Submarine photo archive

It reached the north pole in August 1958 but was unable to surface due to thick ice... it tried again in March 1959 and succeeded in surfacing at the north pole... through thinner ice...

http://www.hullnumber.com/SSN-578

On 30 July, Skate steamed to the Arctic where she operated under the ice for 10 days. During this time, she surfaced nine times through the ice, navigated over 2,400 miles (3,900 km) under it, and on 11 August, 9:47 pm EDT (the week after USS Nautilus) became the second sea ship to reach the North Pole. Skate was unable to surface precisely at the Pole on the August voyage due to dangerous ice conditions as noted in the captain's 1960 book, "Surface at the Pole: The Extraordinary Voyages of the USS Skate," where Calvert said, "Seldom had the ice seemed so heavy and so thick as it did in the immediate vicinity of the pole. For days we had searched in vain for a suitable opening to surface in."The closest was to make radio contact at the surface from a polynya around 30 nm away, but not to surface fully owing to the risk of damage from ice. Skate did manage to surface and make contact with Drifting Ice Station Alpha at 85ºN, 300 nm away. On 23 August, she steamed into Bergen, Norway. The submarine made port calls in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France before returning to New London on 25 September 1958. In recognition of the dangerous and historic feet, the Skate and its crew was given the Navy Unit Commendation award for "... braving the hazards of the polar ice pack...."

While the Skate was unable to surface on its first voyage to the pole, on 17 March 1959, she became the first submarine to surface at the North Pole with Calvert describing the historic moment in his book, saying, "Slowly we blew the tanks and the Skate moved reluctantly upward. It was apparent we were under heavier ice here than any we had experienced before." While at the pole, Calvert and the crew planted an American Flag in a cairn they built out of ice blocks and put a waterproof container in the cairn with a note commemorating the event. The crew also held a ceremony for the late Arctic explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins and committed his ashes at the pole. In 1931, Sir Hubert had conducted an Arctic expedition in the disarmed research submarine Nautilus (ex-USS O-12). After reaching the Pole, the Skate continued its mission to pioneer arctic operations during periods of extreme cold and maximum ice thickness. When the submarine returned to port, she was awarded a bronze star in lieu of a second Navy Unit Commendation for demonstrating "... for the first time the ability of submarines to operate in and under the Arctic ice in the dead of winter...." In the fall of 1959 and in 1960, Skate participated in exercises designed to strengthen American antisubmarine defenses.

None of this changes the facts...

You really shouldn't get your information from 'WattsUpwiththat.com'- people might think you are an idiot...

As a side note, Watts got the photo from the same archive I linked to above where its labeled as NOT being from the March 17 1959 north-pole surfacing... navsource clearly says summer 1958 (other sources say August 1958)... Yet watts claims its a picture of the Skate at the north pole and uses that 'fact' to somehow debunk the decades of science...

You see, he knows he is lying to you, Steve, but he also knows you will eat it up and not think it over....