The ice diaries : the untold story of the Cold War's most daring mission by Anderson William R. 1921-2007

Author:Anderson, William R., 1921-2007
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: United States. Navy -- Officers -- Biography, Nautilus (Submarine : SSN-571), Underwater exploration -- Arctic Ocean, Submarine captains -- United States -- Biography, Cold War, Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration -- American, Northwest Passage -- Discovery and exploration -- American
ISBN: 0785227598
Publisher: Nashville, TN : Thomas Nelson
Published: 2008-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

166 THE ICE DIARIES

System), a network designed to detect the approach of any ship—and especially submarines—to our territorial waters. The West Coast system was relatively new, and it made sense that it needed a test from our nuclearpowered submarine. The plans called for us to make visible stops in Balboa, Panama; San Diego; San Francisco; and Seattle.

We were then supposed to be leaving Seattle on June 7, returning to the East Coast by making a twenty-six-day submerged cruise back down to Panama. There was a reason for creating a long, submerged trip, independent of the earth’s atmosphere. Without raising suspicion, Nautilus would be able to reject the usual requests for a ride from navy brass. We could simply claim that both space and oxygen were too limited to carry passengers on that prolonged trip.

We had to mollify another group—the many antisubmarine units that usually exercised with us when we were in their part of the ocean. Admiral Burke supplied that excuse. This would be a long trip, studying the problems encountered by the crew members of future long-range submerged cruises. This was quite plausible to anyone hearing it. The Polaris missile submarine program was at the forefront at the time and was a key initiative of Admiral Burke.

Once we were back on the East Coast, we would theoretically make final preparations and depart with Skate and Halfbeak for the Greenland area in late July or early August. Of course, our actual plan was to successfully complete the ocean-to-ocean transit via the North Pole well before the time when we were supposed to have shown up in New London.

Part of Duke Bayne’s job was to keep fictitious track of where Nautilus might rationally be each day, then feed that data to Commander Harry Allendorfer, who briefed Pentagon officials each morning. Nautilus would be nowhere near the positions Bayne gave Allendorfer. She would hopefully be making her way to the Bering Strait and beyond.

“I suspect as time went on some suspicion developed that Nautilus was operating a bit differently than the official briefing indicated,” Bayne later said. “However, I never saw any indication of such suspicion.”

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