Historians of the future may well regard 1960 as an epochal year. For the “Year of the Polaris” was much more; it involved several other submarine accomplishments of great significance. The deepest point on the bottom of the World Ocean was seen for the first time. Three under-ice expeditions involving both nuclear and conventional submarines were carried out. A nuclear submarine made a submerged cruise around the world. Great quantities of oceanographic data were gathered by submarines from every ocean of the world. In an auspicious beginning of what was to be a significant year for submariners, on 23 January 1960, man reached the bottom of the World Ocean for the first time. Lieutenant Don Walsh, Officer-in-Charge of the bathyscaph Trieste, maneuvered his ungainly craft to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, a trench in the Pacific Ocean about 220 miles southwest of Guam. Jacques Piccard, whose famous father, Auguste, had designed and built the Trieste, accompanied Lieutenant Walsh on the dive.
At 0823 Walsh and Piccard began their descent. By the time they reached a depth of about 1,500 feet, they entered a world of total darkness; the only natural light seen during the remainder of the descent came from luminescent trails of unknown creatures at the depths of about 2,200 feet and 20,000 feet. At 1256 the first indication of the bottom appeared on an echo sounder trace; it showed the Trieste to be 300 feet above her goal. With external lights burning brightly, the Trieste was brought to the bottom at 1306. A fish, tentatively identified as a member of the sole family, obliged his visitors by slithering through the ivory-colored bottom sediment in front of the sphere’s observation port. Immediate proof of vertebrate life at the deepest spot on earth thrilled Walsh and Piccard almost as much as their physical presence at 35,800 feet. After 20 minutes on the bottom, the Trieste began her slow ascent; she surfaced at 1656.
While the Trieste was attacking the Challenger Deep, the USS Sargo (SSN-583), Lieutenant Commander John Nicholson, commanding, was proceeding north from Pearl Harbor, bound for the Arctic Ocean. Earlier, Commander William Anderson and Commander James Calvert, in the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) and the USS Skate (SSN-578) respectively, had paved the way for this cruise by their under-ice expeditions of 1957, 1958, and 1959. The Skate had surfaced through the ice canopy in both summer and winter, but all maneuvering had been accomplished in deep water. The Sargo faced the challenge of making a transit through more than 900 miles of shallow water (125 to 180 feet deep) under severe winter conditions. Rugged ice keels with drafts approaching the water depth threatened every mile of the passage through the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea.
An experimental high resolution forward-looking sonar was installed in the Sargo. A narrow beam with scanning capability made it possible to detect and avoid ice projecting down to transit depth. This sonar was a descendant of the sonar system, designated QLA, which was developed and used during World War II for minefield penetration. In addition to the ahead-looking sonar, the Sargo was provided with echo sounders which recorded continuous profiles of the ice canopy directly overhead and of the ocean floor below.
Threading her way through the shallow water over the continental shelf, operating 25 feet above the sea floor, the Sargo completed the in-bound Chukchi obstacle course on 1 February. Then, proceeding to the North Pole, she surfaced there, through about three feet of ice, on 9 February. In all, 16 surfacings were made over a track which covered more than 6,000 under-ice miles. During 31 days in Arctic waters, the Sargo traveled more miles under ice than the total of all previous submarine Arctic expeditions combined. The winter shallow water problem was solved, and the Sargo scientific party brought home significant oceanographic data from virgin territory.
On 16 February I960, while the Sargo was setting records under ice, the USS Triton (SSN-586) sailed from New London, Connecticut, on an unheralded cruise of long duration. Captain Edward Beach would make a secret submerged circumnavigation of the world, with the Triton closely following the track traced out by Magellan’s Victoria more than 440 years before.
