A very practical requirement: under-ice operations in the Canadian Arctic, 1960–1986

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Notes

¹ This operation (labeled SUBICEX 1–86), involved the USS Hawksbill, Ray and Archerfish and took place in the Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Basin and the Greenland Sea; Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), US Navy History and Heritage Archives (NHH), Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

² ‘Canada “Aware” of US Submarines in Arctic’, The Windsor Star, 6 December 1986, p. A8.

³ John Honderich, Arctic Imperative: Is Canada Losing the North? (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 96.

⁴ David L. Larsen, ‘United States Interests in the Arctic Region’, Ocean Development and International Law 21, no. 2 (1990): 182.

⁵ Elizabeth B. Elliot-Meisel, Arctic Diplomacy (New York: Peter Lang Publishing Ltd., 1998), p.151.

⁶ Shelagh Grant, Polar Imperative (Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2010), p. 332.

⁷ This is assuming the documents used are accurate for the time period covered. There remains a possibility that there were other American voyages into the Canadian Arctic during this period that are not considered simply because the brief route descriptions found in the current documentation may have omitted Canadian portions of a larger exercise. Such transits could affect the conclusions reached in this paper, though this must await future declassification.

⁸ Of these eight there were only two for which there is not immediately available evidence to support either Canadian concurrence or active participation – that of the USS Spadefish in 1984 and the Pintado in 1978. This is discussed further into this article.

⁹ See for instance: Felix Belair, ‘Nautilus Sails under the Pole’, New York Times, 9 August 1958, p. 1 & Dwight Eisenhower's conversation with Peter Aurand in Marion D. Williams, Submarines under Ice (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998), p. 174.

¹⁰ See: Adam Lajeunesse, ‘Claiming the Frozen Seas: The Evolution of Canadian Policy in the Arctic Waters’, Arctic Sovereignty and Security: Historical Perspectives (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2011, pp. 235–260).

¹¹ John Diefenbaker, Memorandum: Canadian Position in Relation to Arctic Waters; Passage of USS Seadragon, 21 May 1960, Canadian Department of History and Heritage Archives (DHH), MG 01/XII/C/125, Defence, 1952–62, vol. 56.

¹² At the time the US was actively opposing expanded maritime claims elsewhere. By 1960 Indonesia had drawn baselines around its entire archipelago and the Philippines would do likewise in June 1961. Unlike the Arctic however, these nations lay astride vital sea lanes and their actions provoked vigorous American protests. In 1960 the US conveyed its displeasure by announcing that the submarine USS Triton would pass through the waters about to be claimed by the Philippines on its circumnavigation of the globe.

¹³ GP Steele, Seadragon: Northwest under the Ice (New York: Dutton, 1962).

¹⁴ For an excellent account of Robertson's voyage see: Jason Delaney and Michael Whitby, ‘The Very Image of a Man of the Arctic: Commodore OCS Robertson’, Canadian Naval Review 4, no. 4 (Winter 2009): 25–29.

¹⁵Short Summary of Operation [USS Seadragon's transit], 14 September 1960, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

¹⁶ Memorandum from Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs to Secretary of State for External Affairs, 10 June 1960, Documents on Canadian External Relations, vol. 27 (1960), document no. 665.

¹⁷ Memorandum from the Deputy Minister of Defence to the Undersecretary of State for External Affairs, 18 July 1962, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), RG 25, vol. 11, file 9057–40.

¹⁸ Memorandum on Passage of USS Skate, 20 September 1962, LAC, RG 25, vol. 11, file 9057–40.

¹⁹ Memorandum on Passage of USS Skate, 20 September 1962, LAC, RG 25, vol. 11, file 9057–40

²⁰ Memorandum for the Minister, Arctic Sovereignty: Passage of USS Skate through Waters of Arctic Archipelago, 20 September 1962, LAC, RG 25, vol. 11, file 9057–40.

²¹ ‘Note for Mr. Cadieux, RE: Draft Memorandum to Minister on Arctic Sovereignty’, LAC, RG 25, vol. 11, file 9057–40, 18 September 1962.

²² Memorandum: Canadian Arctic Passage of US Submarine Seadragon, 25 August 1960, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers; Memorandum: USS Skate Visit to Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 1 July 1959, LAC, RG 25, vol. 5282, file 9061–40, pt. 2.

²³ See Lajeunesse, supra note 10.

