Cold War Veterans Blog

The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Daring Mission

Contact: Curt Harding, Thomas Nelson, 615-902-2246

MEDIA ADVISORY, July 29 /Christian Newswire/ -- Fifty years ago, with the U.S. having been beaten into space by the Soviet Union and questions raised about our nation's ability to prevail in the Cold War, America scored a major triumph under the seas, as the world's first nuclear powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, traveled beneath the North Pole towards Russian waters.

The details behind this daring and historic mission have at last been declassified and are told in an important new book, The Ice Diaries: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Daring Mission ( Thomas Nelson, July, 29, 2008).

The book was written by Captain William R. Anderson, who commanded the fabled sub, and best-selling author Don Keith. Captain Anderson, later a U.S. Congressman, completed the telling of the dramatic story before he passed away in February 2007.

The idea of navigating below the North Pole was made possible by the longer missions available with nuclear power. But the ability to travel farther without resurfacing did not necessarily equate to smooth sailing. Anderson and Keith tell the stories of encounters with terrible storms, fires in the hold, collisions with ice, broken compasses and more. All of this plays against the backdrop of an Eisenhower Administration faced with mounting questions of America's ability to compete technologically with the Soviets.

The USS Nautilus was a magical name in 1958; its journey, one of the shining moments of International Geophysical Year. At the completion of its mission, Capt. Anderson and his crew were celebrated in a ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes in lower Manhattan. A 1959 best-seller, Nautilus 90 North, written by Anderson with Clay Blair, met the public's immediate demand for the tale of the mission. But all of it can only be told now with the declassification of the secret files, and the fresh first person narration by Capt. Anderson himself.

The USS Nautilus is today a public museum, visited by more than 250,000 annually near the United States Naval Submarine Base New London, at Groton's Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut, where it was originally constructed.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
William Anderson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1942 and served in the U.S. Navy until 1962. He participated in 11 submarine combat patrols in the Pacific and was awarded the Bronze Star and other combat awards. Anderson was the commanding officer of the USS Nautilus from 1957 to 1959. He also served as assistant to Vice Admiral H.G. Rickover; was a consultant to President Kennedy for the National Service Corps, 1963, and was elected to Congress from Tennessee, 1965-73. He passed away in 2007.

Don Keith is a 25-year broadcast veteran – a career that includes a number of awards as a journalist and media personality. He has published 15 books, including the national bestseller, Final Bearing.