Research Catalog

Title

Arctic mission : 90 North by airship and submarine / William F. Althoff.

Author

Althoff, William F.

Publication

Annapolis, Md. : Naval Institute Press, c2011.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xviii, 264 p. : ill., maps; 29 cm.

Summary

"Artic Mission recounts two concurrent Navy Department penetrations of the Arctic in 1958, one an unclassified project, the other absolutely secret. Sailing under the direct orders of the Commander in Chief, the nuclear submarine Nautilus would, if successful, reaffirm U.S. technological prowess with a stupendous demonstration; an under-ice transit of the Arctic Basin via the North Pole. The airships unclassified mission was an Office of Naval Research project, with the objective to assess the suitability of non-rigid airships for support of field parties deployed throughout the North, ashore and afloat. That August, BUNO 126719 crossed the Arctic Circle, the sole military airship ever to do so, en route to rendezvous with a U.S. Air Force ice-rafted camp in the Arctic Ocean. As 719 pressed north, Nautilus pierced the geographic pole, then without changing course logged the first-ever transit of the deep-ocean Arctic, Pacific to Atlantic. Based on interviews and correspondence with dozens of participants, and on Navy Department reports, the work presents first-hand material throughout, and is a distinct contribution to naval literature."--Amazon.

Alternative Title

Arctic mission, by airship & submarine to the far north

Subject

• United States. Navy > History
• Nautilus (Submarine : SSN-571)
• Airships > United States
• Underwater exploration > Arctic regions
• Arctic regions > Aerial exploration
• Arctic regions > Description and travel

Genre/Form

• History
• History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The North American Arctic -- Platforms -- Preparations -- False starts -- Northward -- Ice island -- Homeward -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1: Mission background and statistics: polar project, U.S. navy airship BUNO 126719 -- Appendix 2: Flight crew, scientists, and passengers: polar project, U.S. navy airship 126719 -- Appendix 3: Performance summary and history of BUNO 126719, U.S. navy model ZPG-2 ("snow goose") -- Appendix 4: Fact sheet on USS Nautilus (SSN 571) -- Appendix 5: Memorandum: commanding officer USS Nautilus to all hands, 21 June 1958 -- Appendix 6: Mission statistics: 1958 transpolar voyage, USS Nautilus (SSN 571).

ISBN

• 9781612510101 (hardcover : alk. paper)
• 1612510108 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2011024314

OCLC

724704414

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library