A closer look
United States Navy submarine USS Nautilus achieved a legendary milestone in 1958 by becoming the very first watercraft to successfully transit directly across the North Pole while completely submerged under the Arctic ice. The nuclear-powered vessel accomplished this extremely claustrophobic journey blindly navigating beneath jagged ice sheets that reached up to fifty feet thick, entirely cut off from the surface world or any hope of a quick rescue. Venturing into an endless frozen abyss where any mechanical failure equates to a silent, freezing death inside a metal coffin requires a level of psychological fortitude that borders on absolute insanity. Modern cruise ship passengers will violently complain to management if the dining room thermostat drops two degrees, completely oblivious to the fact that military submariners routinely volunteer to be trapped under a frozen ocean just for a modest government pension