Using the Mid-Atlantic Ridge St. Peter and Paul Rocks as a starting point, the Triton first steamed at high sustained speed southwest toward Cape Horn. After making easy time toward the West and passing close by Easter Island and Guam, she began threading her way through the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagoes on 31 March. Passing through Surigao Strait and the Mindanao Sea, Captain Beach carefully brought his ship into Magellan Bay, Mactan Island, where Magellan had been killed by natives in 1521. Passing through Lombock Strait on 5 April, it was smooth sailing from then on through the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans. Sixty days, 21 hours after leaving them, the Triton returned to the “Rocks” from the direction of the Cape of Good Hope having traveled 26,723 nautical miles submerged. By the time the Triton returned to New London on 11 May, she had covered more than 36,000 miles submerged in 84 days, 19 hours. In addition to gathering oceanographic data along the entire cruise track, embarked scientists also carried out important atmospheric and psychological studies.
A significant series of under-ice exercises were conducted between 11 and 18 March 1960 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Commander A. B. Catlin, Commander Submarine Division 101, took three conventional submarines into the Cabot Strait region to fulfill a training mission under conditions which might be expected in the marginal sea ice zone (from the edge of pack ice to 75 miles inside) anywhere in the world where sea ice is found. Each submarine was equipped with an array of upward-beamed echo sounders.
The USS Tusk (SS-426), the USS Bang (SS-385) and the USS Tench (SS-417) spent a total of 223 ship hours in or under ice. Experience was gained in making vertical ascents through open water and thin ice features in the ice canopy both during daylight hours and at night. Ice keels with drafts as deep as 32 feet were encountered. The Tench and the Tusk surfaced in a common polynya (open water area) on 17 March.
Operations were conducted with Royal Canadian Air Force ASW units. Extensive submarine-versus-submarine exercises were carried out in ice-covered waters.
There is little doubt that 1960 will be known in the future as the “Year of the Polaris.” Under the guiding hand of Vice Admiral William Raborn, Jr., one of the greatest technological achievements of all time—a submarine-launched IRBM—was realized five years earlier than most experts thought possible. The original plan, formulated during 1955 and 1956, called for the development of a Fleet Ballistic Missile by 1965. It would be launched from a submerged nuclear submarine, a vehicle of proven reliability and endurance developed under the leadership of Rear Admiral H. G. Rickover. The Nautilus performance during trials conducted in 1955 had met or exceeded all expectations.
Soviet ICBM tests and Sputnik I, however, provided impetus for a crash program. A Special Projects Office was established in the Navy Department. By using novel management techniques and mustering the inventive talents of industry, Admiral Raborn set up an accelerated program which he said would put a Polaris submarine “on station, ready” by the end of 1960.
The first FBM submarine was built at Groton, Connecticut, by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation by cutting in two a nuclear attack submarine which was to have been named the Scorpion. By adding a missile compartment and welding the pieces back together, the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) emerged. (A new Scorpion (SSN-589) was subsequently built and was tragically lost in 1968.) Commander James Osborn, the first commanding officer of the George Washington nurtured his unusual command through an incredibly complicated construction and shakedown program during the first six months of 1960. Test after test after test, all carried out with a programmed deadline, both exhausted and exhilarated all the participants.
Finally, on 20 July 1960, the George Washington was steaming submerged off Cape Canaveral, Florida. A bottleshaped “bird” leaped out of the water, ignited, and with a great roar streaked down the Atlantic Missile Range. “Polaris, from out of the deep to target. Perfect.” It was a message heard round the world.
On 1 August 1960, the USS Seadragon (SSN-584), Commander George Steele, III, commanding, departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire, bound for Pearl Harbor. Route: the Northwest Passage and the North Pole. En route to the Parry Channel (the most direct “Northwest” route through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago), the Seadragon used her ahead-looking sonar in Baffin Bay against the deep-draft enemy infesting those waters—icebergs. Commander Steele maneuvered the Seadragon under her first iceberg on 10 August; during the next few days, five other bergs were underrun a total of 22 times.
After passing through Parry Channel (made up of Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait, Viscount Melville Sound and McClure Strait), the Seadragon steamed more than 3,800 under-ice miles en route to the Bering Strait; a visit was made to the North Pole on 25 August.
