Around the World Submerged: The Voyage of the Triton

“Men,” I said, “I know you’ve all been waiting to learn what this cruise is about and why we’re still headed southeast. A number of you may have guessed before this that something special is taking place. The amount of provisions we have loaded aboard and the special preparations we’ve had to make have been a tip-off. I know also that you can guess why we have had to keep the real objectives of this cruise concealed until we were well on our way. Now, at last, I can tell you that we are going on the voyage which all submariners have dreamed of ever since they possessed the means of doing so. We have the ship and we have the crew. We are going to go around the world, nonstop. And we’re going to do it entirely submerged!”

If someone had dropped a wrench at that moment it would have sounded like a depth charge. There was absolute silence throughout the ship. My thumb, holding down the microphone button, was aching. I shifted hands, put the microphone to my lips again.

“I know you all realize what a test this is going to be of our new ship, and of ourselves,” I said. “No ship in the world, so far as I know, has ever made a voyage of such magnitude at the speed of advance which we shall have to maintain. There are many missions to accomplish. We have a regular schedule to meet. There are a lot of experiments to perform, a lot of readings to make, a lot of recordings and data to take. When we get back to the United States, we will be expected to turn in the most complete set of scientific data ever taken by a submarine.” I paused again, wondered why my hands were paining me so, shifted them for the second time, and went on.

“I know I don’t have to remind you of the importance that every man do his duty properly and exactly as required. I know you’ll all do that, for you all realize that upon each and every one of us depends the success of this cruise. I know that no one aboard would like to be the cause of our failure.

“But the cruise goes even farther than that,” I said. “For in a sense it will never end. We, in our ship, are here and now endeavoring to accomplish something of importance for the glory of our country and our Navy. From now on we will be bound together by a shared experience which will be with us the rest of our lives. Little though anyone hearing these words may appreciate it now, if we can make this cruise successfully we will carry from now on the knowledge of having recorded one of history’s great voyages. Regardless of what fate has lined up for us after this, we must remain worthy. For whatever we do, now or hereafter, will reflect upon what we are here starting to do today.”

I paused again, still wondering why the microphone button was so hard to hold down. Both hands were now gripping the mike, thumbs superposed upon each other and squeezing the button as though they could better convey by sheer force the sense of urgency which possessed me. My fingers were trembling slightly and I realized I was perspiring.

It seemed as though there should have been a lot more to say, but somehow this covered it. I made a couple of false starts, finally put the microphone to my lips again.

“God bless you all,” I said. “My deep thanks for the work you have already done and for the additional work which I know will be performed by everyone on board. That’s all.”

The silence lasted nearly a minute. I could sense everyone drawing himself up, furtively eying the men nearby to see whether any of them revealed the emotions he felt. The unofficial code of the sailor requires that he remain outwardly unaffected by words of praise or blame, condemnation or exhortation. Yet I knew, deep inside, the thrill of the adventure must be stirring in their chests as it was in mine, along with fervent determination to see it through.

7

It was only a few hours later that my hopes for an uneventful voyage were dashed and my warning premonition of trouble fulfilled. Don Fears, face taut, brought the bad news. “I’m afraid we’ll have to shut down the port engine, Captain. We have a bad leak in one of the condenser circulating pumps—”

“How much water are we making, Don?” I asked anxiously, after he had given me the details of the problem. “How long will the engine be out of commission?”

“Can’t tell yet,” said Don. “The leak is on a main condenser circulating water pump, and there are no valves between it and the sea except the main sea valves themselves. To fix it, we have to take sea pressure off. To do that, we have to close the main sea valves, and that shuts down the condenser. That’s why we have to stop the engine.”

I went back with Don to take a look. It was exactly as he had stated. Although the work was started immediately, the leak was in a very difficult place to reach; several failures were experienced, and it was early morning of the next day before we finally got a patch to hold.