Secret orders, Polaris research, and submerged presence

Triton joined the all-nuclear Submarine Squadron 10 for trials and returned to Electric Boat in December 1959 for special communications equipment and a prototype towed buoy. Work waited behind George Washington and Patrick Henry, the ballistic-missile submarines needed for deterrent patrols before the end of 1960. On 1 February, Beach received orders to attend a Washington conference on 4 February, where the submerged circumnavigation was discussed under strict security. The mission would collect geophysical and oceanographic data while testing habitability, endurance, and physiological stress for the Polaris programme. Continuous submerged operation, undetected by American or foreign forces, combined those research requirements with a demonstration of national capability. Triton's size, speed, and the additional dependability of two reactors made her particularly suited to the voyage. Its suitability for Sandblast does not establish that the radar-picket project was a cover for the voyage. The objection to that suggestion is that a long-range submarine could have been justified without adding the large radar and its expense.