Commander Steele and his crew brought to an end the era of experimental submarine operational procedures in the Arctic; the problems of under-ice transits in summer (continuous light), in winter (continuous darkness), in deep water, in shallow water, among icebergs, and through island passages had all been challenged and solved. The Seadragon was the first submarine to conduct high-speed transits through iceberg-infested waters. As the first ship ever to complete a transit of the Parry Channel, she opened the Northwest Passage for unrestricted use by nuclear submarines. In addition to collecting valuable oceanographic data along the entire track in Arctic waters, the Seadragon scientific efforts included sending SCUBA divers under ice to obtain detailed color motion pictures of frozen features in the peripheral areas of lakes through which the ship had surfaced.
The USS George Washington departed Charleston, South Carolina, on 15 November 1960 to begin the first Polaris deterrent patrol. Admiral Raborn was right on schedule. The George Washington returned to New London, Connecticut, on 21 January 1961, having been relieved by the second FBM submarine, USS Patrick Henry) (SSBN-599). Since this historic beginning, the Polaris Program has expanded greatly, and not a single day on station has been missed by any submarine.
History will make its own judgments, but the above episodes will surely be remembered. The ultimate course of events in undersea activities cannot help but be influenced by them. Some manifestations are already in evidence.
The Trieste opened up a whole new world of deep submergence projects, a world we were forced to enter three years later when the USS Thresher (SSN-593) was lost. Significant dives were conducted by the Trieste herself in the Thresher debris area during the summers of 1963 and 1964. As a result of recommendations by the Deep Submergence Systems Review Group in 1964 a Deep Submergence Systems Project has been established under the management control of the Chief of Naval Material.
Deep sea recovery capabilities were severely challenged in 1966 during H-bomb recovery operations off Palomares, Spain. Deep submergence vehicles Alvin and Aluminaut were involved in deep water search efforts, and the weapon was first located by the Alvin. Ultimate recovery, from a water depth of 2,850 feet, was achieved by CURV (Cable-Controlled Underwater Research Vehicle), a tethered, unmanned device controlled from the USS Petrel (ASR-14).
The loss of the Scorpion in May 1968 further underscored the urgency for effective search and rescue capabilities. By this time, design of a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) was well underway. On 24 January 1970, DSRV-1, built by Lockheed, was launched in San Diego after having been airlifted by Air Force C-141 transport from the contractor’s plant in Northern California. Although the original plans called for building six such vehicles, each capable of operating at 5,000 feet and of being carried piggyback by a mother submarine, budget restrictions have stretched out the program considerably, and so far only two vehicles have been approved. The second DSRV is scheduled for delivery in the fall of 1970. Navy testing, evaluation, and training will be carried out under the direction of Commander Submarine Development Group ONE, San Diego, a relatively new command established in 1967 to oversee Deep Submergence development.
No discussion of deep submergence efforts would be complete without the mention of the USNS Mizar, operated by the Naval Research Laboratory. An amazing array of tethered instrumentation enabled this ship, on 30 October 1968, to locate and photograph portions of the Scorpion hull about 400 miles southwest of the Azores in more than 10,000 feet of water. (During the summer of 1969 the Trieste, too, inspected the Scorpion debris area.) When the Alvin was lost in 5,100 feet of water off the New England coast on 16 October 1968 (hoisting cables snapped while she was being launched), the Mizar was subsequently called upon to assist in the search for the wreck. In June 1969, the Mizar found the Alvin upright and intact by use of her special towed array, which provided high resolution photographs. On 28 August 1969, the Aluminaut, supported by her mother ship (Stacey Tide) and by the Mizar as hoisting vessel, attached a recovery line to the Alvin. The Mizar hoisted the Alvin to within 85 feet of the surface and towed her to Martha’s Vineyard where, on 31 August, she was brought aboard a barge by crane, thereby completing a truly historic deep salvage operation—recovery of 16 tons from more than 5,000 feet.
Cabot Strait patrols were conducted in 1961, 1962, and 1963. Commander S. D. Cramer, Jr., Commander Submarine Division 102, took the Skate and two conventional submarines, the Tusk, and the Entemedor (SS-340), on a significant expedition to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March of 1962. A prototype integrated under-ice sonar set was installed in the Skate. Test and evaluation of this equipment was highly successful, and a series of tactical exercises, which included weapons tests, were conducted in and under sea ice. Two British conventional submarines, HMS Astute and HMS Alderney joined the task group and participated in joint tactical exercises toward the end of the cruise.
