ANTARCTIC SHIP INSPECTED

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28154, 18 December 1956, Page 14

ANTARCTIC SHIP INSPECTED

HILLARY’S MEN MEET THE DUKE VISIT TO ENDEAVOUR AT LYTTELTON Picking his way carefully round the deck cargo and poking his way into every corner, the Duke of Edinburgh spent more than an hour aboard H.M.N.Z.S. Endeavour, the New Zealand Antarctic expedition’s supply ship at Lyttelton yesterday morning. The Duke, who will be going south to the pack ice himself during his Falkland Islands visit, discussed polar navigation with the commanding officer of the Endeavour, Captain H. Kirkwood, one of the Royal Navy’s most experienced ice pilots, and the New Zealand Ross Sea party’s task with the leader, Sir Edmund Hillary. After walking round the wharf from Britannia the Duke was introduced to the 20 members of the expedition aboard Endeavour, who waited for him at the foot of the gangway. He then went aboard and spoke informally with the Ross Sea men in the expedition’s wardroom. He was quoted afterwards as remarking on the cramped quarters, but, he said, Endeavour was a tidy little ship. Stem-to-Stern Inspection Escorted by Captain Kirkwood and Sir Edmund Hillary, the Duke inspected the whole ship, from stem to stern. He saw the expedition’s supplies, stowed neatly below, looked through the engine-room, glanced into the expedition and crew quarters, went up to the bridge, then spent some time in Captain Kirkwood’s day cabin with the official party. Coming ashore again shortly before 11.45 a.m., the Duke was greeted on the wharf by a small crowd of wives, families, parents and friends of members of the expedition, who had been waiting since before his arrival, in a biting easterly wind. He had spent rather longer on board Endeavour than expected and had barely enough time to slip back to Britannia before leaving again at noon for the civic luncheon in Christchurch. An open car was available for the Duke for the ceremonial drive through Lyttelton, over Evans Pass and into the city, but he chose the

limousine. The wind was still fresh and the sky overcast. It was one of the coldest December days in Lyttelton for years.