The Bellingshausen-Amundsen Sea Venture
.cebireakers': Rendezvous; Reach Antarctica
Life Aboard Ship
Told; Expedition
Moves Into Unknown
(Editor's note: Thii It another in the icriet of article!
by Herb Grey on hit impressioni of a 70-day trip to Ant
arctica recently. Today's article deale with life aboard
hip, the rendeivoui with the Burton Iiland, and reaching
the Antarctica.)
. By HERB GREY
Mail Tribune Advertising Manager
The first icebergs made their appearance on Thursday,
Feb. 11. One rising 100 feet into the air like a giant marble
cube was especially impressive as it passed on our port side.
Quickly they multiplied in numbers, slipping silently by like
snow-white floats in a parade.
jestic castles, others appeared as great floating plateaus.
Bob Starr's "Oceanographic Atlas of the Polar Seas" ex
plains that Antarctic icebergs do not originate from narrow
glacial tongues like those in Greenland and Spitsbergen, but
are pushed into the sea along a broad front ice shelf. They
may be as much as 100 miles in length and 200 feet above
the waterline,' box-like or tabular in form as opposed to the
craggy forms of Arctic icebergs.
Movies Shows as Usual
Even though seas were heavy and the motion picture
projector more than once fell over during the evening show,
movies were shown as usual in the officers' wardroom and
the crew's messroom. The higher the waves rolled, the lower
was the attendance. Commodore McDonald and Capt. Porter
were present, as usual, and popcorn from the Commodore's
mess was munched as the audience cheered the hero and
hissed the villian.
While scientists poured over prodigious volumes, officers,
newsmen and crew members spent spare time puzzling along
with Perry Mason over the problems of criminal law with an
assist from Earl Stanley Gardner.
Entomologist Robin Reed's large insect nets whipped in
the wind from the Glacier's rigging and occasionally notes
would be slipped into one of them by a crew member. Most
of those on board had, in fact, become so exposed to scientists
that amateur geologists, entomologists, oceanographers and
ornithologists were numerous.
The storm increased in fury
the following day; it became a
full time job to eat without
having food spread across the
floor, and sleep in the nar
row bunks while the ship
rolled and pitched. It was
Saturday, Feb. 13, however,
before the storm reached its
climax.
Although cargo was well
batted down, several drums
of aviation gasoline broke
loose in the morning's early
hours and five were lost be
fore the balance could be se
cured. There were injuries among
officers and men, but only
one was recorded on the bin
nacle list by Lieut. John Dal
co, ship's physician. He was
Seaman Elmer R. Tidd, store
keeper of Dayton, Ohio, who
lost his footing while swab
bing the mess deck and struck
a hatch. X-rays indicated a
fractured hip bone.
"For about one hour," the
Glacier's captain, Comdr. Por
ter, said, "all hell was break
ing loose, including the ship's
pickup truck trying to skid
off the flight deck, breaking
several cables ordinarily suf
ficient to hold a vehicle much
larger."
Climax of Storm
The climax of the storm
was reached at 11:45 a.m.
when the clinometer Indica
tor showed a maximum roll
of 47 degrees.
Some loomed high like ma
Then came the lull that al
ways comes with ice-filled
seas. At 1845 (6:45 p.m.) San
Francisco time, the Glacier
entered Amundsen sea pack
ice at 129 degrees, 15 min
utes West, 69 degrees, 47 min
utes South. That was Satur
day, Feb. 13; we were nearing
our rendezvous with the USS
Burton Island southwest of
Peter I Island.
Rumors, from time to time,
spread through the small com
munity which made up the
Glacier's expedition group.
As the Amundsen tea was en
tered, word spread that the
big USSR icebreaker- was
nearing the heretofore unap
proached Eights coast and
Thurston peninsula. If true,
it would probably be a friend
ly race between the Lenin
and the rumored Russian aux
illiary craft Ob, and the two
American icebreakers, the
Glacier and Burton Island.
Cold War Warmest
Strange as it seems, in this
coldest of all countries and
the cold war between the
USSR and the US seems
warmer than elsewhere.
Amory Waite described his
visit with an official U.S.
party to the Russian base in
Antarctica back in 1953, at
IGY party, with complete
freedom, examined and eval
uated the scientific equip-
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Section B
MEDFORDIilWTRIBUNE
MEDFORD,
'SVSaU.je". -r WJ . . .1
ON EXPEDITION The two U. S. icebreak
erswhich penetrated the heavy ice packs of
the unknown Bellingshausen sea during Op
eration Deep Freeze 60. The larger ship, the
USS Glacier, has 21,000 horsepower diesel
electric engines, the smaller USS Burton ta
rn e n t, physical properties,
food, cold weather clothing,
vehicles and tractors.
Warmest hospitality was ac
corded the U.S. visitors at
that time; friendly coopera
tion has continued since, es
pecially throughout the Inter
national Geophysical Year.
The name of this Russian
station was borrowed from
PORTER'S PINNACLES One of the hazards encountered
by the two icebreakers, USS Glacier and USS Burton Island,
when they penetrated the unknown Bellingshausen sea, An
tarctica, during Operation Deep Freeze 60 is shown here.
