U.S. Maritime Strategy in the Arctic—Past, Present, and Future

McWethy, USN, one of the Navy’s early advocates for the value of submarine operations in the Arctic to monitor the Soviet Union, noted in 1958, “The ice pack in the Arctic Ocean region lends itself to exploitation by submarine.”17 Commander Anderson later would envision the maritime shipping potential of the region, considering the shorter maritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. [...] The memoran- dum stated that “the President has decided that the United States will support the sound and rational development of the Arctic, guided by the principle of minimizing any adverse effects to the environment; will promote mutually ben- eficial international cooperation in the Arctic; and will at the same time provide for the protection of essential security interests in the Arctic.”23 I. [...] Although the Navy became proficient at operating in the High North even on the surface, the end of the Cold War left the Arctic largely to those operating in the undersea domain. [...] The figure shows the members of the wardroom of USS Sea Devil (SSN 664) when the boat was surfaced in a polynya—an opening in the sea ice—on the first visit of one of the authors to the polar region. [...] The opening of the Arctic Ocean and the increasing interest in the High North by Arctic and non-Arctic states alike demand the application of past lessons to enhance operations in the future.