Mapping the seabed at a time of the cold war
New York Times: A new book, “Unknown Waters,” recounts the 1970 voyage of a submarine, the Queenfish, on a pioneering dive beneath the ice pack to map the Siberian continental shelf. The United States did so as part of a clandestine effort to prepare for Arctic submarine operations and to win any military showdown with the Soviet Union.
In great secrecy, moving as quietly as possible below treacherous ice, the Queenfish, under the command of Alfred S. McLaren, mapped thousands of miles of previously uncharted seabed in search of safe submarine routes. New York Times reporter William J. Broad talks to McLaren about his year-long voyage and the dangers of submarining under the Arctic pack ice.
Related links
Scientist at work: Alfred McLaren; Explorer of Arctic Depths Plans Another Trip North (New York Times October 29, 2002)
