KODIAK, ALASKA1*. Sept. ’12--Tha .Navy has
a new Arctic research station today.
It is called ARLIS ONE. It is an ice
floe located some 420 miles northeast
of Point Barrow Alaska—180 miles in
side the Arctic polar pack ice.
The icebreaker,. US3 BURTON ISLAND,
came along side the ice floe Sept., 10
and commenced offloading cargo and per
sonnel.
This operation was designed by the
Office of Naval Research in Washington,
D.C.,planned by the Alaskan Sea Front
ier at Kodiak, and turned over to the
Arctic Research Laboratory and the USS
BURTON ISLAND for coordination and exi-.
cution.
During the operation, and to provide
on the spot coordination in selecting
a suitable floe, Mr, Max Brewer, dir
rector of the Arctic Research Lab, ac
companied the BURTON ISLAND, which is
commanded by Commander Griffith C.
Evans, USN, of Hollister, Calif.
Dr. 3rewer andDr. Kenneth Bennington,
of the University of Washington, flew
over the general area before selecting
the floe that became ARLIS ONE, Dr.
Bennington will be the station leader
when the island becomes operational.
Sept. 13--With only time out for
meals, and church services conducted
by lay leaders, offloading for ARLIS
ONE, the Navy’s new scientific ice is
land in the Arctic Ocean, continued at
a fast pace Sunday.
Ship’s company from the Seattle-based
icebreaker USS BURTON ISLAND were divi
ded into three shifts to work around
the-clock after their arrival at the
island Saturday. By Sunday morning the
ice floe,which had been deserted until
the day before, began to, assume the
appearance of the scientific , camp it
will become. ' , i '
Lieutenant Commander William Decon
III,IBN, the ship’s executive officer,
coordinated operations with station
leader, Dr, Kenneth Bennington,- and
Arctic Research Lab Director,' Max
Brewer.
By evening all heavy equipment had
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been moved., by the crew.of. the ship
and ARLIS ONE personnel- ' to the camp
site,. six of the 10 prefab buildings
had been erected, and 12,000 gallons
of diesel oil had been pumped into
four plastic tanks erected .on the ice.
Camp personnel made ready to move
' from the ship into camp Monday. .
Wholehearted enthusiastic approach
to establishment of the camp manifest
ed by ship’s company and scientific
personnel alike. Dorn Stevens, an
Oceanographer from Scripps Institute
‘in La Jolla, Calif., alternated effect
ively with Lieutenant (j.g. ) Arnold
Death, USN, the shipfs First Lieut
enant from Mount Ayr, Iowa, as beach
master in movement of cargo from
ships-side to campsite.
A common site, was that of sailors
and civilians tugging away at large
sleds containing material over snow
and pot holes too soft to support
mechanized Weasels.
Everyone on board was determined to
make this, the first ice floe camp
established by ship, a complete suc
cess.
Forty hours and 45 minutes after the
first piece of cargo was discharged
on the ice, the flag was raised over
the campsite.
This short ceremony was witnessed
by the crew of the icebreaker USS BUR
TON ISLAND and Scientists who will man |
the camp.
It marked the end of an astonishing
‘.transformation of a baren ice floe
into a going site for Arctic research.
At the time of the flag raising all
ten building were completed and equip
ped with electric lights, water and
oil heaters, making interiors comfort
able, food and equipment stored, mach
inery and radios placed in operation
even the bunks were made. All that
was left to do was move.
Task unit commander and skipper of
the BURTON ISLAND, Commander G. C.
Evans, Jr., USN, turned custody of the
camp over to camp leader, Dr. Kenneth
Bennington and all hands returned to
the ship to face the job ahead of beat
ing their way out of the polar ice
pack, leaving the seven scientists in
their comfortable, but lonely outpost.