The United States launched Operation Deep Freeze I to Antarctica in preparation for the upcoming International Geophysical Year. Under the overall command of Admiral Byrd scientific bases were established at McMurdo Sound on Ross Island, the geographic South Pole, and...
After WWII Admiral Byrd led Operation Highjump to Antarctica. This was a huge expedition of 4,700 men, 13 ships (including an aircraft carrier), 19 airplanes, and a large contingent of scientists. Vast stretches of unexplored land from the Antarctic Peninsula to the...
In 1939 Hitler sent the Third German Antarctic Expedition to chart the coast of Queen Maude Land. Nazi flags and symbols were distributed along the coast. In response President Roosevelt directed Admiral Byrd to lead the U.S. Antarctic Service, the first of Byrd’s...
Lincoln Ellsworth flew his Lockheed Gamma monoplane the Polar Star from Dundee Island at the tip of the Palmer Peninsula across the Antarctic continent to the Ross Ice Shelf. The plane ran out of fuel and landed near Byrd’s Little America camp. Due to a faulty radio...
Admiral Byrd returned to Antarctica and spent the first ever winter over in the interior of Antarctica, alone, at Advance Base 120 miles south of Little America. Byrd made daily weather observations but became very ill when carbon monoxide leaked from a faulty stove....
