![]() She led the way for those of us privileged to follow in her wake. They can justifiably be immensely proud, they deserve to be, and I salute them all.ĭreadnought’s patrol was the forerunner of all subsequent RN surfacings at the Pole. That they did so was a huge achievement by all on board. ![]() All these things ensured Dreadnought and her crew completed the mission successfully and returned home triumphant. They got it right, skilfully finding the correct meridian down which to bring the boat safely home. The hardest part was when they left the Pole where every course to steer is South. Alan and his Navigator, Christopher Napier, did a magnificent job in getting the boat to the North Pole. Navigation was a huge challenge making the best of equipment not designed to work in such high latitudes. Teamwork and extensive training for unknown emergencies so everyone would react instinctively in any crisis were required from all on board. The professionalism of the crew in operating their boat safely under the ice in the harsh environment of the Arctic does them all great credit. If her single propeller had been seriously damaged, there might have been no way of extricating the boat from under the ice. The patrol was fraught with many dangers the main one being that Dreadnought had no secondary means of propulsion. A unique mission for the Royal Navy’s submarine service driven by the passion, unshakeable self-belief, determination and persuasiveness of Alan Kennedy, the Commanding Officer, who got it approved by the authorities. This account of that pioneering voyage was written by members of the ship’s company to celebrate the 50th anniversary of going to the Poleīy Vice Admiral Sir Tim McClement KCB OBE, Patron of the Friends of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum:īreaking Through’ has it all. On 3 March 1971 she surfaced through the ice at the North Pole. HMS Dreadnought was the Royal Navy’s first nuclear powered submarine. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |