Talk:British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition

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BANZARE 1st Cruise - With the SY Discovery 1929 -1930 - by Eric Douglas

Expedition first mooted by Australian National Research Council - Sir Douglas Mawson was invited to take command. SY Discovery made available by British Government.

Name of Expedition - B.A.N.Z.A.R.E. British Australian, New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. Organization - Organization carried out mainly by Sir Douglas Mawson during the years 1928 &1929. Sir D Mawson, Commander & Leader of Expedition. Ships Company - Captain J.K. Davis, Captain & Master of S.Y. Discovery. Ships Officers & Crew selected in England by Capt J.K. Davis. Mainly drawn from the British Mercantile. Scientific Staff - Australians selected by Discovery Committee. Capt Hurley & Mr Marr joined ship in England. Prof Johnson & Mr Fletcher - Biologists Dr Ingram - Medical Officer & Bacteriologist Commander Moyes R.A.N. - Surveying Officer Mr Howard - Chemist F/Lt Campbell & F/O Douglas R.A.A.F. - Seaplane operations Mr Simmers - Meteorologist - nominated by New Zealand Government Mr Falla - Ornithologist - nominated by New Zealand Government Object of Expedition - 1/ Continuation of Sir D Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1912 - 1914. Embracing :- 2/ Oceanographical survey of waters south of Australia and South Africa and Antarctic coast 3/ Examination of Sub-Antarctic Islands 4/ Delineation of this sector of Antarctic coastline 5/ Study of Whaling possibilities 6/ Meteorological data, magnetic & cosmic ray survey. Note: Wintering on Antarctic continent never contemplated. Description of Ship - 3 masted Barkquentine. Tonnage approx 1900 tons Length 175 ft Breadth 34ft Draught 18ft Engines Steam triple expanding 400 H.P. Normal speed 5 1/2 Knots. Owned by Falkland Is Government & loaned to British Government for 2 years. Ship first used by the late Capt Scott in years 1900 - 1904. Built specially for Polar work & capable of withstanding enormous pressure when beset in ice. Entirely constructed of wood except engine room. Hull built of three layers of different wood. Sides approx 2ft 6in bottom 3ft. Bows solid for 10ft. Cross beams 10in by 10in oak 7ft apart and three beams in a layer from the keel. Start of Expedition - Ship departed England early in August 1929 & arrived Cape Town S Africa early in October 1929. Scientific party travelled by passenger steamer from Australia to Cape Town. Ship departed Cape Town 19th Oct 1929 & arrived off Possession Is Crozet Group Nov 2nd. Scientific Party ashore for one day. Foreshore thick with Sea Elephants. First view of Penguins. Departed Nov 4th for Kerguelen Is 700 miles away. First snow & becoming colder. Warm clothes issued out. Ship averaging 140 miles per day. Saturday 9th Nov 1929 - Sighted Kerguelen but driven northward by South gale. Eventually arrived off Royal Sound 12th Nov. Steamed 20 miles up winding Fiord to old Whaling station Jeanne D'Arc. Coal left here by a ship going south. Cardiff briquettes 500 tons. This Island belongs to France. Controlled by Governor of Madagascar. Size 80 miles by 40 miles. Wonderfully pretty, inland lakes and Glaciers. Mainland overrun with rabbits, seals scarce, penguins on Islands. Departed 24th Nov 1929 - Ship low in water with heavy cargo of coal. Heading for Heard Is (British). Early on morning of 26th Nov sighted Heard Is. Wonderful sight, rugged coast with huge glaciers running into the sea. Highest peak approx 7000ft. Island about 20 miles long & six across. Scientific party ashore, meaning to stay two days, weather bad. Ship puts to sea to weather out