The Antarctic Enigma Synopsis: Operation Highjump: A review of Operation Highjump facts and Operation Highjump Conspiracy theories including allegations of secret Nazi UFO bases in Antarctica. Violations This invasion of the continent of Antarctica was named ‘Operation Highjump’ and comprised of some 4700 military personnel, six helicopters, six Martin PBM flying boats, two seaplane tenders, fifteen other aircraft, thirteen US Navy support ships and one aircraft carrier; the USS Philippine Sea (left). It seems incredible that so shortly after a war that had decimated most of Europe and crippled global economies, an expedition to Antarctica was undertaken with so much haste (it took advantage of the first available Antarctic summer after the war), at such cost, and with so much military hardware - unless the operation was absolutely essential to the security of the United States. At the time of the operation, the US Navy itself was being taken apart piece by piece as the battle-tested fleet was decommissioned with its mostly civilian crew bidding farewell to the seas forever. The Navy was even reduced to further recruitment to man the few remaining ships in service (1). Tensions across the globe were also mounting as Russia and America edged into a Cold War, possibly a Third World War that the US would have to fight with "tragically few ships and tragically half trained men (2)." This made the sending of nearly 5,000 residual Navy personnel to a remote part of the planet where so much danger lurked in the form of icebergs, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures even more of a puzzle. The operation was also launched with incredible speed, "a matter of weeks (3)." Perhaps it would not be uncharitable to conclude that the Americans had some unfinished business connected with the war in the polar region. Indeed this was later confirmed by other events and the operation’s leader, Admiral Richard Byrd, himself.

However, the official instructions issued by the then Chief of Naval Operations, Chester W. Nimitz (below right), himself of German descent, were: to (a) train personnel and test material in the frigid zones; (b) consolidate and extend American sovereignty over the largest practical area of the Antarctic continent; (c) to determine the feasibility of establishing and maintaining bases in the Antarctic and to investigate possible base sites; (d) to develop techniques for establishing and maintaining air bases on the ice, (with particular attention to the later applicability of such techniques to Greenland) and (e) amplify existing knowledge of hydrographic, geographic, geological, meteorological and electromagnetic conditions in the area (4).

Little other information was released to the media about the mission, although most journalists were suspicious of its true purpose given the huge amount of military hardware involved. The US Navy also strongly emphasised that Operation Highjump was going to be a navy show; Admiral Ramsey’s preliminary orders of 26^th August 1946 stated that "the Chief of Naval Operations only will deal with other governmental agencies" and that "no diplomatic negotiations are required. No foreign observers will be accepted." Not exactly an invitation to scrutiny, even from other arms of the government.

Admiral Byrd (centre), was a strategic choice as he was a national hero to the Americans; he had pioneered the technology that would be a foundation for modern polar exploration and investigation, had been repeatedly decorated, had undertaken many expeditions to Antarctica and was also the first man to fly over both poles.

However, the task force itself, remained strictly under the military command of Rear Admiral Richard Cruzen (above, left).

The ships of the central group entered the ice pack off the Ross Sea on 31^st December 1946 and found conditions as bad as had been noted for over a century. Icebreakers such as the USCGC Burton Island (below), a ship that had only recently been commissioned and was still undergoing sea trials off the Californian coast when Operation High Jump was launched, fought to cut a way through the ice to help the men land. (Again, pulling a newly commissioned ship off trials adds to the sense of the urgency of the overall operation.)

The main force was divided into three groups. The Central Group comprised of the USS Mt. Olympus (communications); USS Yancey (supply); USS Merrick (Supply); USS Sennet (submarine); USCGC Burton Island (Icebreaker) and USCGC Northwind (icebreaker.) The East Group consisted of the USS Pine Island (seaplane tender); USS Brownson (destroyer) and the USS Canisteo (tanker). Finally there was the West Group which was made up of the USS Currituck (seaplane tender); the USS Henderson (Destroyer) and the USS Capapon (tanker.) (The operation also had the aircraft carrier USS Philippine and a Base Group headed by Commander Clifford M. Campbell.

Following its arrival at Antarctica, the force began a reconnaissance of the continent. Byrd himself was onboard the first of the planes to take off on 29^th January 1947. Rocket propulsion tubes (JATO bottles) had been attached to the side of the aircraft and the carrier was manoeuvred for a 35mph run to help get the planes airborne. "From the vibration of the great carrier", Byrd later wrote, "I knew when the captain had got the ship up to about 30 knots (35 mph). We seemed to creep along the deck at first and it looked as if we would never make it … But when our four JATO bottles went off along the sides of the plane with a terrific, deafening noise I could see the deck fall away. I knew we had made it (5)."

