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Friday, January 30, 2026

Wilkins–Ellsworth Trans-Arctic Submarine Expedition

A 2025 Article of Distinction by Keith Lichtman

The following article presents an examination of a twice-mailed cover addressed both to and from Sir George Hubert Wilkins, polar explorer. The article was submitted by APS Chapter Palm Beach Stamp Club as an Article of Distinction for 2025 and originally appeared in volume 12, no. 10 (October 2025) of the club's newsletter.

To learn more about Palm Beach Stamp Club, click here.

To read other Articles of Distinction, click here.

Wilkins–Ellsworth Trans-Arctic Submarine Expedition

by Keith Lichtman

As I have said before - I love covers where I can trace its history. This month’s cover was a lucky find. I had been searching for more covers for my Macon Airship collection and came across a cachet that I had not seen. Thinking I had found an older airship cover, I opened it to discover the cachet was a submarine. The title caught my eye, "Wilkins – Ellsworth Trans-Artic Submarine Expedition." From what I can tell the cover was created and mailed from London with a three half pence King George V stamp (Scott #161) to Sir Hubert Wilkins, the explorer in the title. The date on the London postmark is un-readable. It was addressed to c/o (care of) General Delivery, New York, NY, New York to North Pole. Sir Wilkins was delayed on his departure, so the envelope would have reached him prior to his departure for the North Pole. Sir Wilkins re-used the envelope to send, most likely a letter, to Sam Langston, Waco Texas on May 8th, 1931, just before his departure to England. A 2¢ carmine, George Washington imperforate postage stamp (Scott #409), was used to pay postage from New York to Texas.

Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958) was an Australian explorer, pilot, geographer, and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross for his efforts to rescue wounded soldiers in WWI, the only photographer from any war to ever receive a combat medal. In March 1927, Wilkins and pilot Carl Eielson explored the ice drifts north of Alaska. Their landing on the ice was the first land-plane descent onto drift ice. In December 1927, Wilkins and Eielson made the first successful airplane flight over the Antarctic continent. In April 1928, they began a trans-Arctic crossing from Point Barrows, Alaska to Green Harbour, Spitsbergen (Even I needed to look up where that is. Spitsbergen is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway in the Arctic Ocean. Constituting the westernmost bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea. – Google). For this feat and his other works, Wilkins was knighted by King George V in 1928.

Sir Wilkins first thought about a submarine expedition to the Noth Pole in 1913, during his first polar expedition. It was not until 1930 that the expedition came to fruition. While on vacation with his wife he stayed at his friend Lincoln Ellsworth’s Swiss castle. Both men thought the submarine could be a way to reach the Artic to conduct scientific experiments. Wilkins believed a submarine could take a fully equipped laboratory to the Artic.

With money contributed by Wilkins, Ellsworth, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and William Randolph Hearst (who purchased the exclusive rights to the story), the expedition was funded. Wilkins leased a 1918 decommissioned military submarine for five years, at one dollar per year. The sub was stripped of its military armaments and scientific equipment installed. Modifications were made to the superstructure to allow it to operate under the ice.

On March 23, 1931, the sub arrived at the Brooklyn Naval Yard in New York and the next day it was renamed Nautilus, after Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Wilkins’ wife, Suzanne Bennett Wilkins (1893-1974) christened the submarine using a bottle of ice water. Jule’s Verne’s grandson was a guest at the christening. After thorough test runs that put them two months behind schedule, the Nautilus set off on the first leg of the voyage to England. Crossing the Atlantic, the Nautilus ran into severe storms that resulted in mechanical failures. By April 15th Nautilus radioed an SOS and was rescued and towed to Queenstown, Ireland. From Ireland she was towed to Davenport England to await spare parts only available from the United States. After repairs, Sir Wilkins (you remember him from the beginning of this story) and the Nautilus set off for Norway where they picked up science officers and additional equipment. They departed Norway on August 5th and encountered their first ice floe on August 19th. They spent the next few days exploring the edge of the ice pack for a location to make their first dive attempt. On August 22nd, the decision was made to dive under the ice. While preparing to submerge it was found that the Nautilus’s diving rudders were missing. The loss of rudders made standard dives impossible. Evidence was found that the damage was probably sabotage and may have been linked to some crew members lack of confidence in Wilkins. They were concerned that the expedition was a suicide mission.

Sir Wilkins still attempted to accomplish some of the planned experiments that did not require being submerged. On August 31st, an opportunity presented itself that allowed the Nautilus to dive under an ice floe three feet thick. Wilkins was able to make additional dives before it was decided that it was no longer safe to remain at sea.

Wilkins headed the Nautilus back to England but encountered severe storms, suffering massive hull damage and engine failure, which forced them to dock in Norway. Wilkins received permission from the United States Navy to sink the submarine and on November 20, 1931, the Nautilus was scuttled in a Norwegian fjord.

Sir Wilkins did not meet all of his objectives but was able to prove that submarines were capable of operating under the polar ice cap. He died on November 30th, 1958 and in accordance with his wishes, the U.S. Navy took his ashes aboard the submarine USS Skate and then scattered them at the North Pole.