John Francis Ropek this nuclear submarine, Ropek was involved in pioneering oceanographic studies under the polar ice cap of the North Pole, resulting in the report "Characteristics of Polar Ice Observed During the 1957 Arctic Cruise of the USS Nautilus" (Defense Technical Information Center 1958). As a scientist he published many technical papers, such as "US Navy Hydrographic Office synoptic and prognostic wave charts" (US Navy Hydrographic Office 1955), and "An Application of Naval Oceanographic Development to Inland Waters" (Defense Technical Information Center 1967). Later, Ropek was deputy director of the prediction division of the Naval Oceanographic Office. Late in life he lived
Old Pulteney Row To The Pole in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada for the biannual Polar Race, which he organises. Having just completed the race, he had taken a rowing machine out of the hotel onto the ice. A friend, seeing him, joked, "What are you going to do next Jock? Row to the Pole!" Jock Wishart publicly announced his intention and the expedition's sponsor, Scotch Whisky brand Old Pulteney, in April 2010. The attempt began on 28 July 2011. The crew departed from Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island heading across the Wellington Channel to the coast of Devon Island. In open waters they made swift progress to