²⁴ Whitney Lackenbauer and Pete Kikkert, ‘Sovereignty and Security: The Department of External Affairs, the United States, and Arctic Sovereignty, 1945–68’ in Serving the National Interest: Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909–2009, ed. Greg Donaghy and Michael Carroll. (Calgary: University of Calgary Press).

²⁵Navy's Handling of Press Release on USS Seadragon, 7 September 1960, NARA, RG 59, entry 5298, box 13.

²⁶The Arctic as a Theatre of War in ‘SUBICEX 3–60 Report,’ 4 October 1960, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

²⁷ The Sargo entered the McClure Strait very briefly en route to the North Pole.

²⁸ W.M. Cameron to Waldo K. Lyon. 23 October 1963 & N.C. Nash to Waldo K. Lyon. 21 November 1963, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

²⁹OpNav Instruction 03470.4, 27 May 1963, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

³⁰Comments on Draft Seven Year Program, 22 November 1962, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

³¹ William M. Leary, Under Ice: Waldo Lyon and the Development of the Arctic Submarine (College Station: Texas A&M University Press 1999), pp. 227–228.

³²Staff Study of the Operational Requirements in the Canadian Arctic, 9 April 1963, DHH, 79/246.

³³A Canadian Nuclear Powered Submarine Program Report, May 1964, DHH, Gigg Papers, 88/64, box 1.

³⁴A Canadian Nuclear Powered Submarine Program Report, May 1964, DHH, Gigg Papers, 88/64, box 1

³⁵ Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to Waldo K. Lyon, 26 September 1967, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

³⁶ Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to Waldo K. Lyon, 26 September 1967, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers

³⁷ A.R. Milne to Chairman, Defence Research Board, Operation Icepack 8–68, 28 May 1968, LAC, RG 24, vol. 24033, file 3801–06.

³⁸ A.R. Milne to Chairman, Defence Research Board, LAC, RG 24, vol. 24033, file 3801–06.

³⁹ W.A. von Winkle (Commanding Officer, Naval Underwater Systems Centre) to Chief of Naval Operations (US), CANUS Project Data, 22 September 1970, LAC, RG 24, vol. 24033, file 3801–06.

⁴⁰ R.E. Banks to Director, Northern Economic Development, 24 July 1970 & R.E. Banks to M. Shanstone, 17 July 1970, LAC, RG 24, vol. 24033, file 3801–06.

⁴¹ Donald S. Macdonald, Defence in the 70s (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1971), p. 18.

⁴² J.H. Granton to Chairman, Defence Research Board, Sonobuoys for Arctic Use, 11 December 1969, LAC, RG 24, vol. 24033, file 3801–06.

⁴³ Note from Stan Toole to ‘Miss. Johnson,’ 29 April 1972, LAC, RG 24, vol. 34033, file 3801–26.

⁴⁴ A.M. Patterson (Deputy Chief, Canadian Defence Research Staff) to Chief of Defence Research Establishment Pacific, LAC, RG 24, vol. 34033, file 3801–26.

⁴⁵ R.E. Banks to Chief, Canadian Defence Research Staff, Status Report, 16 October 1972, LAC, RG 24, vol. 34033, file 3801–26.

⁴⁶ The Soviet fleet had expanded from three SSNs in 1960 to 40 in 1975. The SSBN fleet had undergone a similar growth, from one in 1960 to 60 in 1975; Norman Polmar. The Naval Institute Guide to the Soviet Navy (Annapolis: US Naval Institute, 1986).

⁴⁷ Harriet Critchley, ‘Polar Deployment of Soviet Submarines’, International Journal 34 (Autumn, 1984): 842.

⁴⁸ Honderich, p. 92.

⁴⁹Waldo K. Lyon, Possible Utilization of Submarine (NR-1) in Support of Arctic Surveillance Missions, 6 October 1972, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵⁰Situation Review 1974, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵¹ Joseph Jockel, The US Navy, MARCOM and the Arctic, (paper presented to the Conference on Undersea Dimensions, of Maritime Strategy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 21–24 June 1989), p. 31, DHH, 39/436.

⁵² Report of the Sub-Committee on National Defence of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Canada's Maritime Defence, May 1983, p. 51.

⁵³Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵⁴ Waldo K. Lyon and Allan Beal, Proposal for Forward Area Logistic Support of Submarines in the Arctic, 1 August 1983 & Message to CINCLANDFLT, March 1977, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵⁵ PJBD, Journal of Discussions: 160^th Meeting, 20–23 October 1981, DHH, 82/196.

