Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-04
WILKINS SUBMARINE VOYAGE
TONORTHPOLE HELD PRACTICAL
DR.. Sverdrup, Norwegian
Arctic Authority, Assures
Him of Feasibility.
Underwater, Craft Will Go
lust Beneath Ice in Trip
Planned in 1881.

The fantastic project of crossing the
North Pole in a submarine is entirely
practical, Sir Hubert wilkins has been
assured by DR.. H. u. Sverdrup, Nor
wegian explorer, who probably Is the
worlds foremost authority on the
Arctic.
wilkins revealed to the American
Geophysical Union that the project,
which he will undertake in the Summer
Of 1881, has been In his mind for Is
years while he has waited the develop
ment of Diesel engines. While he will
be equipped with ingenious mechanical
devices to cut his way through the ice,
Sverdrup assured him that he probably
never would have to use them.
The plan, wilkins said, is to run the
submarine lust under the ice, o device
like trolley arm constantly scraping
the bottom of the ice sheet and holding
the ship down. Whenever the trolley
arm no longer meets the ice resistance
that is, whenever 1t comes to open
water-the submarine will rise auto
matically. Its batteries will be charged
to allow it to continue for approximately
1875 miles under the ice, or to remain
submerged for two and half days.
Actually, wilkins and Sverdrup agreed,
1t viii be practically impossible TO go
more than Is miles In any drectlon
without coming on open water.
"Walking" Under Ice.
The plan was described by wilkins as
more like a ship walking along the bot
tom of the ice, its drilling devices taxing
the place of legs, than the submarine
voyage of the popular imagination. Sir
Hubert recognizes the possibility, how
ever, that plans may go wrong and that
the submarine will find itself trapped
under the Arctic ice sheet with its bat
teries exhausted. For such an emer-
gency, he is devising formidable array
Of apparatus.
The first step will be to throw away
ballast, giving the ship its full positive
buoyancy of rs tons. He does not De-
lieve the ice sheet anywhere can stand
a blow of more than Is tons. The sub
marine itself will pound its way through
with single upward rush. In case this
fails. the craft will have a coming
tower equipped with saw teeth operated
by electricity. If the ice Is not too
thick, this will saw through a small
hole.
Open Water BaIks Dogs.
Then through the coming tower,
chemicals can be sprayed over the sur
face of the ice, which will melt 1t IN
a short time. Then there will be cleo
trical drills capable of going through
any thickness of ice much easier than
oil drills 60 through great thicknesses
of rock, Sir Hubert said. But after
flying more than 10000 miles over the
Ice and walking 5000, he said, he be-
lieves 1t unlikely that he ever will be
called on to use any Of these devices.
He pointed out that Amundsen landed
in open water barely 80 miles from the
North Pole and that the great difficulty
Of Arctic explorers with dog teams has
been to get around the leads OF open
water continually encountered.
The actual condition Of the Arctic
Ice was explained by Dr. Sverdrup,
Amundsens chief lieutenant, who was
in command of the Maud, which passed
several years In the ice. The enormous
and unequally distributed pressure, he
said, causes great jagged cracks to APP
pear. The edges drift apart and then
do not come together evenly. causing
q constant succession OF ponds.
Keeping Cool Would Be Job.
One of the problems, Sir Hubert said,
Is with the refrigerating apparatus Of
the submarine. Unlike previous North
Pole explorers, his difficulty will be In
keeping cool The Summer temperature
of the Arctic, he said, runs between so
and 80 degrees and without artificial
refrigeration it probably would be al
most unbearably hot in closed shell
beneath the ice, even under the North
Pole itself
The submarine, he said, now Offers
the only means by which explorers can
get to the North Pole and stay there
| long enough to carry out an extended
research program. The aviator can
| hover above the top of the earth only
| a few minutes at the best. Peary, the
only man ever to get there on foot
could stay only two days. A submarine
could remain In the vicinity for weeks
Sir Hubert plans to start out from
| Spitzbergen In July, 1881, and end up
| In Alaska some time in August. He will
| collect data for use by the many ex-
| petitions to be sent out IN the world
cooperative movement the next Sum-
mer. He urged American geophysicists
to state the problems they wished
studied.
Sea Currents May Be Studied.
One of the most valuable scientific
results which can come from the sub
| marine voyage, said DR.. Sverdrup, will
be accurate information concerning the
ocean currents under the ice, especially
the Laborador current which comes
down the western coast Of Greenland
and empties into the Atlantic, vitality
affecting the weather along the whole
Atlantic Coast of North America. The
mingling Of other currents is believed
TO be Of vital Importance In weather
conditions, put explorers confined to