The starting and ending point of this adventure were the St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The first underwater circumnavigation of the world was completed on this day in 1960. This venture, the “Operation Sandblast”, was conducted by the American submarine USS Triton. This nuclear submarine was the only specimen of its class. Indeed, it is interesting that the USS Triton was the only western submarine with two nuclear reactors in history.
The USS Triton submarine was the largest, most powerful and most expensive nuclear submarine in the world at the time of its launch. It was a 136.4-meter-long submarine with a 45,000-horsepower drive mechanism.
The starting and ending point during the first underwater circumnavigation of the world were the St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This is an interesting group of 15 rocks that are located one-third of the way between the coasts of Brazil and Africa. It is a 1.5-hectare area, and the highest point of the rocks at 17 meters.
Interestingly, the USS Triton submarine largely followed the same route as the expedition led by the Portuguese sailor Magellan in the 16th century. His expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth (although Magellan did not complete the entire voyage).
The first underwater circumnavigation around the world lasted 60 days and 21 hours (they crossed about 49,491 kilometers). The average speed of the submarine was 33 km/h.