gale. Barometer down to 28.4in. Camped on a peninsular. Studied sea elephant, penguins, skua gulls etc. Shot my first sea leopard, savage creature. Ship arrives back and Party get aboard on 3rd Dec. Heading S.E. - Becoming colder each day, roughly 10 degrees F for every 100 miles south. Dec 7th 1929 - Sighted first ice berg. First honour to Capt Hurley. Dec 9th 1929 - Met first pack ice. Old pack, very broken. More ice bergs of increasing size. 1/4 mile long 150ft out of water, deep blue colour in crevasses. More birds in vicinity. Dec 12th 1929 - Pack more consolidated, ships progress slower. Whales sporting in pack ice pools. Navigating ship by water sky and ice blink. Sun setting about 11PM. Beautiful sunsets especially in calm of evening. Echo soundings. Winds S.E. Dec 17th 1929 - Moth seaplane unpacked & commenced to assemble m/c. Dec 20th 1929 - Heavy going in pack only making 40 miles per day south. Dec 24th to 26th 1929 - Held fast in pack. Waiting for ice to break up. Dec 29th 1929 - On the 80th meridian of east Longitude and near Antarctic Circle (66 1/2 South). Air Temp down to 28 degrees F. Dec 31st 1929 - Carried out first reconnaissance flight. Great assistance to ship. Sighted apparent land 80 miles to south over unbroken pack. Impossible for ship to get through. Jan 2nd 1930 - Ship steaming to westward Jan 4th 1930 - Nunataks (Rocky peaks) sighted from mast head 30 miles east of Kemp's reported land. Jan 5th 1930 - More flying carried out, surveying coastline. Jan 7th 1930 - Aeroplane damaged by ice falling from masts, spars & rigging. Jan 11th 1930 - First sight of killer whales. Land 20 miles away. Jan 13th 1930 - Steaming along coast of Enderby land. Antarctic continent showing up clearly, visibility wonderful. Jan 14th 1930 - Met Norwegian research ship "Norvegia" Capt Riiser Larsen. She was equipped with two seaplanes. Jan 18th to 22nd 1930 - Driven off coast by S.E. blizzard. Unfortunate at this time. Jan 24th 1930 - Off a huge rock we named Proclamation rock. Seaplane flown securing splendid photos. Landing party raises British flag on land and Sir Douglas proclaims this land for the British Empire. MacRobertson Land - East of this rock he named MacRobertson land. Coal reserve becoming low. Jan 27th 1930 - Ship headed away for Kerguelen Is. Last view of Antarctic coast. Mountain peaks showing up clear. Hours of darkness, running through ice berg infested area. Ship making good progress under sail & steam. Feb 7th 1930 - The distant snow covered peaks of Kerguelen Is showing up. Gale coming on from North west but ship makes Royal Sound safely. Feb 8th 1930 - Ship moored to jetty at Jeanne D'Arc. Overhaul of engines & boilers. Coaling ship in readiness to sweep south again towards Queen Mary land on way home. Happy days spent ashore exploring inland parts of this wonderful Island. Aeroplane assembled & floats. More snow around, especially on high ground. Fierce winds from west. Feb 21st 1930 - Farewell to Jeanne D'Arc. Ship steams round 40 miles to Observatory Bay. Visits to Christmas Harbour and Murray Is (Capt Cook anchored here in 1771 on Xmas day) March 2nd 1930 - Departed from Kerguelen Is. Winter too far advanced to go south so course shaped for Albany W. Australia. Mar 23rd 1930 - Getting into warmer regions. Change into better clothes. Longing for a feed of fresh food. Tinned foods are not satisfying over a long period. Eggs still appear on Menu but only in form of curried eggs etc. Meet P&O S.S. Cathay in Bight, fresh food & papers dropped & picked up by us. Very welcome. April 1st 1930 - Arrived at Port Adelaide. Unloaded scientific specimens. Departed Adelaide April 3rd & arrived Port Melbourne 8th April. Finish of 1st Cruise

