JIET L S. Antarctic Projects OfficerI November 1960 I believe that the major exports of Antarctica are scientific data. Certainly that is true now and I think it will be true for a long time and I think these data may turn out to be of vastly, more value to all mankind than all of the mineral riches of the continent and the life of the seas that surround it. The Polar Regions in Their Relation to Human Affairs, by Laurence M. Gould (Bow- man Memorial Lectures, Series Four), The American Geographiql Society, New York, 1958 page 29.. I ITOJ TJM II IU1viBEt 3 IToveber 1960 CONTENTS 1 The First Month 1 Air Operations 2 Ship Oper&tions 3 Project MAGNET NAF McMurdo Sounds October Weather 4 4 DEEP FREEZE 62 Volunteers Solicited A DAY AT TEE SOUTH POLE STATION, by Paul A Siple 5 in Antarctica 8 International Cooperation 8 Foreign Observer Exchange Program 9 Scientific Exchange Program NavyPrograrn 9 Argentine Navy-U.S. Station Cooperation 9 10 Other Programs 10 Worlds Largest Aircraft in Antarctic Operation 11 ANTARCTICA, by Emil Schulthess The Antarctic Treaty 11 11 USNS PRIVATE FRANIC 3. FETRARCA (TAK-250) 1961 Scientific Leaders 12 NAAF Little Rockford Reopened 13 13 First Flight to Hallett Station 14 Simmer Operations Begin at South Pole First DEEP FREEZE 61 Airdrop 14 15 DEEP FREEZE 61 Cargo Antarctic Real Estate 15 Antarctic Chronology,. 1960-61 16 The 'AuuOiA vises to t):iank Di * ?a]. A, Siple for his artj.ole Wh.4b begins n page 5 Matera1 for other sections of bhis issue was drawn from radio messages and fran information provided bY the DepBr1nozrt of State the Nat0na1 Academy , of Soienoes the NatgnA1 Science Fouxidation the Office 6f NAval Re- search, and the U, 3, Navy Hydziograpbio Offioe, Tiis, issue of tie 3n oovers: i16, aótivitiès o events 11 Novóiber The of the Uxitéd States. ntarotio irpjects. Officer is pisbed monthly, except July and l Augusta AU inquiries shou]4 be directed to the Uruted States "taro- tic Projeót. Offioer 718 .Taàkson Plo, N W, Washing- ton 25 D, C Telephone STerling 3-0860 Extension 3796 The issuance of this publication was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 19 April 1960 THE FIRST MONTH October 1960 v4s the warmest wttest,, windiest- and ci.oudiet October on record in McMurdo Sound. (see page 4). Air operations which bége.n with the 3 Ootobr flight of the Navy Super.-Constellation "Phoenix", were stymied Unfavorable McMurdo eather oanoel1ed de1ayed and turned back other flights from Christohurch Imtnationa1 AirpQrt Ao$ivity was brought to a, oanplete halt for several 4ay at a time as b2zardà and blowing snow made visibility ero and covered t1e ioe runway with drifts, On the oer Iliftaj4,1 Qotober saw Opatiofl DEEP FREEZE 61 move into high gear, Although air qprations from w Zea.and to the ice were possible only half of the tm oportunrty iap taken to fly missions on the ioe. Navy Auxiliary Ai oi1ity Lit1e Rookfor4 was roes ablihed, TWo grass- hoppers were plaosa co;. the Ross Ice Shelf The Skelton Glacier cache for the McMurdo-o Tzre2ee was complet&, Hallett and Pole were brought out of winter isolation and resupply of f.te stations began, Scientific parties bad begun to move into the fie14 and the sir,jner research progr&i had begun, but many narties-thid,4 had sdbodulled ,tq begin their programs in October were delayed losing valua time iJi the field4 As October4 DEBP FREEZE wa moving along at a rapid pace In the first week of %eiØ gnth1, Byrd was c,ened and air drops were begun. JAAF Beardmore was mannot 4a three.-inan^ and air drops and aerial photo flights beoaurn rdatli pOrations. By 6 Novamber* t of. five fuU. Oaks of air operationsduring which e only about of the period bad seen adequate weather for air rations 634 pang of cargo had been flown from Christ rob to MoMur& 4 members of he winter parties had been ieturned to Zealand., he first two days of November saw tragedy also. On the first., the WV-2 iroraft with ±ts.• load of eleotronie equient assigned to Project MAGNET irushed at NAF .MoMurdo Sound. Eight men were ixjured1 and the aircraft was neatly a total The following day1 Steelworker First Class 0. F. John, USN, was killed in a oostruotion aooiOzrt AIR ORtiTION& As flights reurned after the. period of oomunioations blackout and bad weather which folloWet the firot Ootobor flights to the ioe Air Force and Navy aircraft beg.tz the airlift of sie and equinent required before the ships would reaiMoMurdo Sound. On 11 October LiUle, Rookford was established (see page 13) and three days later Admira1.7yree and his party landed at Hallett (see page 13), bringing the isolated party, fresh fàod and a. Cix-month$ aocwnulation of maiL. fl Throughout the week, unsettled weather had prevailed % but enough flights had been made to ocmplete the Skelton Glacier cohe and set up the first autatic weather station.. On the 17th, two of the Air Force S0-54 Rescuemasters esoorte& the R7V to Ohristoburoh with a malfunctioning engine, Four days of poor Weather followed,,, during whôh the only two C.