Life On An Eggshell: Arctic Ice Camps Support Testing Onboard Connecticut
by Jeff Gossett

In the gloom of the early polar spring, hundreds of miles north of Alaska, a group of Navy and civilian personnel assembled a small village on the ice to help improve the performance of our submarines in Arctic climates. Named after the research center at the University of Washington that helped build it, this camp was called The Applied Physics Laboratory Ice Station, or APLIS. Nothing about the installation was luxurious, but for five weeks this spring, it hosted a submarine tracking range, a science laboratory, a small airport, and the only source of hot meals for 200 miles in any direction. more>>

On Top of the World
by CDR Bob Clark, USN

As one of the last true frontiers on earth, the Arctic has been a region that submariners have trained and operated in for the past 50 years. It is an extremely dynamic and challenging environment. Unpredictability is the norm, and adaptability is the key to success. more>>

Daring To Go Dutch: Nuclear Officer Commands Diesel Submarine in Dutch PERISHER Course
by LCDR Todd Cloutier, USN

“All round look, coming down on point Alfa... raise attack!” From the periscope control panel aft of the conn, the scope operator raises the scope quickly to eye level as the Duty Captain folds out the training handles for a low power search of the horizon, bent low to expose only the head window above the surface. His steady scan belies the multiple threats lurking outside. more>>

Submarine Learning Center - Leading the Way for Undersea Wafare Learning in the Information Age
by CAPT Arnold Lotring, USN

The Submarine Force has clearly transitioned from the industrial age of warfare and entered the information age. Just look around your ships. You have more information resources, more processing power, and more decision aids in your BQQ-10 sonar system than you could have found on an entire submarine just a few years ago. more>>

NSWC Submarine Races Encourage Innovation
by John Hussey and Skip Jones

High-tech meets low-tech, and college engineers compete against outstanding high school students – fully submerged. It all happened in the International Submarine Races (ISR), the human-powered engineering design competition held at the world’s largest indoor test tank, the Naval Surface Warfare Center/Carderock Division’s David Taylor Model Basin, 23-27 June. more>>

Midshipmen Dive into the Submarine Force
by LT Kyung "KC" Choi and JOC(SW/AW) Mark O. Piggott, USN

It’s normal for a ballistic missile submarine to take time out of its patrol assignments for training and education. It’s rare, though, when that training is for the Navy’s future officers.
Recently, a total of over 200 midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy and the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) went onboard USS Nebraska (SSBN-739), a Trident II ballistic-missile submarine, during a series of orientation cruises. This was part of their Summer Service Orientation Program, where midshipmen visit a variety of commands, including air, surface, and Marine Corps units. more>>

The Navy's Variegated V-Class: Out of One, Many?
by Edward C. Whitman

Even before World War One – and only a dozen years after USS Holland (SS-1) inaugurated the Navy’s undersea force – U.S. naval strategists had already begun to postulate submarines that could operate in closer collaboration with the surface fleet than the Navy’s existing classes, which had been designed primarily for coastal defense. These notional “fleet” submarines would necessarily be larger and better armed, but primarily, they would need a surface speed of some 21 knots to be able to maneuver with the battleships and cruisers of the line. more>>

SURVIVEX 2003: Exercise Tests Disabled Submarine Survival
by CDR Wayne G. Horn, USN

Few U.S. Navy submarines have sunk since World War II, and none since the loss of USS Scorpion (SSN-589) in 1968. Since then, Navy submarines have achieved an unparalleled record of safe operation. Nonetheless, with submarines operating increasingly in shallow waters where submerged rescues are possible, the constant risk of collision and other accidents demands that we be prepared for emergencies. more>>