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
North Pole the third pair of submarines to surface together at the North Pole. In March 1990, "Gurnard" deployed to the Arctic region during exercise Ice Ex '90 and completed only the fourth winter submerged transit of the Bering and Seas. "Gurnard" surfaced at the North Pole on April 18, in the company of the USS "Seahorse" (SSN-669). On 6 May 1986 USS "Archerfish" (SSN 678), USS "Ray" (SSN 653) and USS "Hawkbill" (SSN-666) surfaced at the North Pole, the first tri-submarine surfacing at the North Pole. On 21 April 1987 Shinji Kazama of Japan became the first person to reach the