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Russia’s Claim Under Polar Ice Irks American
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: February 19, 2008
Last August, a team of Russian scientists and legislators trekked to the North Pole and plunged through the ice pack into the abyss, descending more than two miles through inky darkness to the bottom of the ocean.
There, explorers planted Russia’s flag and, upon surfacing, declared that the feat had strengthened Moscow’s claims to nearly half the Arctic seabed. The ensuing global headlines fueled debate over polar territorial claims.
But that wasn’t the whole story. The heroes of the moment did not mention that the dive had American origins.
Alfred S. McLaren, 75, a retired Navy submariner, would like to set the record straight and, as he puts it, “acquaint the Kremlin with the realities†of recent history and international law.
A major figure of Arctic science and exploration who spent nearly a year in operations under the ice, Dr. McLaren says he developed the polar dive plan and repeatedly shared his labors with the Russians and their partners — a claim he supports with numerous e-mail messages and documents.
The Russians, for their part, acknowledge that Dr. McLaren played a central role in the dive’s origins. But they say he took no part in substantive planning and logistics.
Dr. McLaren’s plan drew on federal polar data and recommended specific sensors and methods to ensure a safe return.
“I wrote the procedures for the dive,†he said in an interview. The Russians, he added, “went for the territorial claim.â€
Don Walsh, a pioneer of deep ocean diving who worked on the Arctic plan with the Russians, backed the account.
The divers, Dr. Walsh wrote in an e-mail message, “did not develop the original idea, the operational plan and they did not pay for it†because wealthy tourists picked up the bill.
“I am sure,†he added, “that this example of how to steal your way to fame will become a legend in the history of exploration.â€
The Russians say they took little or nothing. “Talk is cheap,†Anatoly M. Sagalevitch, the expedition’s chief scientist, said in an interview. “But real operation, this is different.â€
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has made the most of the divers’ feat, personally greeting them upon their return and announcing last month that Dr. Sagalevitch and two other team members would be named Heroes of Russian Federation, the nation’s highest honorary title.
Dr. McLaren first got to know the Russians through the lens of a periscope. As a submariner, he conducted more than 20 secret missions during the cold war, mainly in nuclear attack submarines.
Three of his voyages ventured beneath the Northern ice pack, gauging its thickness, probing the dark waters below and bouncing sound waves off the bottom to map the craggy seabed. An important goal was to find safe submarine routes near the Soviet Union in case the cold war turned hot. Over all, he spent nearly a year under the polar ice.
In 1972, he won the Distinguished Service Medal, the military’s highest peacetime award.
He left the Navy in 1981 and earned a Ph.D. in polar studies from the University of Colorado in 1986.
After the cold war, Dr. McLaren began working with his former enemies, lecturing aboard Russian icebreakers that carried tourists to the North Pole. He did so repeatedly while president of the Explorers Club, a post he held from 1996 to 2000.
The idea for a polar dive arose in early 1997 when a television journalist, Jack McDonald, had dinner with Dr. McLaren and asked if anyone had ever gone to the bottom. The two decided to explore the possibility.
“We spent a lot time on it,†recalled Mr. McDonald, who planned to make a documentary.
The team envisioned going down in a submersible — a small craft with a super-strong personnel sphere that typically carries a pilot and two observers. Tiny portholes designed to withstand crushing pressures let the occupants peer out. A dive is typically an all-day affair, requiring hours to go down to the bottom and back up.
Later in 1997, Dr. McLaren attracted the interest of Mike McDowell, an adventure tour operator who organized the polar voyages. The next year, Dr. Sagalevitch, who runs Moscow’s twin Mir submersibles, came aboard.
Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world ... ref=slogin
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: February 19, 2008
Last August, a team of Russian scientists and legislators trekked to the North Pole and plunged through the ice pack into the abyss, descending more than two miles through inky darkness to the bottom of the ocean.
There, explorers planted Russia’s flag and, upon surfacing, declared that the feat had strengthened Moscow’s claims to nearly half the Arctic seabed. The ensuing global headlines fueled debate over polar territorial claims.
But that wasn’t the whole story. The heroes of the moment did not mention that the dive had American origins.
Alfred S. McLaren, 75, a retired Navy submariner, would like to set the record straight and, as he puts it, “acquaint the Kremlin with the realities†of recent history and international law.
A major figure of Arctic science and exploration who spent nearly a year in operations under the ice, Dr. McLaren says he developed the polar dive plan and repeatedly shared his labors with the Russians and their partners — a claim he supports with numerous e-mail messages and documents.
The Russians, for their part, acknowledge that Dr. McLaren played a central role in the dive’s origins. But they say he took no part in substantive planning and logistics.
Dr. McLaren’s plan drew on federal polar data and recommended specific sensors and methods to ensure a safe return.
“I wrote the procedures for the dive,†he said in an interview. The Russians, he added, “went for the territorial claim.â€
Don Walsh, a pioneer of deep ocean diving who worked on the Arctic plan with the Russians, backed the account.
The divers, Dr. Walsh wrote in an e-mail message, “did not develop the original idea, the operational plan and they did not pay for it†because wealthy tourists picked up the bill.
“I am sure,†he added, “that this example of how to steal your way to fame will become a legend in the history of exploration.â€
The Russians say they took little or nothing. “Talk is cheap,†Anatoly M. Sagalevitch, the expedition’s chief scientist, said in an interview. “But real operation, this is different.â€
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has made the most of the divers’ feat, personally greeting them upon their return and announcing last month that Dr. Sagalevitch and two other team members would be named Heroes of Russian Federation, the nation’s highest honorary title.
Dr. McLaren first got to know the Russians through the lens of a periscope. As a submariner, he conducted more than 20 secret missions during the cold war, mainly in nuclear attack submarines.
Three of his voyages ventured beneath the Northern ice pack, gauging its thickness, probing the dark waters below and bouncing sound waves off the bottom to map the craggy seabed. An important goal was to find safe submarine routes near the Soviet Union in case the cold war turned hot. Over all, he spent nearly a year under the polar ice.
In 1972, he won the Distinguished Service Medal, the military’s highest peacetime award.
He left the Navy in 1981 and earned a Ph.D. in polar studies from the University of Colorado in 1986.
After the cold war, Dr. McLaren began working with his former enemies, lecturing aboard Russian icebreakers that carried tourists to the North Pole. He did so repeatedly while president of the Explorers Club, a post he held from 1996 to 2000.
The idea for a polar dive arose in early 1997 when a television journalist, Jack McDonald, had dinner with Dr. McLaren and asked if anyone had ever gone to the bottom. The two decided to explore the possibility.
“We spent a lot time on it,†recalled Mr. McDonald, who planned to make a documentary.
The team envisioned going down in a submersible — a small craft with a super-strong personnel sphere that typically carries a pilot and two observers. Tiny portholes designed to withstand crushing pressures let the occupants peer out. A dive is typically an all-day affair, requiring hours to go down to the bottom and back up.
Later in 1997, Dr. McLaren attracted the interest of Mike McDowell, an adventure tour operator who organized the polar voyages. The next year, Dr. Sagalevitch, who runs Moscow’s twin Mir submersibles, came aboard.
Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world ... ref=slogin