WILKINS’S PLAN FOR BASE BENEATH THE ARCTIC ICE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20649, 25 June 1935, Page 8

WILKINS’S PLAN FOR BASE BENEATH THE ARCTIC ICE.

To-day’s Special Article.

Weather Stations in Polar Regions : Systematic Observations for 15 Years.

(Special to the “ Star.”) WINNIPEG. May 2. Sir Hubert Wilkins, bearded traveller in the cold places of the earth, hits revealed further details of his plan for establishment of a submarine meteorological station beneath the Arctic ice, 400 miles from the North Pole. The next sortie of the Australian explorer will be a submarine journey across the top of the world. If success crowns that venture, the submarine will be sent back to a prearranged spot, there to lie for months, possibly years, while its crew of scientists and engineers chart ocean currents and collect meteorological information.

JT IS ALL PART of a great plan' which eventually will enable the weather men of the world to forecast far in advance the general weather conditions in any part of the globe. Meteorological stations would be established in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and readings from these, co-ordin-ated with data from stations in the temperate belt, would enable the charting of the weather’s vagaries. Sir Hubert hopes to start with his submarine in 1936. He expects to nose his specially built craft into the cold, green seas somewhere north of Spitzbergen and come out in the Bering Sea. Once it is demonstrated the submarine is safe and comfortable, it will return to the post selected for it and become one of the key observation stations. Under the ice, it will chart the currents. When weather readings are to be taken, it will drill its way through the ice to the surface. International Weather Bureau. When its efficiency has been proved, Sir Hubert will turn his attention to the building up of an international bureau for the establishment of twelve permanent weather stations in the Antarctic. Sir Hubert said many people believed he thought the Polar stations alone would solve the problem of long-range forecasting. This is not so. The information from them must be co-related with data from the temperate zone stations. The movement of the air around the earth must be known, and it appears that the influence of the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic has a direct bearing on the occurrence of droughts and wet periods. To be successful, systematic observations must be maintained over a period of perhaps fifteen years, he said, after which it can be determined whether the stations should be continued.

Sir Hubert turned to the submarine after three years’ work with aeroplanes in the Arctic, seeking land bases for meteorological stations. Suitable ones could not be found on the surface. A submarine can reach points inaccessible to any surface ship, he pointed out. They can be made comfortable and spacious, and the underwater temperatures are 80 to 90 degrees warmer than on the surface. They are free of the drifting ice which has carried a surface ship station 300 miles from its base. Weather observations are valuable only if they are taken from a fixed base; this the submarine gives. Experiments made by Sir Hubert with the submarine Nautilus in Arctic waters in 1931 demonstrated the ease and safety of operation under the ice. His new craft will be able to carry food and supplies for three or four years. There will be dangers and hardships in this Jules Verne adventure of Sir Hubert’s, but they found no reflection in his genial face as he sat in his hotel suite and talked of the trip. His life has been full of them. Born in Australia forty-seven years ago, his “ public adventures ” started in London in 1912 when he went up in a balloon, his first air trip, with a man impersonating Santa Claus. Santa dropped out with a parachute and left Wilkins alone. He drifted three days before he could get back to land, some fifty miles from the starting point. It was adventure and it “ took,” and the call of far places and daring deeds has been in his blood ever since. The year after the balloon episode, he began hip Polar experiences with Stefansson’s Arctic Expedition. Ever since he has been dashing from Pole to Pole, -with time out for the war, when he served in the Air Force. (N.A.N.A. Copyright.)