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15-632: The glacier was mapped during the 1952–54 British North Greenland expedition led by Commander James Simpson . It was named after the British Admiralty in order to commemorate the assistance given to the expedition by the Royal Navy . The Admiralty Glacier is one of the main glaciers in northern Queen Louise Land . It flows from the Greenland Ice Sheet from west to east the first 20 km (12 mi), slightly bending to

30-427: A rocket assisted USAF Douglas C-47 . In early 1953 glaciological studies began, while seismic and gravimetric teams worked between North Ice and Britannia Sø. Observations were continued throughout the second winter, and in 1954 a party traversed the ice cap from North Ice to Thule. Attempts to measure the thickness of the ice sheet by seismic soundings failed, but markers placed on the ice, enabled information about

45-714: A record low value of −66.1 °C (−87 °F) was recorded. The members of the expedition were: North Ice North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954) on the inland ice of Greenland . The coordinates of the station were 78°04′N 38°29′W  /  78.067°N 38.483°W  / 78.067; -38.483 , at an altitude of 2,341 metres (7,680 ft) above sea level . The British North Greenland Expedition had its main base camp in Britannia Lake , Queen Louise Land . It

60-502: A series of parachute drops, was making the second in series of free fall drops at an altitude of only 50 feet (15 m), when it was caught in a white-out , and made a forced belly landing . Three members of the crew were injured, and sheltered in the intact fuselage of the aircraft until air-lifted out by a Grumman HU-16 Albatross of the United States Air Force. The rest of the crew were recovered two days later by

75-534: A suitable place for landing and he named it Britannia Lake (Britannia Sø) after the future expedition. The exploration team stayed three weeks in the area, following which the Sunderland returned to bring the party back to Britain. In July 1952 the expedition sailed from Deptford aboard the former Norwegian sealer Tottan , while another cargo ship, loaded with four Weasel tracked vehicles, sailed from Hull. The expedition team consisted of 25 men; fifteen from

90-525: The North Ice station about 230 miles (370 km) to the west. The Weasels were landed on the coast and drove the 100 miles inland as far as the base camp. Once the party arrived at the site of North Ice, their stores and equipment, more than 86 tons of it, were air-dropped from two RAF Handley Page Hastings transport aircraft, flying from Thule . During the supply operation, on 16 September 1952, Hastings No. WD492 of 47 Squadron , having already made

105-928: The Polar Medal in November 1954, while Commander Simpson was also presented with the Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1955, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 2 January 1956. In the 1980s the abandoned huts of the expedition field camp were destroyed by a surge of the Britannia Glacier . During the expedition temperatures below −59.4 °C (−75 °F) were recorded at North Ice on 16 occasions, and on 9 January 1954,

120-492: The armed services and the merchant navy, nine civilian scientists, and a Danish army officer. After collecting sledge dogs in south-west Greenland, the two ships sailed to Young Sund in the north-east coast. From there RAF Sunderland flying-boats airlifted the expedition to Britannia Lake in Queen Louise Land and set up the main base camp of the expedition. Commander Simpson then led a party on dog sleds to establish

135-448: The following from a campsite at the glacier itself: The striking rock-colours of reds, browns and blacks were edged with snow that was rose-coloured in the fading sun. Ice lakes on the glacier looked beautifully blue, but were very slippery and, in the lakes that filled little basins at the foot of the valley walls, fallen stones looked ominously cold and imprisoned... The whole atmosphere was of gaunt grandeur, terrific and awesome beneath

150-539: The icecap was either on foot, by dog sled , or by M29 Weasel tracked vehicles. Expedition members also made pioneering ascents in the Barth Mountains and Queen Louise Land . Simpson made a preparatory exploration in 1951. A Short Sunderland flying boat landed in Seal Lake and from there Simpson walked across Storstrommen to Queen Louise Land . There he found an ice-free glacial lake that would be

165-417: The jagged, pinnacled cliffs. This Greenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . British North Greenland expedition The British North Greenland expedition was a British scientific mission, led by Commander James Simpson RN, which lasted from July 1952 to August 1954. A total of 30 men took part, though not all stayed for both years. The purpose of BNGE

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180-692: The movement of the ice sheet and the accumulation of snow to be gathered. At North Ice ice cores to a depth of 14 metres (46 ft) were recovered. The expedition suffered its only fatality in 1953, when Captain H. A. Jensen of the Danish Army , a qualified surveyor, fell to his death on a steep snow slope. In August 1953, the expedition was re-supplied by sea and air, and eight team members, who had signed on for only one year, left to be replaced by five more. The expedition returned to England by ship in August 1954. The entire expedition team were awarded

195-574: The north of Trefork Lake and flowing roughly northeastwards. The Ad Astra Ice Cap lies to the east of its lower stretch. The glacier has its terminus in the Støvdal valley at the Britannia Lake , near the southern end of the Britannia Glacier . The structure of the cliffs on either side of Admiralty Glacier was examined by the British North Greenland expedition geologists. Expedition member and glaciologist Hal Lister wrote

210-693: Was led by Commander James Simpson RN. The station recorded a temperature of −66.1 °C (−87.0 °F) on 9 January 1954, which made it the lowest temperature ever recorded in North America up until that time. It was superseded by an observation of −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F) at the Greenland Ice Sheet on 22 December 1991. The name of the station contrasts to the former British South Ice station in Antarctica . 78°04′N 38°29′W  /  78.067°N 38.483°W  / 78.067; -38.483 This Greenland location article

225-521: Was primarily to carry out scientific studies in glaciology , meteorology , geology and physiology . Gravimetric and seismological surveys were made, and radio wave propagation was also studied from their station codenamed " North Ice ". It also provided information useful to the Armed Forces about operating in Arctic environments, and the majority of the team were serving members. Travel over

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