Irony

1962

A group of adult and juvenile Adelie penguins investigate this C-47 (DC-3) at Hallett Station.

The airplane, as indicated by the bent propeller and missing windshield panels, is a derelect left in the station's equipment dump. It may have had a history of problems. The plane, Number 7 "Takahe," is shown buried in the snow in a number of photos taken in 1957 at Little America V, a temporary research station built during the first Operation Deep Freeze.

The photo captures a panoply of irony. Not only is the flightless aircraft the center of attention for a group of the worlds most celebrated flightless birds, the plane's name, "Takahe," refers to a flightless bird native to New Zealand. Whether the name was added to the fuselage in jest after the plane's final mission, or if it the original moniker was a portent of the plane's future, we may never know. Perhaps the plane's fate was sealed the day the name was painted on its nose.

The rare Takahe, of which less than 300 are now known to exist, was once thought extinct. Originally known from fossil remains, it was "rediscovered" in 1948 living in a remote region.

UPDATE!!

An eagle-eyed reader pointed me to: http://www.vaq34.com/vxe6/17163.htm. According to the site:

"R4D-5L (that's #7, Takahe) crashed Sept 15, 1959, while making a landing at Hallet Station. After the touchdown on the ice at Cape Hallet the starboard main landing gear collapsed. The plane was declared a strike because it was not economical to repair due to its age" (Air Development Squadron Six, Deep Freeze 60)

It appears name "Takahe" was the plane's original VX-6 (Air Development Squadron Six) name. -ed.

Glacier! USS Glacier, that is.

© David Eldred

1962

The USS Glacier plows though the ice next to the Eastwind

The USS Glacier (AGB-4) was no stranger to Antarctic waters. The Glacier participated in the first fifteen Operation Deep Freeze missions, and 1962 marked the Glacier's seventh Operation Deep Freeze. In 1966, the Glacier was turned over to the Coast Guard, becoming the USCGC Glacier. In all, the Glacier particpated in 29 Antarctic and 10 Arctic operations. It was commissioned in 1955, and decommissioned in 1987. It is currently the subject of a restoration effort by The Glacier Society www.glaciersociety.org

Landing craft

© David Eldred

1962

The Eastwind's LCVP negotiates the icy waters off Hallet Station.

LCVP means, in typical military jargon, "Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel." The LCVP was the military's ubiquitous landing vessel. From Normandy to, well, Antarctica, the amazing all-purpose vessel carried personnel, supplies, and even vehicles to and from the shore. Mostly constructed of wood, the "Higgins Boat," as it was also known, could carry up to 8,100 pounds of cargo, was propelled by a 225-hp diesel motor, and remained safe and manuverable even in moderately rough seas. By 2000, the Navy had discontinued use of all but a few LCVPs.

AWOL in Wellington

© David Eldred

1961

View of Wellington hillside.

Wellington was one of several ports of call on the Eastwind's journey to Antarctica. New Zealand is a prominent player in Antarctica, and a key partner in Operation Deep Freeze. Other NZ ports frequented by the Eastwind included Aukland and Port Lyttleton.

Wellington is also the setting of an Eastwind tale that is still told by former crewmembers:

The two United States seamen, Ivy Lee Boswell (second from right) and Daniel B. Merrow (right), who broke from custody aboard the icebreaker Eastwind at Wellington early on Sunday Morning, are about to be put into a car after being found in Wellington this morning. At left is Inspector A. Childs, and next to him is a constable who took part in the arrest.

Tuesday, October 31, 1961
New Zealand Press Association
WELLINGTON- The two seamen who escaped from custody aboard the United States Navy icebreaker Eastwind at Wellington early on Sunday morning are now in cells at the Central Police Station waiting to be handed over to the American authorities.
The 18-year-old seamen, Ivy Lee Boswell and Daniel B. Merrow, described by the United States Navy officials as "desperate and dangerous," made no effort to escape when a lone constable apprehended them.

Sitting on Bank
They were captured walking up Ngauranga Gorge at 11:30 a.m. to-day after an Evening Post photographer and a reporter found them a few minutes earlier sitting on a broom-covered bank overlooking the Gorge highway opposite Wright Stephenson’s wool store.
One of the seamen was carrying a knife, but police said early this afternoon that they did not consider them dangerous.
They were arrested by Inspector A. Child and taken to the central station in a police van carrying dogs from Trentham which were to have been used in the search for the men. The newspapermen, J. J. Short and N. J. Harfield, were travelling up Ngauranga Gorge about 11:10 a.m. to-day to report a police search for the men in the Newlands area. Mr. Short noticed someone squatting in the bush as the car passed Wright Stephenson’s store. When they returned, they noticed the same person sitting there.
The two men walked through thick broom to a clearing on the hillside and saw two young men sitting there. They had a canvas duffle bag beside them.
The newspapermen greeted the two young men and Mr. Short said: "Wonderful day, great day for a living."
"Yeah," replied the man with the blonde hair (Merrow) in a definite American accent.
Mr. Harfield called the police and kept watch until they arrived.
The two seamen apparently intended to sail more than a hundred miles in an open rubber raft in their attempt to abandon the ship near Pitcairn Island.
Trouble for the young sailors began when the ship was sailing 100 miles south of Pitcairn Island, the captain of the Eastwind Commander Naab, said in Christchurch to-day.
Boswell and Merrow had thrown one of the ship’s rubber lifeboats overboard, intending to leap after the raft, and escape from the ship.
Second Thoughts
The water was choppy at the time and, as the lifeboat drifted quickly away from the ship, they evidently thought better of it and decided to stay aboard the Eastwind, Commander Naab said.
When the attempt to abandoned the ship had become known, Commander Naab said, inquiries revealed that the pair had told several people they intended to leave the ship near Pitcairn Island.
"I guess they intended to live on a desert island for a time," he said.
In Brig
When Eastwind reached Wellington, Boswell had spent five or six days in the ship’s brig awaiting court martial and Merrow had been heavily fined and was confined to ship.
The Wellington escape was made at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, while the Eastwind was tied up at Clyde Quay.
Commander Naab presumed that Merrow released Boswell from the locked brig. No guard was posted on the brig at the time.
The two men were recognised at the gates of Clyde Quay by a ship’s officer and told to return to ship. Instead, one of the escapers pulled a knife and threatened the officer before making off.

(Editor’s note: The Eastwind was a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, not a Navy icebreaker. The New Zealander term "broom" is synonymous with American English "brush," meaning bushes. The "Evening Post" was a Wellington daily newspaper, now defunct. The captain of the Eastwind was Commander J.W. Naab -ME)