{"product_id":"tudor-submariner-gilt-dial-as02088","title":"Tudor Submariner Gilt Dial","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe success of Operation Sunshine, undertaken by the USS \u003ci\u003eNautilus \u003c\/i\u003ein 1958, prompted Congress to order more nuclear submarines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThough many of these were designated as attack submarines, there was one whose purpose was more covert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe keel of the USS \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e was laid on April 11, 1957. Though initially a diesel-electric submarine, after the voyage of the \u003ci\u003eNautilus\u003c\/i\u003e, she was completed as a nuclear-powered submarine. More than that, the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e would be the first submarine in the U.S. Navy designed to launch guided missiles, which she would do successfully in March 1960.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIn 1965, the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e sailed into the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for an overhaul. She was fitted with side-look sonar, a mainframe computer, and recording and video equipment. Though the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e did in fact carry other specialized oceanographic equipment (including an underwater search vehicle or “fish”), her true mission was revealed in 1968, when she would be used to locate the wreckage of the \u003ci\u003eK-129\u003c\/i\u003e, a Soviet submarine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eBut it was in 1971 that the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e was used to her fullest potential. The previous year, the United States learned of the existence of a Soviet undersea communications cable in the Sea of Okhtosk, which connected the Soviet naval base at Petropavlovsk to the Fleet’s headquarters in Vladivostok. To the United States, the potential of tapping that cable and learning Soviet state secrets was too great to ignore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eHalibut \u003c\/i\u003ewas sent deep into the Sea of Okhtosk, below the sound detection devices that the Soviets had installed to deter intruders. The mission was so secret that most of the boat’s crew lacked the proper clearance, and so a cover mission was devised: to recover debris from missiles launched during Soviet naval demonstrations. As far as the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e’s true mission, it was a resounding success. So confident were the Soviets of the security of their cable that most of the conversations made over it were unencrypted, allowing the U.S. to keep tabs on the operations of the Soviet Pacific Fleet. More taps were installed, and more nuclear-powered submarines followed in the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e’s wake until the end of the Cold War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIn 1954, the year the \u003ci\u003eNautilus\u003c\/i\u003e was christened, Tudor would introduce the Submariner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOriginally produced by Rolex to respond to a growing base of sports watch consumers, Tudor was conceived as a more economic way to buy a quality diver. This was achieved by using generic ETA Swiss movements and housing them in Oyster cases with typical Rolex-signed crowns, crystals, and bracelets. In short, the Tudor Submariners of the 1960s and 70s had all the look of their Rolex brethren with guts that were simpler, more common and easier to service.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eWhile the Submariners from the 1970s and 1980s, with their trademark “snowflake” hands, are the most desirable, the Submariners from the early 1960s are worthy of praise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis particular Submariner is a Reference 7928 dating from 1965, the year the keel of the \u003ci\u003eHalibut\u003c\/i\u003e was laid. The early gilt dial (with radium indices and an outer chapter ring) has aged to a gorgeous patina, and the case is strong, with signs of light but careful wear.  A Submariner of a different kind, the Tudor Submariner was mean to dive, and dive deep, like the \u003cem\u003eNautilus\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eHalibut. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eWhether you're engaged in nautical pursuits (or a little undersea wire-tapping), the 7928 is the perfect daily companion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tudor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":35710963969,"sku":null,"price":8950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0809\/1255\/products\/Tudor_Submariner_7928_AS02088_2.jpg?v=1497458480","url":"https:\/\/www.analogshift.com\/products\/tudor-submariner-gilt-dial-as02088","provider":"Analog:Shift","version":"1.0","type":"link"}