Word processed by --203.29.131.4 06:08, 7 January 2006 (UTC)Sally Douglas - from the logs hand written by Eric Douglas

BANZARE 2nd Cruise - With the SY Discovery 1930 - 1931 - Eric Douglas

Winter of 1930 - Ship docked and refitted out at Harbour docks Williamstown Melbourne. Nov 1st 1930 - Ship departed Williamstown for Hobart, Tasmania where she duly arrived on Nov 5th. Nov 6th to 22nd 1930 - All stores restowed in their correct groups in the ship's holds. More coal taken on board than 1st Cruise. Fresh food:- eggs 20,000, fruit and live stock 19 sheep. 1000 tons of loading on board (Slight change in personnel) Nov 22nd 1930 - Departed Hobart and slowly steamed outside into ocean swell. Ship rather low in water. Heading for Macquarie Island 900 miles S.E. Dec 1st 1930 - At 1PM this island could be faintly seen and at 4PM the north end showed up clearly. Hills very green, highest past of Island 1500ft. 20 miles long & 3 miles wide. Sea-Elephants & Penguins - Party ashore at 6AM 2nd Dec. Tents erected on shore. Walked along shore to the Nuggets, fine sight, thousands of Royal penguins. Huge rookeries inland. penguins continually coming & going from the sea. Penguins amused us with their surfing. 4th Dec 1930 - All on board & ship steaming down the coast to "Lusitania" Bay. Visit to King Penguin rookerie. 5th Dec 1930 - South of Macquarie Is looking for Bishop & Clarke rocks. Rocks located & photographed. Several growlers or small bergs in sight. Foggy weather. 6th Dec 1930 - Heading south for the head of the Ross Sea where we have to meet the Sir James Clarke Ross (20,000 tons) to pick up 100 tons of coal she has taken down for us. 8th Dec 1930 - Numerous bergs in sight, rough seas had died away. Air temp 29 F. Sheep killed & carcasses hung in rigging. 18th Dec 1930 - Factory ship sighted, loose pack in vicinity. Sight whale chasers. Alongside this ship and coaling commenced. First sight of a modern factory ship in operation, rather gruesome sight, awful stench, blood & bones continually being emptied overboard (Norwegian & English Companies) Whaling Operations - Whales Blue - Normally 100ft long - 100 tons weight Finner - Normally 100ft long - not so heavy Hump back - Normally 50ft long Blue whale yields 90 - 100 barrels of oil. Six barrels to 1 ton and 1 ton of oil - 25.0.0 So whale worth 300 - 400 pounds or even more when in fine condition. Factory ship treats 24 whales per day or over 7000 pounds per 24 hours. (200,000 pounds per month - "Kosmos" - World Record 48 Whales in 24 hours). Ships this particular season expect to earn over 3/4 of a million pounds (six months work). Men work in shifts - 12 hours. Over 300 all told on ship. Chasers - Each ship has from 7 - 9 chasers working. Chasers are powerful small vessels 90 - 100 ft long. 2000 H.P. 15 Knots. Contain a muzzle loading swivelling gun for throwing explosive headed harpoon. Captain or Gunner - Earns 6.10 for every blue or finner whale. Earns 3.10 for a hump whale. Probably earns up to 2000 pounds in seasons work. Ships Complement - Gunner, mate, 2 engineers, 2 firemen, 1 cook & 4 seamen. One man on look out duty. Gunner & mate get little sleep, probably 2 hours per day when whales are numerous. Earns his money. Whale chasing is exciting work. Norwegians expert at killing whales. Terrific strength of whales, known to have towed chasers at 15 Knots for 10 hours. 17th Dec 1930 - Heading for Balleny Is. Much fog & mist. Ship to visit Commonwealth Bay (Adelie land) Queen Mary land & then to chart MacRobertson land etc. 19th Dec 1930 - Large ice bergs in sight, occasionally pushing through heavy pack (25ft thick). Seaplane - m/c shifted on to skid deck & assembling operations commenced. 3PM Ship steaming with wind coming astern, smoke blowing ahead in mist & visibility very bad. 4PM Ship nearly ran into big berg. No hope of seeing Balleny Islands, heavy pack surrounding them. Weather worse than previous year. Xmas Day - In wireless communication with Australia. Xmas dinner excellent. Presents given to all members. Directional wireless picks up signals from "Kosmos". 