at McMurdo for takeoff and landing. This combi- OPERATION DEEP FREEZE 66 nation is not easy to obtain, and, as a result, many scheduled photographic flights have to be cancelled or aborted. Further delays occurred during the past season because of necessary repairs to one of the HENRY M. DATER photographic planes and because difficulties were Staff Historian encountered by USNS Alatna during December in U. S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica reaching McMurdo Station with needed aviation fuel. Mapping, however, is important in both plan- For the eleventh consecutive year, the United ning and executing scientific programs. Photography States Navy conducted operations in Antarctica not flown this season will be rescheduled in the in support of science. It allocated to this task nine future. ships, an air squadron, a construction battalion de- tachment, and about 3,000 men. Assistance was Construction received from United States Army and Air Force Lieutenant Whitmer has covered the highlights of units, the Coast Guard, and from the Royal New the construction done by Detachment Whiskey of Zealand Navy and Air Force. Even with a reduction Mobile Construction Battalion Six (MCB-6). Other from former years in the number of SeaBees, an ambi- construction is performed by Antarctic Support tious construction program was carried through to Activities (ASA) as part of its normal function of completion. operating and maintaining the stations. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of this latter organization Air Operations was the building of a runway 6,000 feet long on the In this issue of the Antarctic Journal, accounts Ross Ice Shelf some 14 miles from McMurdo Sta- are presented of some of the seasons many tion. On February 18, an LC-130F made the first activities by the men who were engaged in them. wheeled landing on this new shelf-ice runway, and Commander Morris reviews the accomplishments on February 22, the runway was used by a Super- of Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6) and Constellation, an aircraft that is not equipped with notes the contribution of Army, Air Force, and skis. The practicability of such a runway would New Zealand air units and of the helicopters based make possible air operations with wheeled aircraft aboard Navy icebreakers. It should be noted also throughout the year, and free air operations from that the Coast Guard icebreaker Eastwind, op- dependence on a sea-ice runway that may either erating about the Antarctic Peninsula, had Coast melt or break out. Guard aviators aboard who were flying HFJ-52A Antarctic Support Activities is also responsible for turbine-powered helicopters. laying out and maintaining other runways at Mc- In addition to its many other activities, VX-6 is Murdo. These include the annual sea-ice runway, also responsible for photographic coverage of ant- 10,000 feet long and oriented into the prevailing arctic operations, including both motion and still wind, and a crosswind runway of 7,000 feet. Midway pictures. For this purpose, the Squadron operates a in the season, use of these runways was suspended photographic laboratory at McMurdo Station. An because of deteriorating ice conditions. The last important part of this responsibility is obtaining wheeled, aircraft took off from the sea ice on Janu- aerial photography for mapping purposes. During ary 12, but the runway aligned with the wind re- the past season 19,075 flight-line miles of trimet- tained a restricted availability until the breaking up rogon coverage was requested, and 7,645 miles were of the ice on February 3. Because of the extensive flown. Requests were also received for 4,900 miles breakout of ice that occurred during 1964-1965, it of special and 1,500 miles of reconnaissance photo- was necessary to relocate and rebuild the Williams graphy. Some 4,524 miles of the special and 620 Field skiway, used principally by the LC-1 30Fs. This miles of the reconnaissance photography were com- was done by personnel of the wintering-over detach- pleted by the end of the season. An article in an ment. All these runways, together with their access earlier issue of the Antarctic Journal explains the roads, are indicated on fig. 1. equipment and techniques used in this endeavor. Elsewhere in the Antarctic, ASA maintains ski- As the areas to be photographed become more dis- ways at Byrd, South Pole, and Plateau Stations and tant from McMurdo Station, weather poses an in- an. annual. sea-ice runway at Hallett as long as ice creasingly serious problem. The sky must be rela- conditions will permit. This year the Hallett runway tively cloud-free over the objective and the weather closed down on December 2. The same organization must remain good for a considerable period of time also provides navigational aids and operates traffic control centers at both Christchurch, New Zealand, E. W. Van Reeth, "Aerial Photography in Antarctica." Antarctic Journal, 