North to the Future

" 1 August 1958 - the nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus left the North coast of Alaska and dove under the Arctic ice cap. The submarine traveled at a depth of about 500 feet, and the ice cap above varied in thickness from 10 to 50 feet, with the midnight sun of the Arctic shining in varying degrees through the blue ice.

At 11:15 p.m. EDT on 3 August 1958, Commander Anderson announced to his crew: “For the world, our country, and the Navy–the North Pole.” The Nautilus passed under the geographic North Pole without pausing. The submarine next surfaced in the Greenland Sea between Spitzbergen and Greenland on August 5. Two days later, it ended its historic journey at Iceland. "
 
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