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Antarctic research and preparation for the establishment of the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station for the International Geophysical Year. This was the beginning of a continuous United States presence in Antarctica.
“THE FIRST PHASE OF OPERATION DEEP FREEZE AND NAVY’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE IGY. PREPARATIONS, DEPARTURE, VOYAGE, AND ANTARCTIC OPERATIONS.”
US Navy film MN-8500
Public domain film from the Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with “Operation Deep Freeze I” in 1955–56, followed by “Operation Deep Freeze II”, “Operation Deep Freeze III”, and so on. Given the continuing and constant US presence in Antarctica since that date, “Operation Deep Freeze” has come to be used as a general term for US operations in that continent, and in particular for the regular missions to resupply US Antarctic bases, coordinated by the United States military…
The U.S. Navy already had a record of earlier exploration in Antarctica. As early as 1839, Captain Charles Wilkes led the first U.S. Naval expedition into Antarctic waters. In 1929, Admiral Richard E. Byrd established a naval base at Little America I, led an expedition to explore further inland, and conducted the first flight over the South Pole. From 1934–35, the second Byrd Expedition explored much further inland and also “wintered over”. The third Byrd Expedition, in 1940, charted the Ross Sea.
After World War II, from 1946–47, Byrd was instrumental in the Navy’s Operation Highjump that charted most of the Antarctic coastline. In 1948, Commander Finn Ronne led an expedition that photographed over 450,000 square miles (1.1 million km²) by air. Then, in 1954–55, the icebreaker USS Atka (AGB-3) made a scouting expedition for future landing sites and bays.
Operation Deep Freeze I
The impetus behind Operation Deep Freeze I was the International Geophysical Year 1957–58. IGY, as it was known, was a collaboration effort between forty nations to carry out earth science studies from the North Pole to the South Pole and at points in between. The United States, along with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Norway, Chile, Argentina, and the U.S.S.R., agreed to go to the South Pole—the least explored area on Earth. Their goal was to advance world knowledge of Antarctic hydrography and weather systems, glacial movements, and marine life. The U.S. Navy was charged with supporting the U.S. scientists for their portion of the IGY studies.
In 1955 Task Force 43 was formed to carry out this work. Operation Deep Freeze I prepared a permanent research station and paved the way for more exhaustive research in later Deep Freeze operations. The expedition transpired over the Antarctic summer of November 1955 to April 1956.
The operation involved the following ships:
– USS Wyandot (AKA-92), freighter
– USS Arneb (AKA-56), freighter
– USS Edisto (AGB-2), ice breaker
– USS Glacier (AGB-4), ice breaker
– USCGC Eastwind (WAGB-279), ice breaker
– USS Nespelen (AOG-55), gasoline tanker
– USNS Greenville Victory (T-AK-237), merchant marine freighter
On 31 October 1956, US Navy Rear Admiral George J. Dufek [2] and others successfully landed a R4D Skytrain (Douglas DC-3) aircraft at the South Pole, as part of the expeditions mounted for the IGY. In 1956, a U. S. Navy expedition set up the first permanent base at the South Pole, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, by airlift, to support the International Geophysical Year.
The Operation Deep Freeze activities were succeeded by “Operation Deep Freeze II”, and so on, continuing a constant US presence in Antarctica since that date…
