William Anderson (naval officer) was distinguished. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and participated in a total of eleven combat submarine patrols. Anderson was selected by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover to be the second commanding officer of the first nuclear submarine to be placed into service, the USS "Nautilus" and was its commander from 1957 to 1959. Anderson and his crew received international notice when the "Nautilus" became the first submarine to sail successfully under the polar ice cap surrounding the North Pole. That transit was completed under direct orders of President Dwight Eisenhower, under extreme secrecy and was in direct response to
Old Pulteney Row To The Pole position on 25 August. It was the first time any surface vessel under human power had been to any pole position. The expedition was the first attempt at such a voyage and was made possible by the open water in the Arctic region in summer. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, part of the University of Colorado, the Arctic sea ice melted to its third smallest extent (since 1979, when satellite measurements began) in September 2010. Prior to 1979 ice extents are unreliable. The adventure was conceived by Scots adventurer Jock Wishart in 2007 when Wishart was