In my career I received the Order of the Ditch and was a Shellback.
The first means that I transited the Panama Canal and of course the second means that I crossed the Equator. Going across the equator involves a lot of pomp and circumstances surrounded by a great deal of silliness. I will freely admit that the second time I crossed, I was grateful not to be a pollywog. In fact, I made sure that my initiation was duly noted in my service record prior to that day.
One thing I never did was become a Blue Nose. Which means that at no time did I go under the Arctic Ice. I’m a bit too old to volunteer for any missions so I will just have to live with the gap in my time at sea.
But in today’s article from the August 24th, 1962, edition of the Nome Nugget, a historic event was recorded by a columnist that I have covered in the past, Elton C. Fay.
Based on the other stories Elton covered, I am pretty sure he was “favored” to receive stories that would be published as a message to the Soviet Union. During 1962, the Soviets were doing a lot of above ground nuclear testing and building up their forces in Cuba.
August 24, 1962
Sub versus Sub Under Arctic Ocean Ice
By Elton C. Fay
WASHINGTON (AP) A hide-and-seek maneuver by two U.S. Navy atomic submarines under Polar ice points the way a deep and deadly war could be fought in the Arctic.
President Kennedy announced the hitherto secret operation to a news conference Wednesday, saying that the submarines Skate and Sea Dragon had made a “historic rendezvous” under the ice, then surfaced through an opening at the North Pole.
“This,” said Kennedy, “is the first time that two of our submarines have worked together in this manner under the Arctic icepack and I want to congratulate those involved in this exceptional technical feat.”
Submarine vs. Submarine
The submarine versus submarine operation started July 31 and concluded when the two ships surfaced on Aug. 2. Navy experts consider it a major tactical demonstration that anti-submarine warfare in the hostile and weird environment of the ice-capped Arctic Ocean seems feasible in the event of hostilities.
Another phase of submarine warfare, rocket-firing by submersibles, creates urgent requirement for countermeasures. Russia is beginning to build and send to sea atomic submarines. One of the logical launching points for any Soviet submarine attack on the United States and Canada would be the Arctic Ocean.
The U.S. Navy maintains a barrier patrol across one route for Russian submarines into the Atlantic. That barrier extends eastward from Greenland to Iceland and the Faroe Islands. But the Arctic Ocean, on which Russia borders, is wide open.
If Russia should begin deploying rocket submarines under the ice, the United States must create a defensive system. The only apparent means are attack submarines, perhaps sent out for weeks long patrols to listen electronically under the ice – a new barrier line.
Until now, the United States had no actual experience in submarine hunting in Polar areas. Although atomic subs have been exploring and mapping the ocean floor of the area since 1958, they have worked singly and purely on exploration and crew training missions.
Start Hunting Each Other
But on July 31, the Skate, coming up from the Atlantic and the Sea Dragon, from the Pacific, received radioed orders to start hunting each other.
Navy sources said this was a realistic operation, with each submarine using all its equipment and technique for evasion and search a duel between submarines such as would occur in actual Arctic engagement.
The conditions were unlike anything encountered in years of actual and practice anti-submarine warfare.
Note: The two submarines made their rendezvous on 31 July. After meeting, they operated together for over a week. Both submarines surfaced at the North Pole on 2 August and official greetings and insignia of Submarine Force Atlantic Fleet and Submarine Force Pacific Fleet were exchanged
In the Arctic, pressure ridges of ice. extending downward as well as above the surface, create inverted “mountains” behind which a submarine can hide. The normal problem of penetrating thermal layers of water in vertical probes by sonar is complicated with the horizontal blocks imposed by pressure ridges and occasional bergs.
Water temperatures, which affect the performance of both active and passive sonar, are far different from even the cold waters of the North Atlantic.
Here, in the naturally hostile environment, with the surface scaled off by ice, there would be little chance for escape by a wounded submarine. The contest would mean kill or be killed.
Note: The operation was important because it demonstrated not merely that one nuclear submarine could reach and surface at the Pole, but that two submarines from opposite ocean areas could coordinate, rendezvous, and operate together under the Arctic ice. In the strategic environment of the early 1960s, that capability had direct relevance to submarine mobility, navigation, communications, and wartime access to high-latitude routes.