1 (2): 66-67. and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. July-August, 1966 147 (Draiing bi, Antarctic Support Activities) Fig. 1. Runways in the McMurdo Station Area. Both Commander Morris and Lieutenant Whitmer itect with the Naval Facilities Engineering Com- touch upon the outstanding feat of the year, the es- mand demonstrates, almost all the elements of the tablishment of Plateau Station at 79°15S. 40°30E. U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, as well as the The problems encountered, the effort expended, and National Science Foundations Office of Antarctic the success achieved, all seem to merit extended Programs, were involved in the planning and con- treatment. As the authoritative account written by struction of Plateau Station. Commander S. K. Kauffman, CEC, USN, Assistant At Palmer Station, on the other hand, maintenance Chief of Staff for Engineering, U. S. Naval Support and construction were done largely by work parties Force, Antarctica, and Mr. Arthur M. Weber, arch- from the Coast Guard icebreaker Eastwind. While 148 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL the ship was at anchor off Anvers Island, personnel aboard the Argentine naval transport Lapataia. A were put ashore daily. When it went on scientific projected visit to Palmer Station had to be cancelled cruises, from January 21 to 26 and again from because of ice conditions in Arthur Harbor, but the January 29 to February 21, a group from the ship tourists were entertained aboard USNS Wyandot. remained ashore and carried on with many projects From McMurdo Station, LC-1 3OFs on two occa- to improve the stations efficiency and to render it sions flew to the Soviets Vostok Station. These more habitable. The Coast Guards men also un- flights, made in connection with exchange of scien- loaded the ships, using landing craft and helicopters, tists between the two expeditions and the mainte- and stowed the cargo ashore. In all, they contrib- nance of United States equipment installed at Vostok uted close to 1,000 man-hours to the support of during 1963-1964, allowed the Commander, U. S. Palmer Station. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, his deputy, and the USARP Representative at McMurdo Station to visit International Activities briefly with their Soviet colleagues. While operating about the Antarctic Peninsula, On November 11, a ski-equipped C-47 of the the Commanding Officer of Eastwind, Captain Argentine Air Force landed at McMurdo. It was one W. M. Benkert, USCG, and Dr. George A. Llano, of a three-plane detachment that had flown to the U. S. Antarctic Research Program Representative, South Pole by way of General Belgrano Base on the made informal calls on Argentine, British, and Filchner Ice Shelf. The other two, Beaver aircraft, Chilean bases in the area. Among those visited remained at the South Pole while the C-47 proceeded were British stations in the Argentine Islands (Janu- to McMurdo. The Naval Support Force furnished ary 9) and on Adelaide Island (January 24). Shortly supply support to all three planes, and naval person- thereafter, they flew to Argentinas Almirante Brown nel at McMurdo repaired an engine and replaced a Base in Paradise Harbor (January 30) and, on wheel strut on the C-47 before the return flight. February 2, visited installations of all three coun- A month later, on December 10, three Sno-Cats of tries at Deception Island. the Argentine Army, also coming from General A visit of another nature very nearly occurred to Belgrano, arrived at the South Pole after a 45-day the United Kingdom base on Signy Island, in the journey. The machines were serviced and repaired South Orkney Islands. On February 5, information with the assistance of Navy personnel at the station, was received that X-ray equipment was needed to and the traverse party was entertained for a period determine the location of a one-inch dental wedge of five days. accidentally swallowed by one of the men. The The close cooperation with New Zealand con- Chileans at Deception offered to evacuate the patient tinued during the 1965-1966 season. As in the past, by air, but their amphibious aircraft developed me- New Zealand made a tanker available to the United chanical trouble. When this occurred, Ecisiwind sus- States for transport of fuel to McMurdo. Also used pended scientific operations and hastened toward the for resupplying New Zealands Scott Base, HMNZS island. During the evening of the seventh, informa- Endeavour made two trips from New Zealand to tion was received that the crisis had passed. The ship McMurdo Station last season, ferrying over one resumed her oceanographic work, but on February million gallons of fuel and 21 tons of dry cargo. 10, as Easiwinci was passing near the island, her com- This year, for the first time, New Zealand aviators manding officer took the opportunity to fly ashore flew from their country to Antarctica and landed at for a brief stay.