Media coverage Operation Sandblast

first submerged circumnavigation *1960* (gpo)



captain edward l. beach



presidential unit citation including special clasp in form of golden replica of globe of world.

because of public uproar on u-2 incident, sparked major soviet-american diplomatic crisis led collapse of 1960 paris summit, of official celebrations triton s submerged circumnavigation canceled. voyage did receive extensive contemporary coverage news media, including feature magazine articles argosy, life, look, national geographic, , saturday evening post television , newsreels.

triton s commanding officer during operation sandblast, captain edward l. beach, appeared on cbs news program face nation on 15 may 1960 while several triton crew members appeared on s line television game show. triton s submerged circumnavigation subject of abc television series expedition! broadcast on tuesday, 14 february 1961. hosted john d. craig, episode titled saga of triton, , featured film footage operation sandblast voice-over narration extracted captain beach s logbook.

the american government published 82-page redacted version of triton s log (pictured) following submerged circumnavigation. described new york times literary product in own right [that] rivals in spots suspense , drama of adventure pages of captain hornblower.

captain beach wrote lead article ( triton follows magellan s wake ) on circumnavigation november 1960 issue of national geographic magazine, , wrote book-length account, around world submerged: voyage of triton, published in 1962. beach made public presentations of accomplishments of operation sandblast before national press club (pictured), national geographic society on 27 may 1960, american philosophical society on 22 april 1961, society of non-destructive testing on 8 may 1965, , eagle-scout recognition dinner in chicago, illinois, on 4 november 1965.

historian bern dibner wrote victoria , triton, 1964 book famous maritime circumnavigations, featuring victoria, spanish carrack first ship circumnavigate world under ferdinand magellan, triton s submerged circumnavigation of 1960. also, beril becker wrote 1961 juvenile-market non-fiction account of operation sandblast, around world underwater: captain edward l. beach, illustrations richard modock. finally, feat of completing first submerged circumnavigation of world submarine triton recognized significant scientific , technological achievement year 1960 in bernard grun s authoritative historical reference, timestables of history. operation sandblast examined within overall context of global circumnavigations in joyce e. chaplin s 2012 history round earth: circumnavigation magellan orbit.

for 50th anniversary of operation sandblast (see below), writer-historian carl lavo wrote incredible voyage june 2010 edition of naval history magazine, , john beach wrote first submerged circumnavigation april 2010 issue of submarine review, official magazine of naval submarine league. mr. beach nephew of captain edward l. beach, commanding officer of uss triton during operation sandblast. finally, naval institute press published beneath waves dr. edward f. finch, 2010 biography of late captain beach, includes extensive coverage of operation sandblast. finally, in 1999 interview hands magazine, captain edward l. beach paid tribute crew , ship noting:

i m proud of triton s around-the-world cruise, didn t that. done crew , navy - ship navy built , put me in command of. s not personal achievement, although captain of ship.