20. The sealed ship experiment included a smoking ban
At midnight on April 15, the smoking lamp was extinguished throughout the ship. Of the crew of 183 including supernumeraries, just under half of the men were smokers, including Captain Beach. On Monday, April 18 at midnight, the smoking lamp was lighted. The results of the experiment were as expected, increased tensions among some, less ability to concentrate among others. Some of the men contravened the ban by chewing tobacco, another indication of foreknowledge of some of the plans for the cruise. Not until 2010 did the Navy announce a ban on smoking in submerged submarines. After the smoking lamp was lighted – which Beach announced by strolling about the ship smoking a cigar – most of the crew resumed immediately.
On Monday, April 25, Triton crossed the Equator for the fourth time. Later that date Triton arrived at the starting point for the circumnavigation, completing the around-the-world voyage in exactly 60 days, 21 hours, by the count of the men in the submarine. A person sitting on Saint Peter’s Rock, waiting for them to return, would have counted 61 days, the difference being the day lost to the men of Triton when they crossed the International Date Line. They traveled 26,723 nautical miles at an average speed for the entire journey submerged of 18 nautical miles per hour (knots). Circling St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s, Triton remained submerged and awaited the next step of the epic voyage, which was not yet over, despite the completion of the world’s first submerged tour.