This page is reserved for copies of official logs and narratives recorded to document the details of day-to-day operations and other Antarctic activities.
Navy Logs of McMurdo and South Pole Stations 1955 - 1957
Lt. Cmdr. David W. Canham, Jr., USN assisted by yeoman Robert L. Chaudoin, USN kept a detailed daily log of the events at McMurdo Station between November 1, 1955 and March 24, 1957 that encompassed its construction and first permanent occupation. That invaluable transcribed record is available in the table below.
This copy - and the copy of the South Pole Station log below - was graciously submitted to the Society by Patrick McCormick, a Seabee who participated in that historic event. He received the copy directly from Commander Richard Bowers, Construction Officer at McMurdo and Officer in Charge during South Pole construction. "Rediron" also submitted this summary of his involvement in Deep Freeze I:
"I am Patrick “Rediron” McCormick, formerly a United States Naval Petty Officer Second Class Builder (BU2), or in layman’s terms a low ranking carpenter. I am a plank owner in United States Naval Mobil Construction Battalion (Special), the primary construction unit that built McMurdo, South Pole, Little America V, and Byrd Stations during Deep Freeze I. The ad hoc battalion was made up completely of volunteers from the entire United States Military, but most were Seabees.
Half the battalion arrived at McMurdo, and half arrived at Little America V in late December 1955. For the first couple of months at McMurdo living conditions were rather crude, we lived in tents, before the ninety-three man winter-over crew moved into permanent quarters. During the winter construction continued on the station, an airstrip was built on the ice of McMurdo Sound, and supplies to be used for construction at the South Pole were prepared for airdrop. In late November 1956 twenty-four men selected from the winter-over crew went to the South Pole and built six buildings with connecting tunnels, a radar tower for tracking weather balloons, and a tower for studying the aurora before returning to McMurdo on January 4, 1957."
LTJG Richard A. Bowers, CEC, USN kept a detailed daily log of the events at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between November 13, 1956 and January 20, 1957 that encompassed its construction and first permanent occupation. That invaluable transcribed record is available by clicking on the link below:
Navy Log of Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station 1956 - 1957