Operation Highjump

6. Supplementary objectives of the Nanook expedition (a smaller equivalent conducted o eastern

Greenland).[3]

1 Timeline
The Western Group of ships reached the Marquesas Islands on December 12, 1946, whereupon the Henderson
and Cacapon set up weather monitoring stations. By December 24, the Currituck had begun launching aircraft on
reconnaissance missions.
USS Sennet (SS-408) participating in Operation Highjump

The Eastern Group of ships reached Peter I Island in late

December 1946.

Operation Highjump, ocially titled The United States

Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 19461947, was
a United States Navy operation organized by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., USN (Ret), Ocer in Charge,
Task Force 68, and led by Rear Admiral Richard H.
Cruzen, USN, Commanding Ocer, Task Force 68.
Operation Highjump commenced 26 August 1946 and
ended in late February 1947. Task Force 68 included
4,700 men, 13 ships, and 33 aircraft. Operation Highjumps primary mission was to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV.[1][2]

On January 1, 1947, Lieutenant Commander Thompson

and Chief Petty Ocer Dixon utilized Jack Browne
masks and DESCO Oxygen rebreathers to log the rst
dive by Americans under the Antarctic.[4] Paul Allman
Siple, Ph.D. was the senior U.S. War Department representative on the expedition. Dr. Siple was the same Eagle
Scout who accompanied Admiral Byrd on the previous
Byrd Antarctic expeditions.[5][6]

Highjumps objectives, according to the U.S. Navy report

of the operation, were:

2 Human losses

1. Training personnel and testing equipment in frigid On December 30, 1946, aviation radiomen Wendell K.
conditions;
Hendersin, Fredrick W. Williams, and Ensign Maxwell
2. Consolidating and extending the United States A. Lopez were killed when their Martin PBM Mariner
sovereignty over the largest practicable area of the George 1 crashed during a blizzard. The surviving six
Antarctic continent (publicly denied as a goal even crew members were rescued 13 days later, including aviation radioman James H. Robbins and co-pilot William
before the expedition ended);
Kearns. A plaque honoring the three killed crewmen was
3. Determining the feasibility of establishing, main- later erected at the McMurdo Station research base, and
taining, and utilizing bases in the Antarctic and in- Mount Lopez on Thurston Island was named in honor of
vestigating possible base sites;
killed airman Maxwell A. Lopez.
4. Developing techniques for establishing, maintaining, and utilizing air bases on ice, with particular
attention to later applicability of such techniques to
operations in interior Greenland, where conditions
are comparable to those in the Antarctic;

In December 2004, an attempt was made to locate the remains of the plane.[7] There are ongoing eorts to repatriate the bodies of the three men killed in the crash.[8]

Some time after December 30, 1946, Vance N. Woodall

died during a ship unloading accident. In a crew prole,
5. Amplifying existing stores of knowledge deckman Edward Beardsley described his worst memory
of electromagnetic, geological, geographic, as when Seaman Vance Woodall died on the Ross Ice
hydrographic, and meteorological propagation Shelf under a piece of roller equipment designed to 'pave'
conditions in the area;
the ice to build an airstrip.
1

4 PARTICIPATING UNITS

Afterwards

4 Participating units

Father William Menster served as chaplain during the expedition, and in a service in 1947 he consecrated Antarctica.
The Central Group of ships reached the Bay of Whales
on January 15, 1947, where they constructed temporary
runways along the glaciers in a base dubbed Little America
IV.
Naval ships and personnel were withdrawn back to the
United States in late February 1947, and the expedition
was terminated due to the early approach of winter and
worsening weather conditions.[2]
Admiral Byrd discussed the lessons learned from the operation in an interview with Lee van Atta of International
News Service held aboard the expeditions command ship
the USS Mount Olympus. The interview appeared in the Sikorsky R-4 helicopter landing on icebreaker USCGC NorthWednesday, March 5, 1947 edition of the Chilean news- wind during Operation Highjump
paper El Mercurio and read in part as follows:
Admiral Richard E. Byrd warned today
that the United States should adopt measures of
protection against the possibility of an invasion
of the country by hostile planes coming from
the polar regions. The admiral explained that
he was not trying to scare anyone, but the cruel
reality is that in case of a new war, the United
States could be attacked by planes ying over
one or both poles. This statement was made
as part of a recapitulation of his own polar experience, in an exclusive interview with International News Service. Talking about the recently completed expedition, Byrd said that the
most important result of his observations and
discoveries is the potential eect that they have
in relation to the security of the United States.
The fantastic speed with which the world is
shrinking recalled the admiral is one of the
most important lessons learned during his recent Antarctic exploration. I have to warn my
compatriots that the time has ended when we
were able to take refuge in our isolation and rely
on the certainty that the distances, the oceans,
and the poles were a guarantee of safety.[9][10]

Task Force 68
Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen, USN, Commanding
Eastern Group (Task Group 68.3)[11]
Capt. George J. Dufek, USN, Commanding
Seaplane Tender USS Pine Island. Capt. Henry H.
Caldwell, USN, Commanding
Destroyer USS Brownson. Cdr. H.M.S. Gimber,
USN, Commanding
Tanker USS Canisteo. Capt. Edward K. Walker,
USN, Commanding
Western Group (Task Group 68.1)
Capt. Charles A. Bond, USN, Commanding
Seaplane Tender USS Currituck. Capt. John E.
Clark, USN, Commanding
Destroyer USS Henderson. Capt. C.F. Bailey, USN,
Commanding

