USS Nautilus (SSN-571) entered U.S. Navy service as the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Nuclear propulsion let submarines stay underwater much longer than diesel-electric boats, which mattered for long Arctic missions under sea ice. This new capability set the technical foundation for later under-ice transits toward the North Pole.
USS Skate (SSN-578) was commissioned as one of the first “series production” U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). Having multiple nuclear submarines available made it possible to attempt repeated Arctic under-ice operations, not just one-off demonstrations. Skate would soon join the push to prove submarines could navigate and operate beneath the polar ice cap.
On July 23, 1958, USS Nautilus left Pearl Harbor as part of a highly planned Arctic operation aimed at reaching the geographic North Pole and crossing from the Pacific to the Atlantic underwater. The voyage depended on precise navigation and reliable propulsion while submerged for days at a time. This departure began the first successful attempt to take a submarine under the polar ice to the top of the world.
On August 1, 1958, Nautilus entered the Arctic Ocean and went under the ice pack near Point Barrow, Alaska. Once beneath the ice, surfacing was no longer routine and the crew had to navigate in an environment where ice thickness and under-ice terrain could block safe ascent. This step marked the transition from normal submarine operations to true under-ice transit.
On August 3, 1958, USS Nautilus became the first vessel to reach the geographic North Pole by traveling underneath the Arctic ice cap. The submarine did not stop at the Pole; it continued its transit, showing that a submerged “top of the world” crossing was practical. The achievement proved that nuclear submarines could use the Arctic Ocean as a route between oceans—an important Cold War operational idea.
On August 5, 1958, Nautilus surfaced in the Greenland Sea after roughly four days under the ice. Surfacing confirmed that the submarine had completed the under-ice crossing without needing outside rescue or icebreaker support. It also provided a clear endpoint to the first successful Pacific-to-Atlantic under-ice route via the North Pole region.
On August 8, 1958, the White House disclosed the accomplishment, turning a secretive under-ice voyage into a public milestone. The announcement highlighted both scientific and strategic implications: the Arctic was no longer an unreachable barrier for submarines. Public recognition also helped frame under-ice navigation as a major step in modern Arctic operations.
In late July and early August 1958, USS Skate conducted an under-ice Arctic operation and became the second seagoing vessel to reach the North Pole area. Unlike Nautilus, Skate struggled to find safe ice conditions to surface directly at the Pole on this 1958 voyage. The attempt still mattered because it extended under-ice experience beyond a single submarine and highlighted the practical problem of ice breakthrough.
Sir Hubert Wilkins, a pioneering polar explorer who had earlier tried to use a submarine to advance Arctic exploration, died in the United States on November 30, 1958. His earlier efforts helped keep attention on the idea that submarines could work in Arctic seas. His death became closely connected to later Navy symbolism at the Pole.
On March 17, 1959, USS Skate became the first submarine to surface through the ice at the geographic North Pole. Surfacing was a separate challenge from traveling under ice, because it required finding (or creating) a safe opening in thick, moving ice. This event showed that a submarine could both reach the Pole and break through the ice to operate at the surface when needed.
During the March 17, 1959 surfacing, Skate held a memorial ceremony and released Hubert Wilkins’s ashes at the North Pole, honoring his earlier Arctic submarine ambitions. The ceremony linked pre-nuclear exploration dreams with the new reality created by nuclear-powered submarines. It also helped give the under-ice program a public-facing narrative beyond military technology.
By the end of 1959, the back-to-back achievements of Nautilus (first under-ice passage to the Pole) and Skate (first surfacing at the Pole) had established a workable model for U.S. submarine operations under Arctic sea ice. These missions demonstrated three key capabilities: long submerged endurance, reliable navigation beneath ice, and the ability to surface through ice when conditions allowed. Together, they marked a clear turning point from experimental Arctic probes to repeatable under-ice operations that later submarines would expand.
USS Nautilus, USS Skate and Early Submarine Under-Ice Transits to the North Pole (1958–1959)