Whereas the Seadragon had brought to an end the era of experimental operational procedures in the Arctic in I960, the Skate (Commander J. L. Skoog, Jr.) and the Seadragon (Commander C. D. Summit) ushered in an era of multiple-ship operations during July and August of 1962. The Skate departed New London on 7 July and entered the Arctic Ocean by way of Nares Strait (the passage between Ellesmere Island and Greenland), the first submarine ever to do so; the Seadragon left Pearl Harbor on 12 July and came in by way of Bering Strait. Rendezvous was easily effected at a preselected location north of Severnaya Zemlya on 31 July. Significant tactical exercises were conducted with both submarines proceeding in company over a track of about 1,800 miles in the Central Arctic. The Skate and the Seadragon surfaced together in a common polynya at the North Pole on 2 August 1962. Weapons and sonar tests were conducted in the Beaufort Sea, where both submarines rendezvoused with and were supported by the icebreaker USS Burton Island (AGB-1). Upon completion of these exercises, the Skate returned to New London by way of Parry Channel, becoming the first ship ever to make the west-to-east transit; the Seadragon went home to Pearl through Bering Strait.
The value and reliability of the integrated under-ice sonar installed in the Skate was emphasized by the successful operations under the Arctic ice pack during the summer of 1962. The exploits of the Whale (SSN-638), the Sargo (SSN-650), and the Skate during the spring of 1969 are typical of present-day Arctic operations.
Both submarine arctic expeditions and Polaris deterrent patrols have caused considerable reaction in Russian naval circles. In January 1963, the Russians announced to the world that one of their nuclear submarines, the Leninskiy Komsomol, had been to the North Pole in June of 1962. The Commanding Officer, Captain Second Rank Lev Zhiltzov, was made a hero of the Soviet Union by Premier Nikita Khrushchev. The reported purpose of the cruise was “to go under the arctic ice to the North Pole and there to take a battle station, having the mission of preventing the underwater rocket-carrying ships of the ‘enemy’ from using the ice of the North Pole for launching a rocket strike.”
The Triton’s circumnavigation seems also to have had a delayed effect on Russian submarine endeavors. In April 1966, a Novosti Press Agency release reported that a group of missile-carrying nuclear submarines had recently completed a cruise around the world.
By virtue of geographic circumstance, Russian conventional submarines have been faced with routine operations in the marginal sea ice zone for many years. Such operations have involved transits of the Northern Sea Route in summer to transfer submarines from western building yards to Pacific bases.
Whatever the extent of Russian efforts in FBM operations and Arctic submarining may be, we must assume that their capability is equal to our own. The ASW problems attendant to such an assumption will obviously provide considerable challenge to both sides for many years to come. With the eventual appearance of Communist Chinese FBMs inevitable, the challenge to all three sides could well become traumatic.
European explorers spent more than 300 years searching for the Northwest Passage; when it was finally found, its commercial value proved to be zero. The Seadragon may have rekindled some hope that this passage can be put to use by commercial submarines of the future. A fascinating sequel to the submarine transits of the Northwest Passage in 1960 and 1962 has been the discovery in 1968 of a mammoth oil field on the Alaskan North Slope. The first successful wells were brought in near Prudhoe Bay, about 150 miles southeast of Point Barrow. The conservative estimates of potential reserves—5 to 10 billion barrels—provided the impetus for a crash program to evaluate icebreaking tankers m the Northwest Passage.
The extensive conversion work of the Manhattan the largest tanker flying the U. S. flag, was accomplished, at a cost of about 40 million dollars, in less than eight months with four different shipyards working on separate sections of the hull.
During the summer of 1969, the Manhattan made a round trip through the Northwest Passage using Eastern Parry Channel and Prince of Wales Strait when the ice in McClure Strait proved to be impassable. She returned to the Lancaster Sound area in the spring of 1970 for further icebreaking tests. Whatever the future may bring for surface icebreaking tankers, however, a submarine is the only vehicle which can assure year round transport capability.
