U.S. Navy sailors aboard nuclear-powered submarines have spent years training in the Arctic, learning how to hunt Russian submarines in the event of war. But as Russia expands its military operations in the far reaches of the world, American submarine forces are honing their combat skills in the far reaches of the world.
One day in March, the black metal sail of a 360-foot attack submarine armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes broke through the thick ice of the Beaufort Sea during Operation Ice Camp.
For many of the 152 sailors aboard the USS Hampton, this is their first patrol.
At the heart of the submarine, where sailors operate the ship and monitor sonar, radios and weapons consoles, Chief Petty Officer Jacob Green guides junior officers and crew members in their mission.
Everyone calls him “Cobb” (meaning captain).
Operating submarines in the Arctic is particularly difficult. First of all, navigation. In some areas, the water is so shallow that the crew must navigate a narrow path between her twin threats: the ice above and the ocean floor below.
Ice keels (huge chunks of overturned sea ice pointing downwards) are also dangerous here. The same was true when I was a commander. Mike Brown and his crew sailed through the Bering Strait aboard the Hampton.
“We maneuvered the boat through ice 20 feet off the bottom and 40, 60 feet above the ground and were able to avoid the ice keel,” Captain Brown said.
Secondly, there is a risk of small electrical fires on submarines due to water condensation on the ship's hull caused by frozen seawater.
Keeping a submarine's small nuclear power plant in tip-top condition is a matter of life and death, as a loss of propulsion could mean getting trapped under the ice.
As with any submarine, space is at a premium.
Seafarers work in shifts and often have to share beds (rotating berths is called a “hot rack”). Cooks frequently bake fresh bread so they don't have to store pre-made bread (suppliers call it a “chop”, like a pork chop). During an underwater mission, the menu must be carefully planned. In case of emergency, surgery can be performed on the table in the hospital room.
A small mess hall for officers and sailors is one of the few places the crew can relax together and study the minutiae of submarine operations for hours on end.
To kill time, the crew says they play the strategic card game cribbage so they don't lose track of time.
However, as time passes, the sailors all miss milestones in the lives of their families and friends. When they eventually return home, they likely won't be able to discuss their efforts at sea in detail because most of their activities are classified.
Some sailors spend their downtime on their smartphones, reading old messages or watching TV shows or movies they downloaded before their tour. “The 31st day can sometimes be the lowest morale day of the journey,” said Capt. Mikayla Johnston, an underwater medical officer. “App downloads have an expiration date: Spotify, Netflix, etc.”
Sailors say being “at sea” on a submarine is like working in a small office space with no windows, no way to get out, no Wi-Fi and no cell phone service. Important military decisions are made entirely on board, with no external communication.
The layout of the boat resembles a long, narrow maze of very dark passageways only as wide as the aisles of a school bus. Sailors must make parallel turns when passing each other. The passage between the two main decks is so narrow that only one person can use it at a time. Nothing and no one is far away.
Commander Brown leads an all-male crew. The ban on women serving in submarine forces only ended in 2010, and many female officers have been promoted on submarines like his. There is still no senior person capable of commanding a submarine.
On this particular day, the Hampton surfaced from deep water heading for the ice camp. This is her three-week mission that will test her crew's ability to fight in one of the harshest places on Earth.
A few miles away, other military personnel and researchers built Camp Whale, a cluster of winterized tents and a small command center on a large ice floe moving about half a mile per hour over the frozen ocean.
Life there is difficult. There are no showers. There is no running water. The outside temperature drops to -40 degrees. The aurora borealis may twinkle in the sky after sunset.
If physical contact with the submarine is required, the team will shuttle between the submarine and the camp by helicopter.
“We have two goals here,” Commander Brown said in an interview. “It's a geopolitical thing. It also just increases the proficiency of being able to operate under the ice. My crew, by and large, are sailors who have never been here and have never been under the ice. So one of my main focuses is training the next generation of sailors.”
U.S. Navy submarines conduct sensitive missions around the world every day. Attack craft like the Hampton could gather intelligence on enemy warships or eavesdrop on unfriendly governments, while much larger ballistic missile submarines could submerge for 90 days at a time and monitor It carries enough nuclear warheads to destroy the whole thing.
Eventually, the time will come to break through the unforgiving Arctic ice again.
Once the crew completes their mission in the Beaufort Sea, the submarine heads north before surfacing at the North Pole.
These submarines then continue their silent voyage beneath the icy sea.
John Ismay He contributed reporting from Washington.
