Using the manned submersible, JAGO, a series of dives will take place in September 2005 to document the Nautilus, the world’s first arctic submarine that was scuttled in the fjord at Bergen, Norway, in 1931. For the original voyage, the John Wilkins-Ellsworth Trans Arctic Submarine Expedition of 1931, DTM provided magnetic instruments and sent staff member F. M. Soule to operate them. Soule also made bathymetric observations using an echo-sounding device.

The original expedition was an attempt by Australian Sir Hubert Wilkins to be the first to cross the Arctic Ocean, from Spitsbergen, Norway, to Alaska, by going under the Arctic ice pack via the North Pole. He acquired a surplus U.S. Navy submarine and gave it the name, Nautilus. At the North Pole, Wilkens planned to bore up through the ice with a hollow drill, but due to the deteriorating condition of the submarine and crew, the group was forced to turn back to Bergen. The expedition’s Chief Scientist was Dr. Harald Sverdrup of Norway, later to become the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst provided primary support for the expedition.

With camera systems on the JAGO, Project Nautilus will carry out extensive video and photographic documentation. After the expedition, the Bergen Maritime Museum plans to designate the Nautilus as a national historical site and also will exhibit images gathered throughout the trek in their galleries. Additionally, a documentary film will be produced featuring both Wilkens’ 1931 expedition and Project Nautilus.