Sabotage in the Arctic: Fate of the Submarine "Nautilus"

Library Lecture and Book Signing

Times: Reception, 5:30 p.m.

Lecture, 6:00 p.m.

Place: Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street

RSVP to sduffy@amphilsoc.org

In 1931, newly elected APS member Sir Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958) leased and extensively modified an O-12 class submarine to undertake an expedition to the North Pole to gather scientific information. His sponsors included American millionaire Lincoln Ellsworth and newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. The mission was ill-fated through delays, accidents, and perhaps even sabotage. By late August 1931, the submarine had maneuvered to the edge of the Arctic ice cap and was able to dive beneath a few floes. Upon its return, however, the Nautilus suffered damage from storms and engine failure and was scuttled off the coast of Norway. Nelson's book, set in the 1930s, recounts the ambition and intrigue of this daring expedition in the world's first Arctic submarine.

The records from Wilkins' expedition are housed in the APS Library collections. In 2005, Dr. Nelson, an oceanographer, ocean explorer, and former president of the American Oceanic Organization (and a past recipient of an APS Lewis and Clark Grant for Exploration and Field Research), was co-leader and scientific advisor of the expedition that successfully rediscovered the Nautilus.

Dr. Nelson has participated in a wide variety of projects in all the world's oceans. He has worked from ships, submarines, submersibles and commercial blimps. He continues to be involved in consulting work for both the maritime and cruise industry, as well as the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He has worked with such organizations as the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, Naval Oceanographic Office, National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, National Alcohol Fuels Commission, and Mid-South Energy Project. His globe-spanning activities have taken him to more than 100 countries, as well as such waters as the Red Sea, Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, South China Sea, Coral Sea and the Caribbean. Dr. Nelson has ventured into the frozen wastes of the Arctic and "walked twice around the world" on the ice-covered continent of Antarctica.