-].24 "s which began the 2400-mile flight returned to Christohuroh as McMuxdo Sound weather deteriorated. On 22 October, flights were again caimienced, and Brigadier General Andrew B. Oannon USAF * Commander of the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing,, Military Air Trans- port Servióe, flew with the 0-120s to NAF McMurdo, to observe the operations of his men. Upon finding that the operation was falling behind in its sOhed- ule, he ordered three more Globemasters to be attached to the Antarctic Task Unit. These additional aircraft would help regain the valuable time lost be- cause of the inclement weather. Two of the VI-6 P2V-7 aircraft, which departed Christchurch on 24 October, ran short of fuel as they fought headwinds and.., faced with deteriorating wea- thir at McMurdo, landed at Cape Hallett. They completed their mission the following day as the weather closed in again for a three-day period. On te 29th, flight operations resumed, and the next day the first 0-130 landed at the South Pole (see page 14). The following day, airdrops were be- gun at the southernmost outpost. Four days later, the first aircraft landed at Byrd and on the same day, air drops began. On 3 November1 a 0-130 and an R4D carried three men and their supplies and equipment to man NW Beardmore, the air operations outpost midway between McMurdo Sound and. the South Pole. By 4 November 1 ten airdrop missions had been completed - eight at Byrd and two at the Pole • Seven 0-130 flights had seen three landings at Byrd, three at Pole, and one at Beardmore. The VX-6 R5D had made several supply missions to Hallett, and the Otters. R4D a, and HUS-]A helicopters had made numerous, flights in the MoMuxdo area, transporting scientific parties, members of the pzeas, and visitors., As flight conditions improved, : the 0-124 4s increased their airlift and air- drop operations while the C-130 0s ferried equipment,, materials, and personnel for the ambitious airner programs at" the stations. SHIP OPERATIONS While the air units were fighting the Antarctic weather, the ships of the Task Force were departing from the United States for the month-long voyage to New Zealand. 2 USS GLACIER (AGB-4) reported to Coimnancler, Task Force 43, and departed. Bos- ton on 18 October. GLACIER made a stop at PagciPago, American Samoa, enroute to New Zealand. Five days later, USS STATEN ISLAND (AGB-5) left her home port, Seattle, Washington, and after a stop in San Diego to embark her helicopter detachment, sailed for Portland, Australia. The Coast Guard icebreaker EAST- NIND (WAGB-279) left Boston on 25 October. Enroute to the Parma CaimI, she was diverted twice; first to search for an Air Force F-84 aircraft lost off the Carolina coast, and several days later to aid a sick crevman from a reighter. USS EDISTO (AGB-2) was the last of the icebreakers to depart, leaving Bos- on on the morning of the 28th. While the ioebroakers were deploying, the picket ship TJSS WIUiOITE rode ut the stormy seas on the New Zealand-Antarctic air route. On 13 October, he suffered a casualty on her Nber Four engine, and departed the next day or Dunedin. Arriving in that New Zealand port on the 16th, she made her re- irs, refueled, reprovisionod, and loft for her station after being in port ess than two days. The Military Sea Transportation Service ship USNS PRIVATE FRANK J. ETRARCA (TAK-250), enlisted to haul DEEP FREEZE cargo from San Francisco and pearl Harbor, arrived in Port Lyttelton on 20 October and after two days at he advance base, returned to the United States. USNS PRIVATE JOHN R. TOWLE TAK-240), delayed because of collision damage, reported to Task Force 43 on November and began loading cargo sevoral days later at Davisvifle. PROJECT MAGNET Project MAG\1ET, Hydrographic Office Project N29, an airborne survey of the worlds magnetic field in ocean areas, was delayed considerably when its WV-9 aircraft (Bmw 126513) crashed while landing on the McMurdo Sound ice- strip on 1 November. The project, a world-wide survey, wi2,1 oontinul its coverage of other oceanic areas, however, using an R5D aircraft. The planes port landing gear collapsed and it skidded 450 feet, shearing its port wing. The engines were loosened in their mounts and the fuselage buckled aft of the wings.