ATLAS

Verified factsOMEGA-24-8-3Sheet 3 of 5 of the dossier Operation Highjump

Operation Highjump: what the archives record

Dates, numbers, mission, accidents, photographs and the March 1947 interview, as documented.

Degraded black-and-white aerial photograph of a small camp on the ice with three ships moored along the ice edge.
Aerial view of the Little America IV camp and ships moored at the ice edge, Bay of Whales, 1946-1947. US Navy · public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Summary

This sheet sets out what the archives, encyclopedias and press accounts agree on. Operation Highjump, officially the United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, began in August 1946 and lasted until late February 1947. It mobilised about 4,700 people, 13 ships and 33 aircraft, organised by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, and its main mission was to build Little America IV on the Ross Ice Shelf. Training in polar conditions, mapping and the extension of potential American sovereignty were also on its list of objectives. The expedition had real costs and real results. A flying boat nicknamed George 1 crashed on Thurston Island, killing three of its nine crew members, and the survivors were rescued thirteen days later. The aircraft took more than 70,000 photographs, which proved difficult to use until Operation Windmill returned in 1947 and 1948 to establish ground control. The ships went home because winter was arriving early and flying days were scarce. In March 1947 Byrd gave an interview to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, warning that a future war could bring attacks across the poles, and the Navy's documentary film The Secret Land won an Academy Award in 1948. Nothing in these sources mentions flying saucers, a Nazi base or a battle.

Verified facts

  1. Verified fact

    Officially the United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946-1947, Operation Highjump ran from 26 August 1946 to late February 1947 with 4,700 men, 13 ships and 33 aircraft, organised by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd.

  2. Verified fact

    Its main mission was to set up the base Little America IV on the Ross Ice Shelf; the central group reached the Bay of Whales on 15 January 1947 and began building it.

  3. Verified fact

    Among its stated objectives were cold-weather training, mapping and consolidating and extending potential U.S. sovereignty over the largest practicable area.

    • Operation Highjump, Wikipedia
      Consolidating and extending potential United States sovereignty over the largest practicable area
  4. Verified fact

    On the flying-boat crash "George 1" on Thurston Island in December 1946, three men died: Ensign Maxwell A. Lopez and aviation radiomen Wendell K. Henderson and Frederick W. Williams; the other six crew members were rescued 13 days later.

  5. Verified fact

    The expedition produced a huge photographic record, more than 70,000 photos, but without fixed ground points it was hard to use; Operation Windmill (1947-1948) returned to supply that ground control.

  6. Verified fact

    The expedition ended because of the early approach of winter and worsening weather; only five days were favourable for flying in February 1947.

  7. Verified fact

    In an interview published in El Mercurio on 5 March 1947, Byrd said the United States could be attacked by planes flying over one or both poles.

    • Operation Highjump, Wikipedia
      The interview appeared in the Wednesday, March 5, 1947, edition of the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio
  8. Verified fact

    The Navy's documentary of the expedition, The Secret Land, filmed by military cameramen, won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

    • Operation Highjump, Wikipedia
      It won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.
Photograph of a large flying boat covered in snow, parked next to a ship in polar waters.
A snow-covered Martin PBM-5 Mariner flying boat beside a seaplane tender during Operation Highjump, circa 1947. U.S. Navy · public domain · Wikimedia Commons