US Navy sailors aboard nuclear submarines have long trained in the Arctic and learned to hunt their Russian counterparts in the event of war. But America’s subordinate forces are improving their combat capabilities on the edge of the world as Russia expands its military operations there.
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, it is their first patrol.
In the submarine’s nerve center, where sailors steer the boat and monitor sonar, radio and weapons consoles, Master Chief Petty Officer Jacob Green oversees junior officers and crew members as they carry out their duties.
Everyone calls him “Cob” – for boss of the boat.
Operating a submarine in the Arctic is a particular challenge. First, navigation. In some areas, shallow waters force crews to tread a narrow path between two threats: the ice above and the seafloor below.
Ice keels – huge chunks of fallen sea ice pointing downwards – also pose a danger here. This was the case when Cmdr. Mike Brown and his crew aboard the Hampton transited the Bering Strait.
“We operated the boat 20 feet off the bottom with 40 to 60 feet of ice above us and were able to avoid the ice keels,” Commander Brown said.
Secondly, the condensation that forms on the boat’s hull from the ice-cold seawater creates the risk of small electrical fires on the submarine.
Since a loss of propulsion could result in getting stuck under the ice, keeping the submarine’s small nuclear power plant in tip-top shape is a matter of life and death.
As with any submarine, space is at a premium.
Because sailors work shifts, beds often have to be shared (rotating the bunks is called “hot racking”). Cooks often bake fresh bread so they don’t have to store pre-made loaves (the supply is called a “chop,” like pork chop). The menus must be carefully planned for the duration of the underwater mission. In emergencies, operations can be carried out at the hospital table.
The small dining areas for officers and sailors are among the few places where the crew can relax together and spend hours studying the details of submarine operations.
Crew members play the strategy card game Cribbage to pass the time, and so they say, to keep time from passing.
But time passes and all sailors will miss milestones in the lives of their families and friends. When they finally return home, they cannot speak in detail about their efforts at sea because most of what they do is secret.
Some sailors spend their free time on their smartphones, reading old news or watching TV shows and movies they downloaded before patrolling. “Day 31 is sometimes the lowest morale day of the trip,” said Capt. Mickaila Johnston, an underwater medic. “App downloads are expiring: Spotify, Netflix, etc.”
Being “on the move” on a submarine, the sailors say, is like working in a small office space with no windows, no way to leave, no Wi-Fi and no cell phone reception. Important military decisions are made entirely on the boat, with no external communication.
The floor plan of the boat resembles an elongated labyrinth of extremely dark hallways that are no wider than the hallway in a school bus. Sailors must turn parallel as they pass. The companionways between two main decks are so narrow that they can only be used by one person at a time. Nothing and no one is ever far away.
Commander Brown leads an all-male crew. A ban on women serving in the submarine force only ended in 2010, and many female officers are rising aboard submarines like his. Nobody is yet senior enough to command a submarine.
On this special day, the Hampton has emerged from the depths for Ice Camp – a three-week mission that will test the crew’s fighting ability in one of the most unforgiving places on Earth.
Several miles away, other military personnel and researchers have set up Camp Whale, a group of winterized tents and a small command center on a large ice floe that itself is moving at about half a mile per hour on the frozen ocean.
Life there is hard. No showers. No running water. The outside air drops to 40 degrees below zero. The Northern Lights sometimes shimmer above after sunset.
When physical contact with the submarines is required, the teams are flown back and forth between the submarines and the camp by helicopter.
“The goal here is twofold,” Commander Brown said in an interview. “It’s geopolitical. It’s also just about developing the ability to operate under the ice. I have a crew full of sailors who, by and large, have never been here, never been under the ice. Therefore, one of my main focuses is to train the next generation of sailors.”
U.S. Navy submarines conduct secret missions around the world every day. Attack boats like the Hampton could gather intelligence on enemy warships or eavesdrop on hostile governments, while much larger ballistic missile submarines stay underwater for 90 days at a time and carry enough nuclear warheads to destroy entire countries.
Soon it will be time to break through the unforgiving ice of the Arctic again.
As the crew completes their mission in the Beaufort Sea, the submarine heads north before surfacing at the North Pole.
These submarines will then move on, continuing their journey in silence beneath the icy sea.
John Ismay contributed reporting from Washington.
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2024-04-30 10:18:08
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