Little America was a series of

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and othe ...

exploration bases from 1929 to 1958, located on the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between h ...

, south of the Bay of Whales. The coordinates are approximate.

Little America I

The first base in the series was established in January 1929 by Richard Byrd, and was abandoned in 1930. This was where the film ''

With Byrd at the South Pole ''With Byrd at the South Pole'' (1930) is a documentary film about Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and his 1st quest to the South Pole beginning at the Little America-Exploration Base. The film's soundtrack consists mostly of music and sound effect ...

'' (1930), about Byrd's trip to the South Pole, was filmed.

Little America II

Little America II was established in 1934, some above the site of the original base, with some of the original base accessed via tunnel. This base was briefly set adrift in 1934, but the iceberg fused to the main glacier. During the 1934–1935 expedition, many souvenir letters were sent from Little America, using a commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

issued by the U.S. government. The souvenir cancellation operations were conducted under extremely difficult conditions. Little America established the first successful radio broadcasting from Antarctica, making regular broadcasts that could be picked up by household radio sets in the United States, more than away around the Earth's curvature. In a later expedition to Antarctica, Byrd's expedition spotted Little America's towers still standing, including the

Jacobs Wind Jacobs Wind Electric Co. Inc. is a renewable energy company in the United States. The firm was started and established by Marcellus and Joseph Jacobs, after local interest in their wind electric system for their family's Montana Ranch, built in 19 ...

plant installed in 1933.

Little America III

Little America III was established for the 1940–1941 season, some to the north. In 1940 a huge exploration vehicle, the

Antarctic Snow Cruiser The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a vehicle designed from 1937 to 1939 under the direction of Thomas Poulter, intended to facilitate transport in Antarctica during the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–41). The Snow Cruiser was ...

, was brought to Little America III. Unfortunately, the vehicle was found to have a number of design and technical weaknesses and was little used. Abandoned, it became buried in the snow. It was last rediscovered in 1958, but has subsequently been lost once again, either under the snow, or under the waters of the Southern Ocean. The site of Little America III was carried to sea in 1963.

Little America IV

Little America IV was established in 1946–1947 as the primary camp for

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

. On 2 and 5 December 1946, 166 Seabees sailed from Port Hueneme on the USS ''Yancey'' and USS ''Merrick'' assigned to

Little America V

Little America V was established on January 3, 1956, at

Kainan Bay Kainan Bay is an iceport which indents the front of the Ross Ice Shelf about northeast of the northwestern end of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica. It was discovered in January 1902 by the British National Antarctic Expedition under Robert Falcon Sc ...

, some east of Little America IV, as part of

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There ...

. Little America V served as the American base in the South Polar program in the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific i ...

, from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. Little America V was constructed by United States Navy

Seabee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...

s in the three-month window before the Antarctic winter makes construction nearly impossible. All of Little America V was constructed below the snow line in the ice, with individual living quarters, generator room, cafeteria, and with ramps leading out at one end for tracked vehicles. This type of construction meant that none of those staying in Little America V had to go outdoors in the harsh winter when going from one section to another of the Antarctic town. The site of Little America V went to sea on Iceberg B-9 in 1987.

References

External links

Paper by CE Palmer, RNZAF on ''Winds at Little America'', 1929
{{Polar exploration Outposts of Antarctica United States Antarctic Program Outposts of the Ross Dependency 1929 establishments in Antarctica 1987 disestablishments in Antarctica