Whereas a few years ago, nuclear submarine tanker designs were purely speculative, today we find very real schemes being put forth. In December 1969, General Dynamics Corporation formally proposed to several oil companies a nuclear submarine tanker design for a submersible displacing 170,000 tons. This giant ship would be 900 feet long, 140 feet in beam and would have a hull depth of 85 feet; a maximum speed of 18 knots is specified. Such a vehicle could carry Prudhoe Bay oil through the Northwest Passage or Arctic Ocean to Eastern U. S. or European markets all year-round.
One substantial obstacle still remains: that of providing a suitable loading terminal on the North Slope. Shallow water and pressure ice present a considerable challenge to construction of a surface terminal. The submarine has an added advantage of being able to be loaded underwater.
From “Underway on nuclear power” (Nautilus, 17 January 1955) to “Polaris, from out of the deep to target. Perfect.” (George Washington, 20 July 1960) took five-and-a-half years. The combination of the endurance of nuclear power with the accuracy of a solid propellant missile supported by a complex navigation and fire control system in such a short time is indeed a modern marvel. Furthermore, on 20 March 1965 (the year originally envisioned as the FBM target date), the keel of the 41st and last currently authorized FBM submarine, the USS Will Rogers (SSBN-659) was laid down just eight minutes after the USS George Bancroft (SSBN-643) slid down the same ways at Electric Boat. The Will Rogers was commissioned on 1 April 1967. If we use the launching date of the George Washington (9 June 1959) as base time, all 41 FBMs were placed in service in just under eight years. Furthermore, the Polaris Weapon System has been subjected to full operational testing. On 6 May 1962 the USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) successfully launched a missile from beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean; the unit was delivered to its target and exploded its nuclear warhead.
Polaris weaponry has undergone several evolutionary stages since 1960. The units first placed aboard the George Washington were designated A-1 and had a range of 1,200 nautical miles. The A-2 model first test-fired from the Ethan Allen in October 1961, could be delivered to a target 1,500 miles away. Next came A-3 (2,500 nautical miles); it was first successfully fired by the USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619) in October 1963. Currently Poseidon (designated C-3) is being integrated into the FBM fleet. This missile is much larger, more sophisticated and more accurate than any of its predecessors; 31 of the later Polaris submarines will be modified to handle Poseidon.
As we enter the 1970s we find ourselves on the threshold of a new era for strategic missile systems. ULMS (Underwater Long Range Missile System), the next generation of FBM submarine, is in early development. The missiles carried by this submarine are expected to have a range capability such that the SSBN will be on target as soon as it leaves port.
It is tempting to speculate on the future turn of events under the surface of the World Ocean. Will a Fleet Ballistic Missile stalemate evolve? Will ASW successes in the open ocean and in the marginal sea ice zone, ultimately force opposing submarines to use the protective canopy of the Arctic ice pack? What about the Red Chinese? Can we expect greater co-operation between Russian and U. S. scientists in non-military Arctic research? Answers to these questions may or may not be forthcoming during the next 20 to 30 years, but it seems quite possible that friends and adversaries alike will periodically become engaged in discussion of “how it all began back in 1960.”
The legacy of Polaris and the other undersea achievements of 1960 will provide inspiration, challenges, and perhaps frustrations as the years go by, but we have paused and reflected upon its effect on our perspective of this year, 1970. For those of us who may be fortunate enough to live through the next 20 or 30 years, it will be interesting to renew periodically today’s pause and see whether or not the reverberations of 1960 can still be heard.
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A regular NROTC graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1952, Mr. Doyle spent more than seven years in submarines. Having served in the USS Sea Owl (SS-405), the USS X-1 (SSX-1) and the USS Skate (SSN-578), he left the naval service in 1961 and has been engaged in submarine Arctic research ever since. His civilian position is that of a Research General Engineer with the Arctic Submarine Laboratory, Naval Undersea Research and Development Center, San Diego, California. He participated in submarine Arctic expeditions on board the USS Skate in 1959 and 1962.