Aug-Sep-Oct, Nov-Dec 1971-Jan 1972 - Navy League of Australia

direct the procurement and transportationof supplies and equipmentto the Antarctic for support ofScientific programmes conductedby the National Science Foundation.In 1955 the Department of Defenceassigned the Navy to handle the bulkof the support mission for theAntarctic operations because of theNavy's requisite experience,background and know-how inhandling a maritime task of runningsupplies some 12.500 miles fromthe east coast of the United Statesthrough New Zealand to McMurdoStation, the largest American base inAntarctica.In rr\ar\y cases, this supply linecontinues on several hundred milesto outlying stations on the Antarcticcontinent.Admiral Welch explains hismission as ".. . basically, we provideour scientists with transportationand construction support for theirhabitat and their various projects;plus their fuels, supplies and themany other necessities of everydaylife-He adds. too. "This enables thecivilians to devote their full efforts toresearch on the five and one-half millionsquare mile continent that iscovered with 95 per cent, of theworld's permanent ice".Each year the Navy transportssome 250 scientists from theNational Science Foundation to theAntarctic, where they are involved inprojects ranging from marinebiology to upper atmosphericphysics.The scientists and some scholarscome from the nation's leadingcolleges and universities and someare sponsored by various U.S.Government agencies andorganisations.Mali* pangulnt at Cap* Roytft. Antartlca.^srsaasasE sssxs—---«•About 95 per cent, of the suppliesused by Americans in the Antarcticget there by cargo ships and amodern tanker, which unload atWinter Quarters Bay in McMurdoSound. Enough supplies are broughtin to McMurdo Station during theshort relatively warm Australsummer to support some 2.000sailors and scientists during theoperating season. Enough food andmaterials is also stockpiled tosupport just over 200 men for the sixmonth"wintering over" periodwhen the only contact with the outerworld is by ham radios or officialcommunication systems.The U.S. Air Force's Military AirliftCommand (MAC), headquarteredat Scott Air Force Base inIllinois, provides special mission aircraftin support of Operation DEEPFREEZETheir giant C-141 Starlifter cargocarriers make flights to the Antarcticin the early part of each season whilethe ice runways are still availableand because they can carry doublethe amount of priority cargo thatcan be carried by integral DEEPFREEZE aircraft.Navy LC-130 ski-equipped Herculesaircraft, the workhorse of allaircraft in the Antarctic, ferry equipmentand supplies from Christchurch.New Zealand's HarewoodInternational Airport to OuterWilliams Field, the Navy Airfieldsome six miles from McMurdoStation on the Ross Ice Shelf.These C-130 planes also makehundreds of flights in delivering thefuel and supplies to the variousUnited States' stations around.„ w „_————--theAntarctic.When the season is at its peak ;atein October, the Hercules aircraft aremaking almost daily turn-aroundflights from New Zealand to theAntarctic Navy LH-1N twin-turbineBell helicopters will be used thisautumn to transport much of thematerials to outlying camps nearMcMurdo. These twin-jet helicoptersare replacing the UH-1B Huey andLH-34 Seahorse helicopters thathave previously been used by theNavy in the Antarctic.Ice BreakersTo open the way for the cargoships, barrel-hulled Coast Guard icebreakerscarve a channel throughthe frozen Ross Sea into McMurdoSound. This channel, cut through icesometimes 8 to 10 feet thick, isusually between 20 and 30 mileslong.By late January, the channel isopened into McMurdo and then it isrelatively easy for the icebreakers tokeep it clear so the other ships canget in with their critical cargo.This 1971 season saw three MilitarySealift Command (MSC) ships,the U.S.N.S Pvt. John R. Towte.U.S.N.S Wyandot and the gianttanker U.S.N.S. Maumee, bringingsupplies and fuel into McMurdo . . .commonly known as the "supermarket" of the Antarctic.(The U.S.N.S. ... U.S. Naval Ship... means the ships are mannedwith Civil Service crews and operatedfor the U.S. Government).The Wyandot stopped at PalmerStation in the northern tip of thePalmer Peninsula late in Januaryand with 10 men from the U.S. NavyCargo Handling and Port Group inWilliamsburg, left enough food andsupplies to stock the shelves forthose spending the winter there.The Towle and Wyandot broughtMcMurdo Station more than 15.000measurement tons of cargo, all ofwhich had been staged and shippedfrom Davisville.The giant tanker Maumee broughtin more than five million gallons offuel this year. Last season, on itsmaiden voyage to the Antarctic, thetanker delivered just over sevenmillion gallons of fuel and petroleumproducts. That single loadwould have required six trips bysmaller tankers used in previousyears in the Antarctic.The Navy's Antarctic SupportActivities (ASA), the operators ofMcMurdo Station's 70 or morebuildings, is responsible forreceiving and then distributing thecargoes to their final destination.They are assisted in this mission bythe Navy's Seabees from ConstructionBattalions at Davisville and acontingent of about 40 sailors fromthe Williamsburg Cargo Handlingand Port Group.TemperaturesOn August 24. 1960. the SovietUnion s Vostok Station, some 700miles from McMurdo Station,recorded a minus 126.9 degreetemperature, the lowest everrecorded anywhere in the world.At Byrd Station, deep in the heartof Marie Byrd Land on the other sideof the continent from VostokStation, is the so-called centre forscientific parties in the western partof Antarctica.This new Byrd Station was commissionedon February 13. 1962. and isbuilt in eight man-made trenchescovered over with steel Wonderarchesand snow. The entire buildingcomplex of prefabricated, insulatedbuildings is below the surface: onlyventilators, scientific equipmentand summer support facilitiesappear above the snow.The average temperature at theSouth Pole Station, where the ice isalmost 8.000 feet thick, is minus 60deg. F.. while at the U.S. PalmerStation on the Antarctic Peninsula itaverages a comparatively warm 26deg. F.Land of IntrigueThe Antarctic is a land of intrigue.The possible existence in the past ofa "super continent" called Gondwanaland.is being studied. Manyscientists feel that it did exist andthat it broke up into separatecontinents that drifted to theirpresent positions.One thing is certain. Antarcticaonce had a much warmer climate.Large deposits of coal have beenfound as well as fossilised trees andferns, indicating that parts ofAntarctica were once covered withforests.Today, there are no trees and fewother plants. The most common arelichens and mosses. The onlyflowering plants or grasses are onthe Antarctic Peninsula.With so few plants for food, it is notsurprising that there is little life onshore. However, the seas around theAntarctic continent are rich in food,supporting penguins and seals nearthe coasts where man conductsmost of his biological work.Animal LHeAll the world's 17 species of penguinslive in the Southern Hemisphereand seven are found inAntarctica. The two most commonare the emperor penguin and theadehe penguinThe emperor is the larger bird; anaverage adult stands about threefeet tall and weighs about 60pounds. The adelie penguins areabout 18 inches high and weighabout 15 pounds when full grown.Biologists have traced theseflightless birds returning to theirAugust-September-October, 1971 THE NAVY P«eF