Theron, Free Of Icepack, Sails For Vahsel Bay

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27876, 26 January 1956, Page 3

Theron, Free Of Icepack, Sails For Vahsel Bay

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, January 24. The British expeditionary ship Theron fought her way free of encircling ice floes in the South. Polar seas today and had a dramatic meeting with the naval frigate Protector, the Admiralty reported in London. As the Theron broke clear from the ice to win a three-week race with time, she reported that all was well on board, but asked the Protector for “a small quantity of beer, and dubbin.” Then she turned east along the Antarctic Circle, moving on towards Vahsel Bay on the Antarctic mainland some 1200 miles away to set up a base for winter. The Theron and Protector met at 3 a.m. today in the position latitude 66deg 20min south, longitude 31deg 50min west. The sealer had just cleared the ice, described by one member of the expedition as “an embarrassing host for the last four weeks.” A helicopted from the Protector had flown alongside the Theron earlier and reported open water 25 miles to the north. The helicopter crew also gave the position of the Protector, which had steamed from Grahamland to go to the aid of the icebound sealer. The Theron has six weeks before winter begins to reach Vahsel Bay to set down members of the expedition and stores. The seventeen explorers on board will stay behind to prepare for the main British party to arrive next year. Sir Edmund Hillary is among those aboard at present. A spokesman at the British expedition’s headquarters in London said today that provided the Theron did not meet any unexpected obstacles, she would be able to land the expedition and stores at Vahsel Bay before the Weddell Sea freezes up hard. “They have to be out and clear of the Weddell Sea by the end of February or beginning of March—depending on the ice conditions,” the spokesman said.

Another Antarctic expedition organised by the Royal Society has already landed on the shores of Coats Land, part of the South Polar mainland, and their ship, the Tottan, is returning north.

icebreakers Edisto and Glacier made the 35-mile journey over the' frozen waters of McMurdo Sound to the base site that had been chosen at Hut Point. The thick ice kept the ships from getting any closer to Hut Point, one of the most famous pieces of terrain in the huge Antarctic continent. It was from this hut, which still stood, half obliterated by snow, that Captain Robert Scott left on his trek to the South Pole, reaching it on January 17, 1912, only to perish on the way back.

Once the ships left the Antarctic early in March, the 91 men left at Hut Point would be on their own until October, when the arrival of United States planes from New Zealand was scheduled.