In 1931, Sir Hubert Wilkins undertook a scientific research mission to the North Pole using a modified O-class submarine leased from the United States Navy. The goals of this expedition were two-fold: to conduct scientific experiments and observations while moored to ice floes and while under way; and to successfully navigate to the North Pole while submerged beneath the Arctic ice floes. The experiments ranged from meteorological observations to temperature and water samples taken from the surface and the sea floor.

The submarine used was the O-12 (SS 73), built in 1916 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Co. of Bridgeport, CT. Commissioned in 1918, the boat spent most of her military career attached to Submarine Division 1, based at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. O-12 displaced 566 tons submerged (491 tons surfaced), had a length of 175 ft., could reach speeds of 11 knots submerged (14 knots surfaced), and carried a crew of 29. She was decommissioned on June 17, 1924, and placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. After being transferred to the United States Shipping Board in 1930, Wilkins signed a lease for the use of the O-12 on February 1, 1931, at a cost of one dollar per year.

Modifications to the O-12 were made at the Mathis Shipyard in Camden, NJ. The boat was stripped of military armament and fitted with the latest scientific research equipment. Changes were also made to the superstructure that would allow for operation beneath the ice floes. With the modifications complete, the submarine cast off from Mathis Shipyard on March 16 for the first leg of a journey which would take her to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York. Before even leaving the Delaware River, the O-12 was forced to stop at the Philadelphia Navy Yard due to a snowstorm and then stopped at Marcus Hook to take on fuel.

On March 23 the O-12 arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While entering New York Harbor, the crew suffered the first in a series of accidents and mechanical problems that would plague them on the expedition when Assistant Radio Engineer Willard I. Grimmer fell overboard and drowned. Despite the tragedy, Lady Suzanne Bennett Wilkins (Sir Hubert's wife) christened the submarine the next day using a bottle of ice water, since champagne was unavailable because of prohibition. Among the many spectators was Jean Jules Verne, grandson to the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the source of the O-12's new name.

Before setting out on the expedition, the crew put the Nautilus through test runs in various locations off the New England coast. One of the tests included a 90 ft dive off Block Island in Long Island Sound. With mounting criticism from the fact that the expedition was two months behind schedule, it was decided to head out on the first leg of the journey, a planned stop in England. However the bad luck that beset the Nautilus continued. While crossing the Atlantic, the submarine encountered severe storms resulting in severe mechanical failure on June 13 when the starboard engine cracked a cylinder. This was followed by failure of the port engine, probably the result of it being used as the sole source of propulsion.

During the crossing, Wilkins had radioed the submarine's position back to the United States, and after both engines failed the crew broadcast an S.O.S. The Nautilus was eventually rescued on June 15 by the U.S.S. Wyoming (BB-32), which was crossing the Atlantic on a training cruise for midshipmen from the Naval Academy. The Wyoming took the foundering submarine in tow to Queenstown, Ireland. From Queenstown the submarine was towed to Davenport, England for repairs, which were made with considerable delays. Finally, the Nautilus was able to get underway for Bergen, where the scientific officers were brought on board and scientific equipment loaded. One piece of equipment that proved invaluable was the diving chamber, located in the former torpedo room. The chamber could be regulated to match the outside water pressure, allowing scientific equipment to be lowered directly into the water through a hatch.

On August 5, the Nautilus left Bergen headed north in search of the ice floes. The voyage was again repeatedly delayed because of mechanical problems and storms, which further caused the submarine to list at angles of up to 57 degrees. Despite these setbacks, the crew encountered their first ice floe on August 19, and celebrated when Ike Schlossback became the first to step onto the ice at 18:00 hours. For the next few days the Nautilus followed the edge of the ice pack in search of a location to make its first dive attempt. On August 22 the decision was made to dive under the ice floe, but while preparing to submerge it was discovered that the diving rudders were missing, making standard dives impossible. Nevertheless, Wilkins was determined to accomplish some of the planned experiments, particularly those that did not require being submerged. In the course of carrying out the experiments, the opportunity of forcing the Nautilus under an ice pack presented itself on August 31. This was accomplished despite the absence of diving rudders by filing all four ballast tanks and setting the trim at 2.5 degrees. In this way, the Nautilus was able to dive beneath a floe measuring three feet thick and was able to make several additional dives below the ice floes before the voyage ended.

Following a few additional days of research, Wilkins decided it was no longer safe to remain at sea. The Nautilus set course for Longyeartbyen in Svalbard, arriving on September 8. From there, Wilkins planned to proceed to England, but the boat encountered another storm which resulted in further hull damage and engine failure, forcing the Nautilus to dock in Bergen for the last time. After being returned to the United States Navy, the Nautilus was towed out of Bergen and sunk in a Norwegian fjord on November 20, 1931. Ironically, the first ship to cross the north pole was the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Nautilus (SSN - 571) on August 3, 1958.

The majority of items contained in the Nautilus Polar Expedition Collection are photographs of the submarine and crew at various stages during the submarine's fateful arctic expedition of 1931. These images are primarily press photographs accompanied by wire service captions. In each folder, a photocopy of each image precedes the original, with captions copied on the back. Other images come from the personal collection of Frank Blumberg, Chief Electrician aboard the Nautilus, and include snapshots and signed portraits. Finally, the collection also contains a scrapbook compiled by Blumberg from magazine clippings and photographs.

Provenance

Donated by Mr. and Mrs. Ben B. Levitt, August 1, 1998. The scrapbook was compiled by Mrs. Arthur O. Blumberg (Accession #1998-2200 ms).

Preferred citation

Cite as: Nautilus (Submarine) Photograph Collection, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Catalogued by J.J. Ahern, 2000

Related material

A web exhibit based on the Nautilus Collection is available at http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/exhibits/nautilus/.

Bibliography

Naval History Note

Students of naval history, in particular those with an interest in submarine development and exploration, may find this collection of benefit.

Crew Manifest

The names of the participants are listed in a letter dated October 25, 1932, sent by Sir Hubert Wilkins to Brewer, Warren and Putnam Inc., the publishers of his book Under the North Pole. Additional information has been taken from the New York Times and New York American.

The list is in alphabetical order.

• Photoprints

• Blumberg, Frank Arthur O.
• Wilkins, George H. (George Hub

• Arctic Regions -- Discovery and exploration
• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Icebergs
• Mathis Shipyard (Camden, N.J.)
• Nautilus (Submarine)
• Submarines