400 years after Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world, a similar project took place in 1960, differing only in the means of a nuclear submarine and an entirely underwater trip.
The submarine USS Triton during a sea trial. (Image: US Navy)
Captain Evan P. Aurand, a naval aide to US President Eisenhower, initiated the first circumnavigation of the world , codenamed Operation Sandblast , according to Amusing Planet . To make the trip, Aurand proposed using the USS Triton , the largest, most powerful, and most expensive submarine built at the time of commissioning. The ship is 136 meters long and has a displacement of nearly 8,000 tons. The ship’s two S4G pressurized water reactors provide a total capacity of 34,000 KW, enough to propel the vessel at more than 55.6 km/h underwater.
American authorities decided that the USS Triton would follow the same route as Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano on its first circumnavigation of the Earth between 1519 and 1522. They calculated the voyage would take no more than 80 days. , but to be on the safe side, the ship was equipped with enough supplies to last for 120 days. Triton departed New London on 16 February 1960 as a final test run, helping to test the ship’s performance after a major overhaul. Only after the ship left port did Captain Beach reveal the nature of the voyage to the crew.
The USS Triton arrives at St. Peter and Paul Rocks in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, running along the eastern coast of South America. The ship continued around Cape Horn, heading west across the Pacific Ocean. After passing through the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagos, running along the Indian Ocean, the ship circled the Cape of Good Hope, arriving at St. Peter and Paul Rocks on April 25 of the same year, after 60 days and 21 hours. The USS Triton returned to Groton, Connecticut, on May 10 of that year, completing its first circumnavigation of the world. The ship was underwater for a total of 83 days and 9 hours and traveled 66,633km.
The voyage around the world of the USS Triton. (Photo: US Navy)
In accordance with its mission, the ship avoided coming to the surface, except for the occasion to bring a sick sailor to the USS Macon off Montevideo, Uruguay, on March 6. For ventilation, the vessel uses a breathing tube while at periscope depth and stays in place thanks to the built-in telescope. In order to remove trash without coming to the surface, the ship has a garbage disposal unit that shoots waste bags through the bottom of the ship. All repairs are carried out underwater.
Keeping the crew afloat for a long time is the biggest challenge for the captain. They will perform various activities on weekdays. Keeping the ship clean is also a challenge. “It was 84 days of hard work to keep the ship clean. It was amazing how much dirt we created, so I set a clean-up day at the weekend. The crew started protesting until the end of the day. when they see the amount of garbage we try to remove. After that, they don’t object anymore,” Captain Beach shared.
In addition to circling the Earth, the USS Triton also collects vast amounts of scientific data about the oceans . The crew took water samples throughout the voyage, checking for differences in chemical composition, salinity, density and temperature. They also continuously record fluctuations in the Earth’s gravitational field. In addition, the ship also released more than 100 hydrographic vessels to monitor ocean currents and map the sea floor, including coral reefs and many other submerged structures, using depth detectors and sonar systems. Scientific data from the Operation Sandblast mission is invaluable in providing information about ocean changes.