The Nautilus submarine towed into Plymouth for repairs ahead of North Pole expedition

This extraordinary film charts an episode in the life of the Nautilus submarine, subject of an ill-fated scientific expedition to the North Pole led by Sir Hubert Wilkins. On 26 June 1931 the Nautilus is towed into Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth for urgent repairs. The Nautilus reached the North Pole in August that year but was unable to complete its mission of diving under the Artic ice floes. Wilkins also sought to open a new transportation route over the roof of the world.

On 24 March 1931, US Naval O-12 (SS-73) an O-class submarine was renamed 'the Nautilus' after Jules Verne's “20,000 Leagues under the Sea”. Captain Sloan Danenhower piloted the vessel on the 4 June 1931 from New York but the Nautilus encountered storms in the Atlantic and was eventually towed to Plymouth. Sir Hubert Wilkins' scientific experiments ranged from meteorological observations to temperature and water samples taken from the surface and the sea floor. Scientific findings from the expedition were published by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The Nautilus was sunk deliberately on 20 November 1931 in a Norwegian fjord.