ICE BREAKS UP AT U.S. BASE

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27873, 23 January 1956, Page 11

ICE BREAKS UP AT U.S. BASE

(Rec. 8 p.m.) NEW YORK. January 21. Strong southerly winds have broken up the ice in MbMurdo Sound, from where planes of the United States Antarctic expedition were operating earlier this week. An American Associated Press correspondent aboard the United States icebreaker. Edisto, reporting this today, said that, in all, about 700 square miles of ice had been blown out to sea. In 20 hours, winds with gusts up to 46 miles an hour cleared a 25 by 28 mile area of the sound. The ice thickness averaged three to five feet, and last Wednesday it was strong enough to support planes weighing 32 tons. The planes flew to New Zealand on Wednesday. With the huge ice sheets moving through the mouth of the sound opposite Cape Bird on Ross Island, the cargo ships Wyandot and Greenville Victory, and the oil tankers Nespelen and Y.O.G. 34, were forced to get out of the way. The four ships steamed 30 miles out to sea to wait until the churning floes passed. ‘ The correspondent said the ice clearing was the biggest break yet for the McMurdo end of “Operation Deep Freeze,” where a base is being built at Hut Point. Until now, the thickness of the ice was a mixed blessing. It was strong enough to hold planes, but too strong for icebreakers to carve a path wide enough for cargo ships.