POLAR PERILS

Southland Times, Issue 22210, 30 December 1933, Page 5

POLAR PERILS

BYRD EXPEDITION

DISASTER NARROWLY AVOIDED

CLOSE TO ICEBERGS

(Special to Press Association—From the Byrd Expedition).

Aboard the Jacob Ruppert, Dec. 27.

After its first spectacular success the expedition is now apparently getting a taste of the conditions that for 160 years have defied exploration in this region. The Jacob Ruppert to-night is fighting a fog and a north-west gale, and is being steered a wary course among countless icebergs. At noon her position was 66.10 south, 140.23 west; approximately 10 miles north of the Quin ice-pack. The ship has logged but 56 miles since Saturday at noon. The past 24 hours have impressed upon all hands the perils latent in this region. We were particularly near a disaster this morning, when a large quantity of water which had collected in the starboard oil tank was inadvertently pumped into the boilers, extinguishing the fires. Meanwhile, two icebergs, each 200 feet high, loomed several hundred yards off the starboard and the port side. The chief engineer immediately switched on the port tanks, re-starting the fires, but the Jacob Ruppert, rapidy losing speed, drifted helplessly. On the after-deck Pilot June had mobilized the aviation crew for emergency action on the plane. Fortunately, with the bergs less than 300 yards away, the steam pressure returned to normal and the Jacob Ruppert fought her way back into the wind. Gjertsen told his mess: “Your lives were in the hands of God and the engine-room. If either had failed you would all have been dead men tonight.”

GHOSTLY PARADE THOUSANDS OF ICEBERGS. (Special to the Press Association —From the Byrd Expedition). Aboard the Jaccb Ruppert, Dec. 28. The Jacob Ruppert is still creeping through iceberg-strewn seas, and a high wind, which subsided this morning, revived again in the south-west. The ghostly parade of icebergs continues. In all the world there is no sight like it—a whole fleet of them ploughing out of the gloom with waves crashing over them and surf breaking and flying over their white surface. Their fabulous shapes and designs defy description. Captain Gjertsen estimates that 6000 have been sighed since Monday. “In all my life I have never seen so many ’bergs at one time,” he said. “No matter where we turn to escape them there are always more.” During a brief lull in the wind to-day Rear-Admiral Byrd ordered full speed ahead eastward in an effort to make up four days’ lost time. Between times of drilling the men and handling the emergency equipment a “man-o'-war” sea anchor was made to keep the ship’s head to windward even if the engines fail. The noon position was 66.1 south and 139.10 west.