This rock in the uncharted waters was unofficially named
"Porter's Pinnacles" after the skipper of the Glacier. Near
this point the sea reached a depth of more than 700 fathoms
(about 4,200 feet). (Official Navy Photo)
KENTUCKY STRAIGKI BOURBON WHISKY, li PROOF
OREGON, TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1960
Ovri -y.L.2r
land has 10.000 horsepower. Both ships car
ried scientists for oceanographic, geological,
meterological and topographic studies in the
new area of Antarctica.
' (Official Navy Photo)
Capt. Bellingshausen's ship,
Mirny, which entered the sea,
named for the famous Russian
explorer, in company with
the Vostok.
Anything But Summery
On Sunday, Feb. 14, the sea
looked anything but sum
mery. Ice swirled past the
Glacier, the sleet swept down
from darkening skies, and oc
casionally seals floated by on
Pages 1-6
chunks of smooth ice to cast
their sad, inquiring eyes upon
this intruder.
Church services that day
were conducted by En. Doug
las Richards, the ship s com
munications officer, and the
Lord's Prayer was punctuated
by jolting, jarring thuds as
growlers," solid ice chunks,
collided with the Glacier's
prow. The "Glazzette," the
ship's newspaper edited by
Jim Gallo, J03, made its first
appearance on this day with
the first printed news of the
outside world."
Those who roamed the
flight deck for exercise had
to break out their long Arctic
underwear and other cold
weather gear as the Antarctic
air crept in.
'High on the Hawg'
It was roast chicken in the
Commodore's mess that day.
Actually, we had been living
high on the hawg." One eve
ning it was lobster, prepared
to perfection by Cunningham
and his galley boys. The lob
ster had been personally se
lected by Commodore Mc
Donald; the next night it was
delicious venison, personally
shot by Capt. Roy Champion,
popular harbor pilot at Lyt-
telton.
Penguins, the strange
"geese" reported by Magel
lan as he voyaged near the
Patagonian coast in 1520,
floated along majestically on
great cakes of ice. These were
emperor penguins,, largest of
the "little people" who, in
formal attire, so closely and
comically resemble humans.
Because of their amazing
ability to withstand up to 70
degrees below zero blizzards,
they are the undisputed rulers
of six million square miles
of Antarctica's land and coast.
Almost the entire crew of
the Glacier was from the New
England states as the ship it
based in Boston. The only
other Oregon representative
was Ernest Dunmire, aviation
machinist mate third class,
from Dallas, Ore. This hand
some young Oregonian, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Dunmire
of Dallas, and husband of the
former Miss Rhoda Peak of
Valsetz, Ore., helped to keep
the Glacier's two helicopters
in peak condition.
Pleasure to Roam
It was always a pleasure
to roam the ship's flight deck
with Ernie and Indulge in a
little Oregon talk," since
most conversation and gossip
on board dealt with the east
ern states.
Since Commodore McDon
ald's self-taught hobby is
playing the accordion, the
"music lovers" in his flag
mess frequently gathered for
pre-dinner concerts. His rep
ertoire included many old
time favorites that brought
pleasant memories of nice
people and nice places.
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the
Glacier and Burton Island
rendezvoued near Peter I Is
land at 104 degrees West, 71
degrees South. The two ships
were moored together at tea
Capt. John Cadwallader,
Chief of Staff for Admiral
Tyree and Antarctic Projects
officer, and Comdr. Griffith
Evans, skipper of the Burton
Island, came over to confer
with Commodore McDonald,
Comdr. Porter, and Phil
OU "GOOF"
It Your Orovyl
BE A K-BOY
Blooptr-Snooper
Smith, and to map the assault
upon the Thurston peninsula
and Bellingshausen sea. The'
expedition passed inside Capt.
James Cook's track of 185
years ago just before noon.
It was to be an historic
day!
Approach Was Dramatic
And the approach to the
loneliest and least known sea
coast in the world was dra
matic. Amazingly, open water off
the ice shelf, sprinkled with
brash ice and massive ice
bergs, confirmed reports that
ice conditions here at the mo
ment were the best in 200
years.
On the Glacier's bridge,
Capt. Porter found the waters
off this uncharted and un
known coast both tricky and
treacherous. Nervously, the
ship, with the' Burton Island
close astern, weaved through
sharp and jagged pinnacles of
rock as cautiously as slipping
through a mine field. It was
just as deadly!
On the Glacier's bridge
continuous recordings of the
s o n a r-sounding Fathometer
were called; when clearance
seemed precarious all engines
were stopped while cautious
checks were made.
Profile of Bottom
The profile of the bottom
of the sea in these waters ap
peared like the Grand Can
yon. Jagged pinnacles and
snags reached up from " the
ocean's depth. Readings went
from 700 fathoms to 200 feet
within the short distance of
a few ship's lengths.
When deeper, safer waters
were finally reached and ten
sion lessened, the men on the
bridge laughingly and unoffi
cially christened these peril
ous crags "Porter's Pinnacles"
as a gesture to the ship's
skipper.
Land Fall Peak loomed
11
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ahead at 71 degrees 56 min
utes South, 9fl degrees 10 min
utes West at Cape Flying
Fish forming a beacon to
guide the two icebreakers as
they cautiously crept toward
the ice shelf. Eng. Charles
Craft piloted Commodore
McDonald aloft on a recon
naisance of the area desig
nated on the map as Thurs
ton peninsula. A landing was
made on the low-lying land
which sti etched along the en
tire coast, the first ever made
in this part of Antarctica!
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HUBBY LOSES OUT
Westford, Vt. - (UPD - Mrs.
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