Naval Careers
Submarines
& Science Converge at the Top of the World... From Down Under
The Navy’s “Silent
Service” submarine force has evolved a long way from the days of the
Cold War, where the primary mission was preparing for possible battle
in the world’s oceans with the nation’s formidable Iron Curtain enemy.
These days, it’s a different ‘Cold War’ that these submarines have been
called upon to battle.
By
JO1 Lisa Mikoliczyk
Over the past decade, the
nation’s top Arctic scientists and engineers have employed Navy nuclear-powered
submarines to conduct key research thanks to an agreement between the
Navy Submarine Force, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science
Foundation, the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration
and the U.S. Geological Survey.
USS HAWKBILL (SSN 666),
a Sturgeon-class nuclear-powered attack submarine based out of Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, was the latest and last Navy submarine to take part
in what has now come to be a historic coalition between the Navy and
the scientific community.
Submarine Arctic Science
Cruise 1999 (SCICEX 99) is a result of a 1994 agreement between the
U.S. Navy and the civilian science community calling for five annual
submarine science expeditions under the Arctic. SCICEX 99 was the fifth
and final in the series. Last spring, USS HAWKBILL got underway for
its second consecutive scientific mission in the Arctic.
For 28 years, HAWKBILL
was deployed routinely as the workhorse during the original cold war.
One of the finest fast attack submarines in the U.S. Navy, this vessel
could hold up to 125 men in its 292 feet and 5,000 tons of hardened
steel. The 1999 expedition was led by the USS HAWKBILL’s commanding
officer, Cmdr. Robert H. Perry, a 1981 Naval Academy graduate, and his
124-man crew, along with a small embarked team of civilian scientists.
The majority of the effort
was aimed at examining the geophysical, chemical, and biological properties
of the Arctic Ocean. A major experiment was the use of a new geophysical
instrumentation package to map the floor of the Arctic. A new Seafloor
Characterization and Mapping Pods (SCAMP) system provided real-time,
three-dimensional representation on the Arctic Sea floor. The scientists
also used a vast array of specialized equipment to measure water currents,
trace water masses, study food chains and evaluate pollution. Normally
a very inaccessible part of the world, the submarine has provided exploration
at any time and any weather in nearly any water. The general opinion
is that the undersea boats are the luxurious way to navigate in this
inhospitable part of the world. In fact, considering that much of the
Arctic is normally covered in ice throughout the year, submarines are
uniquely qualified to collect the data scientists are so eager to acquire.
“They
functioned as such a team I can’t believe it - as far as I’m concerned,
they are all true
American heroes.”
The HAWKBILL departed Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii on March 18th, and entered the edge of the ice pack off
the Alaskan coast about a week later. On the night of March 25th, the
ship dove under the ice and proceeded north. The submarine worked under
the ice for nearly two months, but did get several chances to ‘break
on through.’
The submarine surfaced more
than a half-dozen times - each one a unique experience. Four of these
were at an ice camp, which many of the crew had a chance to visit, and
some even spent a night there living on the ice. And on May 3rd, Cmdr.
Perry surfaced the HAWKBILL at the North Pole - the legendary grail
of many Arctic explorers - where everyone was able to get off the ship
and walk around the top of the world.
Scientifically, the HAWKBILL
gathered the most complete data sets ever collected over the Chukchi
Cap/Northwind Rise, the Alaskan continental slope, the Lomonosov Ridge,
the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge, and the Yermak Plateau. The expedition’s
chief scientist, Dr. Margo Edwards, a geophysicist from the University
of Hawaii, stated the tremendous significance of SCICEX-99. “We have
increased what we know about the bottom of the Arctic Ocean by two or
three orders of magnitude - literally,” Edwards said. “It is just an
explosion of information compared to what we had before.” In her estimation,
the data collected is so extensive that analysis will likely continue
for at least a decade.
Rear Admiral Al Konetzni
Jr., Commander Submarine Force Pacific, explained the bittersweet fact
that this was the final Arctic science expedition, the last deployment
for a Pacific submarine force Sturgeon-class submarine, and HAWKBILL’s
final deployment ever, as the ship was decommissioned in August. “The
really sad part about all of this is the fact that soon we won’t have
enough submarines available to perform these missions,” he said. “We’re
about to go from having 96 submarines in 1990 to a projected 50 by 2003.
We just won’t be able to support worthwhile projects like this in the
very near future unless changes are made in our submarine building program,”
the Admiral added.
Of course, none of the scientific
achievements of this program could have been realized without the dedication
and teamwork put forth by the crew of the USS HAWKBILL. “I have never
been so proud of any crew, and their efforts have proven what a well-trained
submarine crew can accomplish,” said their skipper, Cmdr. Perry. “They
functioned as such a team I can’t believe it - as far as I’m concerned,
they are all true American heroes.” Although this voyage marked the
end of the current SCICEX program, its impact on Arctic science and
research will not soon be forgotten. It began with a proof-of-concept
cruise by USS PARGO in 1993 followed by increasingly complex missions
carried out by USS CAVALLA in 1995, USS POGY in 1996, USS ARCHERFISH
in 1997, and USS HAWKBILL in 1998 and 1999. In total, these missions
amassed 200 days and tens of thousands of miles of unique data collection
for the world scientific community.
Because of a drastic reduction
in the number of submarines, the Navy can no longer commit such an important
asset to a totally non-military role. Although these numbers may increase
in the future to the point that a dedicated joint-SCICEX might be resumed,
it may not happen for several years. The Navy will, as they always have,
continue to collect data as they operate there, and share that with
the scientific community. The U.S. Navy has historically been heavily
involved in Arctic exploration and research. Its submarines, ice camps,
and aircraft have a long tradition of cooperation with the scientific
community during their military missions. This was true before the SCICEX
program and will remain true in the future. But, for now, SCICEX goes
into the history books as a shining example of civilian-military cooperation.
And it will endure in the memories of every scientist and Sailor who
ventured into the Arctic to make SCICEX possible.
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