Over the next four weeks the planes spent 220 hours in the air, flying a total of 22,700 miles and taking some 70,000 aerial photographs (6).

Then the mission that had been expected to last for between 6-8 months, came to an early and faltering end. The Chilean press reported that the mission had "run into trouble" and that there had been "many fatalities". (The official record, though, states that one plane crashed killing three men; a fourth man had perished on the ice; two helicopters had gone down although their crews had been rescued and a task force commander was nearly lost (7).)

The Chilean claims to one side, it is known that the Central Group of Operation Highjump were evacuated by the Burton Island ice-breaker from the Bay of Whales (above) on 22^nd February 1947; the Western Group headed home on 1^st March 1947 and the Eastern Group did likewise on 4^th March, a mere eight weeks after arrival.

Quite what was going on is still not a matter of public record, however it is known that Byrd was immediately summoned to Washington and interrogated by the Security Services on his return after being initially ‘welcomed back’ by Secretary of War James Forrestal (left) on 14^th April 1947. (Forrestal was late to commit suicide. Check out more here)

On 5^th March 1947 the ‘El Mercurio’ newspaper of Santiago, Chile, ran the headline ‘On Board the Mount Olympus on the High Seas’ which quoted Byrd in an interview with Lee van Atta. "Adm. Byrd declared today that it was imperative for the United States to initiate immediate defence measures against hostile regions. The Admiral further stated that he didn’t want to frighten anyone unduly but it was a bitter reality that in case of a new war the continental United States would be attacked by flying objects which could fly from pole to pole at incredible speeds.

A further expedition took place in the early years of the twentieth century in the ship the Gauss (which became embedded in the ice for 12 months – above), and then a further expedition took place in 1911 under the command of Wilhelm Filchner (left) with his ship the ‘Deutchland’.

Between the wars, the Germans made a further voyage in 1925 with a specially designed ship for the Polar Regions, the ‘Meteor’ under the command of Dr. Albert Merz.

Then, in the years directly preceding the Second World War, the Germans laid claim to parts of Antarctica in order to set up a permanent base there. Given that no country actually ‘owned’ the continent and it couldn’t exactly be conquered as no-one lived there during the winter months at least, it appeared to the Germans that the most effective way to ‘conquer’ part of the continent was to physically travel there, claim it, let others know of their actions and await any disagreements.

Captain Alfred Ritscher (right) was chosen to lead the proposed strike. He had already led expeditions to the North Pole and had proved himself in adverse and critical situations.

For the mission Ritscher was given the ‘Schwabenland’ (right); a German aircraft carrier that had been used for transatlantic mail deliveries by special flightboats, the famous 10 ton Dornier Super ‘Wals’ since 1934.

These ‘Wals’ were launched by catapult from the Schwabenland and had to be accelerated to 93mph before they could become airborne. At the end of each flight a crane on the ship lifted the aircraft back on board after they landed in the sea.

The ship was refitted for the expedition in the shipyards of Hamburg, and around one million Reichmark – nearly a third of the entire expedition budget - was spent on this refit alone.

The crew was prepared for the mission by the German Society of Polar Research and as these preparations neared completion, the organisation invited Admiral Byrd to address them, which he did.

The Schwabenland left the port of Hamburg on 17^th December 1938 and followed a precisely planned and determined route towards the southern continent. In little over a month the ship arrived at the ice covered Antarctica, dropping anchor at 4° 30¢ W and 69° 14¢ S on January 20^th 1939 (8).

The expedition then spent three weeks off Princess Astrid Coast and Princess Martha Coast off Queen Maud Land (9). During these weeks, the two Schwabenland aircraft, the ‘Passat’ and ‘Boreas’, flew 15 missions across some 600,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, taking more than 11,000 pictures of the area with their specially designed ‘Zeiss Reihenmess-bildkameras RMK 38’. (One of these photographs, below left.)

These pictures showed that some of the older Norwegian maps of the area from 1931 were not only inaccurate, but occasionally fabricated, as the original ‘maps’ bore no resemblance to the photographic images now obtained. (In fact the Norwegian expeditions that had prepared these earlier maps had never actually gone as far inland as some of the areas detailed on their maps.)

Nearly one fifth of Antarctica was reconnoitred in this way and, for the first time, ice-free areas with lakes and signs of vegetation were discovered.

This area was then declared to be under the control of the German expedition, renamed ‘Neu-Schwabenland’ and hundreds of small stakes, carrying the swastika, were dumped on the snow-covered ground from the ‘Wals’ to signal the new ownership.

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