⁵⁶ R.R. Carrett to Commander, Naval Ocean System Centre, 4 June 1981, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵⁷ Waldo K. Lyon and Allan Beal, Proposal for Forward Area Logistic Support of Submarines in the Arctic, 1 August 1983, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁵⁸ ‘Detection System in Arctic Revealed’, Halifax Chronicle Herald, 21 August 1985.

⁵⁹ Peter Cowan, ‘Tories Admit Foreign Subs Sometimes Intrude in Arctic’, The Ottawa Citizen, 10 December 1986, pp. A3.

⁶⁰Arctic Subsurface Surveillance System, 28 July 1992, DHH, 93/110; This project was ultimately cancelled on the basis of cost.

⁶¹ Arctic Subsurface Surveillance System: Strawman Design, 28 July, 1992, DHH, 93/110, item 415B.

⁶² Message to CINCLANDFLT, March 1977, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁶³Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁶⁴ Honderich, p. 99.

⁶⁵ Joseph Jockel, The US Navy, MARCOM and the Arctic, (paper presented to the Conference on Undersea Dimensions, of Maritime Strategy, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 21–24 June 1989), pp. 4–5, DHH, 39/436.

⁶⁶ Naval Submarine League, ‘Arctic Submarine Warfare’, The Submarine Review (July, 1983), pp. 4–5.

⁶⁷ Arctic Submarine Laboratory, Historical Timeline [online] http://www.csp.navy.mil/asl/Timeline.htm, accessed, 28 July, 2012.

⁶⁸Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁶⁹Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers

⁷⁰ Peter Cowan, ‘Tories Admit Foreign Subs Sometimes Intrude in Arctic’, The Ottawa Citizen, 10 December 1986, p. A3.

⁷¹ Peter Cowan, ‘Tories Admit Foreign Subs Sometimes Intrude in Arctic’, The Ottawa Citizen, 10 December 1986, p. A3

⁷² PJBD, Journal of Discussions: 172^nd Meeting, 25–27 November 1985, DHH, 82/196.

⁷³ Allan Lawrence to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, 13 December 1985, DHH, 82/196.

⁷⁴ Allan Lawrence to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, 13 December 1985, DHH, 82/196

⁷⁵Submarine Cruises, (list compilation date unknown), NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁷⁶ M. Allan Beal and Waldo K. Lyon, Proposal for Forward Logistic Support of Submarines in the Arctic, 1 August 1983, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁷⁷ Michael Byers, Who Owns the Arctic? Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2010), p. 77.

⁷⁸ Kenneth Curtis and John Carrol, Canadian-American Relations (Lexington: Lexington Books, 1983), p. 12.

⁷⁹ Coates, Ken et al. Arctic Front: Defending Canadian Interests in the Far North (Toronto: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd., 2008), p. 153.

⁸⁰ Letter from E.B. Armstrong to the Minister of National Defence, 8 February, 1971, DHH. 85/333.069.080

⁸¹ Rob Huebert, ‘US Subs do not Threaten our Sovereignty’, National Post, 21 December 2005, p. A16.

⁸² Rob Huebert, ‘US Subs do not Threaten our Sovereignty’, National Post, 21 December 2005, p. A16

⁸³ International Court of Justice, Corfu Channel Case, 1948.

⁸⁴ PJBD Recommendation 52/1, NARA, RG 59, General Records of the Department of State, PJBD Subject File 1940–59, box 6.

⁸⁵ PJBD Recommendation 52/1, NARA, RG 59, General Records of the Department of State, PJBD Subject File 1940–59, box 6

⁸⁶ COMSUBLANT to USS Flying Fish, May 1977, NHH, Waldo K. Lyon Papers.

⁸⁷ Secretary of State for External Affairs to Cabinet, Memorandum to Cabinet, Status of the Arctic Archipelagic Waters, 1 June 1982, LAC, RG 12, vol. 5561, file 8100-15-4-2, pt. 4.

⁸⁸ Canada: Department of National Defence. Challenge and Commitment: A Defence Policy for Canada (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1987).

⁸⁹ Allan Lawrence to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, 13 December 1985, DHH, 82/196.

⁹⁰ PJBD, Journal of Discussions: 179^th Meeting, 1–4 March, 1988, DHH, 82/196.