hyman Rickover, challenged the limits of scientific innovation during Operation Sunshine in 1958. With ice year round, the North Pole was inaccessible by all ships. However the use of nuclear technology in compact, submersible vessels allowed the Nautilus to move faster and stay underwater up to seven times longer than previous submarines. According to the Nautilus deck log on August 3, the submerged ship “proceeded further north than any other previous ship in history” at 0812 hours. Then, at 1915 hours, it passed the North Pole and became the “first ship to do so under its own power.” 

ADM Hyman G. Rickover, deputy assistant secretary for naval reactors, Department of Energy

[Hyman Rickover in 1981] ADM Hyman G. Rickover, deputy assistant secretary for naval reactors, Department of Energy, speaks at the commissioning of the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine USS OHIO (SSBN-726), National Archives Identifier 6352639

Deck log Nautilus (SSN-571)

Nautilus (SSN-571) - August 1958, page 9, National Archives Identifier 181921919    

Many more submarines have transited the geographic North Pole since then. One noteworthy example is the USS Skate (SSN-578), which at 1600 hours on March 17, 1959, breached the ice as it surfaced at the top of the world.

USS Skate

USS SKATE (SSN-578) IN ICE North Pole Area, National Archives Identifier 83024

Frontiers of human endurance and technology will always be broken. Ten years after the Nautilus and the Skate reached and breached the top of our planet, man’s first steps appeared on the moon. By foot, by sled, or by ship, what steps in our long march of history might appear tomorrow?

 

Would you like to learn more about Polar Exploration?  Check out these blog posts: 



Friday, August 4, 2023

Vanish- Georgetown, BVI

 Larry Van Tuyl sold his auto dealership network to Berkshire Hathaway for $4.5 billion. Now he heads their auto dealership group. n As one who has hitched his financial star to Berkshire and pur Manhattan riv vu cooper apartment, should I be a little embarrassed by his extravagance?.  For the 12 guest a crew of twenty...

Anyway the helicopter is cool, as are the panels on either side from which smaller craft emerge.












Clark Island Quarry - Spruce Head, Maine