After the operation ended, a follow-up Operation Wind Tanker USS Cacapon. Capt. R.A. Mitchell, USN,
mill returned to the area in order to provide groundCommanding
truthing to the aerial photography of Highjump from
1947-1948. Finn Ronne also nanced a private operation to the same territory until 1948.
Central Group (Task Group 68.2)
As with other U.S. Antarctic expeditions, interested persons were allowed to send letters with enclosed envelopes Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen, USN, Commanding Ofto the base, where commemorative cachets were added to cer
their enclosures, which were then returned to the senders.
Communications and Flagship USS Mount Olympus.
These souvenir philatelic covers are readily available at
low cost.
Capt. R. R. Moore, USN, Commanding

3
Supplyship USS Yancey. Capt. J.E. Cohn, USN,
Commanding
Supplyship USS Merrick. Capt. John J. Hourihan,
USN, Commanding
Submarine USS Sennet. Cdr. Joseph B. Icenhower,
USN, Commanding
Icebreaker USS Burton Island.
Ketchum, USN, Commanding

CDR Gerald L.

Icebreaker USCGC Northwind. Capt. Charles W.

Thomas, USCG, Commanding
Carrier Group (Task Group 68.4)
Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd, Jr. USN, (Ret), Ocer in
Charge
Aircraft carrier and agship USS Philippine Sea.
Capt. Delbert S. Cornwell, USN, Commanding
Base Group (Task Group 68.5)
Capt. Cliord M. Campbell, USN, Commanding
Base Little America IV

In media

Military activity in the Antarctic

New Swabia

7 References
[1] Kearns, David A. (2005). Operation Highjump: Task
Force 68. Where Hell Freezes Over: A Story of Amazing
Bravery and Survival. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.
p. 304. ISBN 0-312-34205-5. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
[2] Summerhayes, C. & Beeching, P. Hitlers Antarctic base:
the myth and the reality. Polar Record 43 (224): 1516.
doi:10.1017/S003224740600578X
[3] Summerhayes, C. & Beeching, P. Hitlers Antarctic base:
the myth and the reality. Polar Record 43 (224): 14.
doi:10.1017/S003224740600578X
[4] Lang, Michael A. & Robbins, Ron (2009). Scientic
Diving Under Ice: A 40-Year Bipolar Research Tool..
In: Krupnik, I; Lang, MA; Miller, SE (eds). 2009. Smithsonian at the Poles: contributions to international Polar Year
science.: 24152. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
[5] Paul A. Siple. South-Pole.com. Retrieved 2015-06-26.
Paul Allman Siple saw the rst light of day on December
18, 1908, in Montpelier, Ohio. ...
[6] Dubill, Andy (December 2008). Paul Siple. International Scouting Collectors Association Journal. International Scouting Collectors Association. 8 (4): 4546.
[7] News Archives from Antarctica. Antarctic Connection.
2004.
[8] Operation

Highjump

Crew

Recovery.

The documentary about the expedition The Secret Land

George1Recovery.org.
was lmed entirely by military photographers (both USN
and US Army) and narrated by actors Robert Taylor, [9] A bordo del Monte Olimpo en Alta Mar. El Mercurio
(in Spanish). Santiago. March 5, 1947.
Robert Montgomery, and Van Hein.[12] It features Chief
of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz [10] Summerhayes, C. & Beeching, P. Hitlers Antarctic base:
in a scene where he is discussing Operation Highjump
the myth and the reality. Polar Record 43 (224): 17.
with admirals Byrd and Cruzen. The lm has re-enacted
doi:10.1017/S003224740600578X
scenes of critical events, such as shipboard damage con[11] Kearns, David A. (2005). Operation Highjump: Task
trol and Admiral Byrd throwing items out of an airplane
Force 68. Where Hell Freezes Over: A Story of Amazing
to lighten it to avoid crashing into a mountain. It won the
Bravery and Survival. New York: Thomas Dunne Books.
1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[13]
p. 304. ISBN 0-312-34205-5. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
As of 2015 Christopher Brand has a lm in development [12] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040767/
of Operation Highjump entitled Highjump.

[13] http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070442544?ref_=ttpl_rls_3

In the ctional Area 51 books, the operation was cover

[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dD_bhycpCk
for retrieving buried alien ships at the North Pole.

A Russian made documentary[14] claims that the units of This article incorporates public domain material from
Operation Highjump were attacked by ying saucers, op- websites or documents of the United States Coast Guard.
erated by a secret Nazi base on Antartica, constructed before and during WWII through various Nazi expeditions
(including those of the Swabenland)
8 Bibliography

See also
List of Antarctic expeditions

Colin, Summerhayes; Beeching, Peter (2007).

Hitlers Antarctic base: the myth and the reality. Polar Record (full text). 43 (1): 1.
doi:10.1017/S003224740600578X.

10

Further reading
Navy Proudly Ends Its Antarctic Mission; Air National Guard Assumes 160-Year Task. Chicago Tribune; February 22, 1998.
Antarctic Mayday: The Crash of the George One
Read the story of one of the survivors - James
Haskin(Robbie) Robbins
Operation Highjump: A Tragedy on Ice
Where Hell Freezes Over by David A. Kearns (son
of one of the survivors of the George One crash);
Published 2005
Operation Highjump photographic analysis
Article discussing enigma of operation highjump
Photos from Operation Highjump
George One Recovery Information
Families Urge Navy to Bring Sailors Home
Should Navy Recover Bodies of Sailors
Ship cover site with good history

10

External links

Declassied Records on Operation Highjump.

The Black Vault.

EXTERNAL LINKS

11
11.1

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