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    "localId": "12006944",
    "label": "Notes on a Talk With Commander Robert Anderson, Skipper of the Nautilus",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Notes on a Talk With Commander Robert Anderson, Skipper of the Nautilus",
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 2,
            "logicalDate": "1958-07-02",
            "month": 7,
            "year": 1958
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    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/581995/581995_005.pdf",
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    "ocrText": "DECLASSIFIED\nE.O. 11652, Sec. 11\nMR 77-157 #1\nBy S/W.\nDate 9-27-77\nSECRET\nNOTES ON TALK WITH COMMANDER\nROBERT ANDERSON, USN, SKIPPER\nOF THE NAUTILUS, AT 2:00 P. M.,\nJULY 2, 1958\nCommander Anderson dropped in and reported to General\nGoodpaster, Mrs. Anne Wheaton and myself on the attempt\nmade by the Nautilus.\nThe boat left Seattle June 8th with open orders to proceed\nto Panama, but instead made the first attempt on the North-\nwest Passage under the North Pole.\nNo trouble was encountered on the run from Seattle through\nthe Aleutian Islands and up the Bering Sea to St. Lawrence\nIsland. The Nautilus attempted first to pass to the\nwestward of St. Lawrence Island just on our side of the\nUnited States-Russian line. They hit heavy ice running down\nto 30 and 40 feet. Shallow water gave the boat only about 20\nfeet leeway, and consequently, they turned back and proceeded\nsouth of St. Lawrence Island and made a successful passage\nthrough the Bering Strait on the east side of the island.\nProceeded without trouble through the Bering Straight --\ninto the Chuckhie Sea, and it was anticipated that no trouble\nwould arise and that ice flows up to 40 feet deep would be\nencountered. However, much to Anderson's surprise they\nstarted to hit 80 feet of ice -- this ice apparently from the\nSiberian land mass.\nThey proceeded northward for a while until they had only ten\nfeet of clearance for the ship and were forced to turn around and re-\ntrace their way through the Bering Sea.\nOnce out of the Bering Sea they radioed C & O office and were told to\nproceed to Pearl Harbor. Ten days ago I worked out with Aurand'\nand the Navy Deartment a release relieving the Nautilus of the scheduled\nArctic exploration with\nin August and announcing that the\nNavy was sending the Nautilus to Peark Harbor for a month to engage\nin indoctrination procedures our our submarine fleet at our Pacific\nHeadquarters at Pearl Harbor. This went off all right, and the\nNautilus proceeded to Pearl. Commander Anderson flew back fro\nPearl to make a report to C&O AND TO US HERE AT THE WHITE HOUSE.\nOnce out of the Bering Sea they radioed CNO office and\nwere told to proceed to Pearl Harbor.\nTen days ago I worked out with Captain Aurand and the\nNavy Department a release relieving the Nautilus of\nthe scheduled Arctic exploration with the Skate in\nAugust and announcing that the Navy was sending the\nNautilus to Pearl Harbor for a month to engage in\nindoctrination procedures for our submarine fleet at\nour Pacific Headquarters at Pearl Harbor. This went\noff all right and the Nautilus proceeded to Pearl. Com-\nmander Anderson flew back from Pearl to make a report\nto CNO and to us here at the White House.\nThe first attempt was by no means a failure since much new\ninformation was discovered about the movement of ice in the\nBeringStrait, the Bering Sea and the Chuckhie Sea. The ice\ndepths of 80 feet were twice those that anyone had any idea of,\nand the scientific aspects of this discovery will be very\nimportant on later movements.\nAnderson will try again toward the end of July, going through\nthe Bering Strait and skirting the Alaskan Mainland to Port\nBarrow, which will be open at that time of the year. Once\nhe reaches Port Barrow, he will have clear sailing in deep\nwater under the ice pack, and will be able to proceed under\nthe North Pole and continue through to Iceland."
}