Qualla: Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Navy, Public domain. Somewhere off the eastern shore of Andros Island, a submarine glides through water so deep and so sheltered that the U.S. Navy considers it one of the finest testing environments on Earth. The Tongue of the Ocean -- a U-shaped trench running 150 miles long, 20 miles wide, and plunging to depths of 6,600 feet -- is surrounded on three sides by islands, reefs, and shoals that block ocean swells and ambient noise. It is, in effect, a natural laboratory. Since 1966, the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, known as AUTEC, has used this geological accident to test everything from submarine crew proficiency to the accuracy of undersea weapons, tracking up to 63 in-water objects simultaneously across its instrumented ranges.

Image: U.S. Navy | Public domain

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: Finding the Perfect Trench

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wikited (talk) (Uploads), Public domain. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Navy's need for a deep-water test facility grew urgent enough that in 1958 the Chief of Naval Operations convened an advisory group to scout locations worldwide. They needed a trench deep enough to simulate open-ocean warfare, calm enough for preci...

Image: Wikited (talk) (Uploads) | Public domain

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: Building on the Edge

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit U.S. Navy newsletter, published monthly at AUTEC on Andros Island., Public domain. Construction began in March 1964 on the Main Base and downrange tracking stations scattered along Andros's eastern shore. The first officers and sailors arrived by Navy LST in August 1965 -- no commercial infrastructure existed to receive them. Commander G. P. Barney became the f...

Image: U.S. Navy newsletter, published monthly at AUTEC on Andros Island. | Public domain

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: Three Ranges, One Trench

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wikited (talk) (Uploads), Public domain. AUTEC operates three distinct test ranges within the Tongue of the Ocean. The Weapons Range, which became operational first in 1966, runs roughly parallel to Andros's eastern coast and is the largest and most versatile, capable of tracking dozens of underwater objects at once. So...

Image: Wikited (talk) (Uploads) | Public domain

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: Names on the Walls

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wikited (talk) (Uploads), Public domain. In 1969, the Navy named AUTEC's major buildings after fallen servicemembers, turning the remote base into a quiet memorial. Shafer Brothers Hall honors Benjamin and John Shafer, Chief Electrician's Mates lost at sea in 1963. Jacobson Hall commemorates George W. Jacobson, Sr., a C...

Image: Wikited (talk) (Uploads) | Public domain

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center: The Secret in Plain Sight

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wikited (talk) (Uploads), Public domain. AUTEC occupies an odd place in the cultural imagination. Tom Clancy stationed his fictional defector Marko Ramius there in The Cardinal of the Kremlin, working under the alias Mark Ramsey after the events of The Hunt for Red October. An episode of NCIS built its plot around the f...

Image: Wikited (talk) (Uploads) | Public domain