The Press MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1958. An Epic Voyage

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28661, 11 August 1958, Page 8

The Press MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1958. An Epic Voyage

The voyage of the United States' nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus from hemisphere ito hemisphere under the Arctic ice-cap has added another glorious page to the annals of the sea. It is an achievement worthy of comparison with any of man’s most intrepid expeditions into the unknown; and its consequences can only be guessed. The American people may be justifiably proud that to them has fallen the honour of sponsoring possibly the last great voyage of discovery that remained unaccomplished on earth. For many years, submarine travel under the Polar ice had been a visionary dream, a fantasy for writers and theorists. One of the dreamers was the veteran Australian Polar explorer, Sir Hubert Wilkins, who in 1931 became the first man to take a submarine under the ice. He failed in an attempt to navigate his submarine—also called the Nautilus—under the North Pole; but he proved that, with suitable equipment, such a voyage was possible. Till the development of nuclear power plants, submarines lacked a propellant that would enable them to remain submerged for long periods. The lack was remedied when the United States Navy built its first nuclear submarine, the 3200-ton Nautilus, in 1955. Navigation under the Pole also presented grave problems; but these, too, were overcome by the United States’ adoption of a new navigational system, known as S.I.N.S. The Nautilus demonstrated last year that submerged cruising in the Arctic was feasible when she cruised part of the way under the ice to within 180 miles of the Pole. But, in spite of the powerful scientific aids with which they had been equipped, the crew of the Nautilus required extraordinary personal courage, determination, and readiness to accept unpredictable hazards when they set out on their historic voyage from Hawaii—a 21-day, 9000-mile journey which will end at Portland (England) tomorrow.

Both commercially and militarily, the results of the Nautilus’s pioneering voyage may be incalculably great. The voyage may, indeed, revolutionise sea transport because it opens a new sea lane along which specially-designed cargo submarines may carry oil and other commodities from one side of the earth to the other more economically than orthodox ships travelling the older and longer surface routes) Militarily, the voyage highlights the strategic importance of the Arctic, already obvious because over it are the shortest direct air routes between the United States and Canada and the Soviet Union. Nuclear submarines, operating in Arctic seas, have an important deterrent capability. If they can navigate at will under the Arctic ice-cap, their role as either conventional commerce destroyers or strategic threats will be greatly enhanced. Russia has developed a Northern Sea route between the Murmansk area across its Arctic littoral to Eastern Siberia and the Bering Strait. Increasing use has been made of this route in the last three years, especially to send major reinforcements to Russia’s Far Eastern fleets. In war, United States submarines could sever or disrupt this important Arctic supply line if they can operate beneath the pack ice So far as is known, the United States has a substantial lead over Russia in the adaptation of nuclear power to submarines and other craft. American nuclear submarines will shortly be capable of launching the-fleet ballistic missile, the Polaris, with a range of 500 to 1500 miles. The United States already possesses three nuclear submarines, including the Nautilus; and an ambitious building programme is under way. In this modern fleet, the United States appears likely to possess a very powerful weapon for ensuring peace; and its benefit to mankind could well be greater than that of the Soviet sputniks.