U.S. Antarctic Convoy Steams Through Pack Ice

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28155, 19 December 1956, Page 16

U.S. Antarctic Convoy Steams Through Pack Ice

(From BRIAN O’NEILL, “The Press" correspondent with the United States Navy Task Force 43 in the Antarctic!

ABOARD U.S.S. GLACIER IN THE ROSS SEA. December 17. A penguin called Watson met the United States Navy at the Antarctic circle in a golden midnight sun, and on behalf of his colony 670 miles south on Ross Island made vocal protest at the intrusion on his domain. The lone bird, waiting on a roomsized ice floe, was unceremoniously pushed aside by the 8600-ton icebreaker ploughing her way through the nack ice. “Hey, Watson! Get out of the way!” yelled a watcher high on the Glacier’s signal bridge as the ship bore down on the 20-inch Adelie penguin, standing defiantly in its path. Watson stood his ground bravely, but was forced to cry quits when the Glacier’s 40-foot bow, towering above him, crunched into his floe and broke off a large hunk of ice. upsetting the balance and leaving a precariously sloping platform—even for a determined penguin. The wee fellow flippered himself hurriedly up the rafting floe, skittered over broken brash ice on his tummy, and hopped on to another steadier icefloe.

materials, and the station is expected to be occupied by six American and three New Zealand scientists in midFebruary. The United States has undertaken to do all the work of establishing and maintaining the base, undertaking all meteorology and providing the scientific equipment. The column of six ships is led by the Glacier, followed by the Atka, the Greenville Victory, the Towle, and the Merrell, and the tanker Nespelem The group is being piloted south by the deputy-task force commander, Captain Gerald Ketchum, who transferred to the Glacier by boat from the Arneb yesterday. So far the vessels have experienced good weather in the unusually calm furious fifties and screaming sixties, the maximum roll of the Glacier being no more than 30 degrees. The only incident in an uneventful passage was the appearance of two Japanese whale catchers in a suspected whale sanctuary some miles north of the pack. They plunged out of the fog and cut through the double column of the Navy convoy.

As the Glacier pushed by at eight knots. Watson looked up at the flying bridge, and in a stream of angry squeals, punctuated with agitated gesticulations of his tiny flippers, told the captain standing there what he thought of him. Commander Bernard J. Lauff laughed.

Mortified at this cavalier treatment, the irate Watson stood quivering with indignation on his gently rocking floe, and aimed more vengeful and bitter imprecations at other ships of the Antarctic convoy passing by. At McMurdo by Christmas

Seven and a half days out from Lyttelton, the Navy task group at 7 a.m. today was at 70 degrees south latitude, heading for McMurdo Sound, on longitude 177 degrees east. The convoy hopes to be at McMurdo before Christmas;

The present passage is through ninetenths coverage one to two feet.thick pack ice, which is fairly soft and loose, presenting little difficulty to navigation. The convoy split into two groups yesterday afternoon. The coastguard icebreaker Northwind, and the cargo ship Arneb broke off at the edge of the pack, and made independently for Cape Adare. Construction of a scientific base will start as soon as the ships can land the