29th Dec 1930 - Alongside "Kosmos" (22000 tons) & taking in 50 tons of coal. Normally Discovery only holds enough coal for 50 days steaming in Antarctic waters. Cardiff Briquettes - Coal in bunkers used by Discovery. Special steaming coal, made up by special process in Cardiff England. Blocks about 11in square by 9in deep. Weigh 25 lbs, roughly 90 to a ton, easy to stow & handle. Used in previous voyages. 30th Dec 1930 - Making in for Commonwealth Bay - 90 miles away. 31st Dec 1930 - Blizzard coming on from South east. Ist Jan 1931 - Ship in perilous position, surrounded by bergs & heavy tumbling pack, terrific wind - 70 m.p.hr. Spray freezing on decks, all hands helping to set sail and keeping steam up. Ship labours in pack. Ship takes shelter behind berg. Wonderful sight, driving snow and pack. 3rd Jan 1931 - Blizzard now abating. Ship making in to coast. High plateau showing up. No mountain peaks in sight. 4th Jan 1931 - Beautiful day. Party goes ashore, visit to old huts. 6th Jan 1931 - Union Jack hoisted and Proclamation read by Sir Douglas. Use skis and crampons. Small sledges used for transporting ice to motor boat. Cases of old food & fuel collected. Kennedy carries out magnetic dip readings. South magnetic pole has moved 100 miles N West ie nearer to Cape Denison. 8th Jan 1931 - I have touch of snow blindness, very painful. Fine weather continues. 11th Jan 1931 - 200 miles west of Cape Denison, winds very light. 15th & 16th Jan 1931 - Seaplane flown. Land sighted 70 miles south. 16th to 30th Jan 1931 - Dirty weather, constant snow and mist. Ship hove to waiting for chance to get south. Magnetic Compass nearly useless. Var 68 degrees W. Termination ice tongue disappeared since 1919 (50 miles by 20 miles) No chance of getting to Queen Mary land. Heavy pack keeping us 60 miles out. 6th Feb 1931 - More whaling ships in sight. Norwegians told us there are 40 Factory ships and 250 Chasers spread round the Antarctic coast. Sun setting at 10PM. 7th Feb 1931 - In same locality as our furtherest east of last cruise (180 East Long - 40 East Long) 10th Feb 1931 - Motor boat & crew had lucky escape from being towed into heavy pack. Painter cut just in time. 11th Feb 1931 - Land sighted again. Seaplane flies over coast and drops the British flag. Lower temperatures 20F. 13th Feb 1931 - Flag hoisted on MacRobertson land. Fine coastline. Rocky out crops, mountains inland. 15th Feb 1931 - Killer whales pass ship. Another blizzard comes on. 18th Feb 1931 - Party ashore for scientific work. High rocky capes. Ship running short of coal, so we must head north now before bad weather comes on. 19th Feb 1931 - Last view of Antarctic coast (Lat 67 S Long 61 E). 10.30PM Auroral display (Aurora Australis) Moving and radiating bands of light, pinkish in colour. Top Yards - Lower & upper top gallant yards crossed to mast. All gear on deck not wanted stowed below. Ship making fair progress north. Winds NE to NW. 1st March 1931 - Lat 57 S. Winds south west. More auroral displays. 2nd March 1931 - Gale comes on from N.W. Ship headed away before it. 3rd March 1931 - Wind round now to WSW, blowing with terrific force (70 m/h). Huge seas everywhere, ship going fine but needs careful handling. Wonderful sight. Ship under bare poles making 8 Knots. 4th March 1931 - Wind & sea abating. 6th March 1931 - 1880 miles from Melbourne. More birds in vicinity of ship. Albatrosses, Cape Hens, Petrels & Nellies. Ship under sail alone, conserving coal for last part of passage. Plenty of work for all in trimming yards. 14th March 1931 - 700 miles from Hobart our proposed port. Engines going again. 18th March 1931 - South coast of Tasmania in sight, can smell the timber on the land. Lovely view after the weeks of endless ice & snow. 19th March 1931 - Ship steamed up D'Entrecasteaux channel to Hobart, arriving at 3.30PM. Given great welcome by the Navy. Especially Rear Admiral Evans. Left Hobart on 22nd March and arrived Melbourne on 26th 147 days out. Hobart to Hobart - Length of second cruise 10,557 miles. Ship returns to England via Cape Town. Two Cruises - Approx 22,000 miles.

Word processed by --203.29.131.4 06:08, 7 January 2006 (UTC)Sally Douglas - from the logs hand written by Eric Douglas