After the 1962 polar operation, USS SKATE returned to New London and resumed local and fleet operations. Public records place her in Arctic-related and acoustic work during this period as well. In 1962, she operated in the Cabot Strait area with USS ENTEMEDOR (SS 340) and USS TUSK (SS 426). In 1963, she again appeared in Cabot Strait operations with USS BECUNA (SS 319) and USS TENCH (SS 417). These activities fit the broader pattern of undersea research and tactical development associated with nuclear submarines, oceanography, sonar, and high-latitude operations. During these years, the submarine force was also adapting to the rapid expansion of Soviet submarine capability and to the increasing importance of the North Atlantic and Arctic approaches in Cold War planning.
From All Hands Magazine in 1963:
SEE YOU AT THE NORTH POLE
ARE CRUISES under the Polar ice cap becoming routine operations for today’s submariners? Not quite. To the bewhiskered Navy man who eases his boat under the ice, crashes through to surface at the North Pole, then gets out and plays baseball, it’s as adventurous today (if somewhat more comfortable) as it ever was.
The earliest known exploratory submarine cruise to the polar ice was made in 1931 by the diesel – electric- powered submarine USS Nautilus (SS 168). She was able to make only a cursory survey of the ice pack.
In 1953, USS Redfish (SS 395) accompanied by an icebreaker and helicopters, made another cruise to determine if submarines might some- day be able to travel under the ice and across the top of the world.
The first ship to reach the North Pole was the nuclear – powered submarine USS Nautilus (SSN 571). Nautilus crossed the geographical North Pole in August 1958, while en route to Portsmouth, England, from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Also in August 1958, USS Skate (SSN 578) made her first probe under the ice. Although she failed to reach the North Pole, Skate circumnavigated the earth within a two-mile radius.
On a second trip under the ice the following year, Skate logged 3050 miles during the 12 days she spent beneath the pack. She surfaced at the North Pole.
She surfaced on 16 occasions.
In August 1960, USS Seadragon (SSN 584) became the first ship to transit the Northwest Passage that links the Pacific and Atlantic through the Canadian archipelago. Seadragon continued on to the North Pole, crashed through the ice, and stayed long enough for crew members to engage in a game of baseball.
Two years later, or last August, Seadragon and Skate rendezvoused under the ice pack and conducted the first ASW exercise ever held at the top of the world.
What’s it like to make such a journey?
Nicholas R. Kieffer, TM3, veteran of the Sargo expedition, talked about the weather. It was quite comfortable in the sub even though the outside temperatures were between 20 and 40 degrees below zero. “The most surprising thing to me is that it seemed warmer at the North Pole than it was before we got there.”
For Richard A. Robertson, IC1, the most memorable incident was “the time we punched through the ice to surface and found a one-ton chunk of ice on the conning tower.”
David C. Rost, SK3, was impressed by the clothing the submariners wore during exposure to the arctic air when their ship was surfaced. “Uniform of the day consisted of long woolen underwear, standard Navy dungarees, and woolen shirts and pants, with arctic A-1 gear over the whole works. ” (Arctic A – 1 gear is a coverall suit similar to the kind worn by aviators. The A – 1 features a silk lining and nylon exterior.)
The Sargo voyage, which took a month – and – a – half, presented no special problems for the men who pre-pared the food. “We served up standard submarine fare, ” recalls William G. Plymale, CS1, a veteran of more than seven years in submarines and three years on board Sargo. ” It was the most outstanding cruise of my career. We all felt that we had accomplished something very important.”
Sargo’s engineering officer, LT Merlin C. Ritz, contrasted the new mode of travel with that of the early overland explorers. “We made the same trip, in ease and relative comfort, that men like Peary made by dog sled at great personal risk.”
The Cold War was anything but cold in the summer and fall of 1962.
The Soviets were secretly moving components for offensive and defensive missile systems into Cuba as early as the summer.
That would include many Soviet military and engineering personnel.
On Aug 29, a US U-2 flight sees SAM launch pads in Cuba.
October 14, 1962: A U.S. U-2 spy plane piloted by Maj. Richard Heyser takes hundreds of photos of newly built installations in the Cuban countryside. This would facilitate the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was only the fortitude of the President and his team that prevented what could have been a nuclear disaster.
Modern day submarines still reportedly conduct operations in the frigid waters north of our country. Changes in the seas are making the risks even greater between the current day Russian forces and NATO. The strategic treaty just signed by Denmark, Greenland and the United States is incredibly significant for our security and that of our allies.
But the single biggest factor in our continued safety is strong leadership and a clear resolve to maintain a strong defensive posture.
With the rise of the Chinese navy and the emergence of new threats from many corners, America must never allow a weak leader or squad of people who would dismantle our defenses come anywhere close to power.
Mister Mac
