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28-473: The Windmill Islands were mapped from aerial photographs taken by USN Operation Highjump , 1946–47. So named by the US-ACAN because personnel of Operation Windmill , 1947–48, landed on Holl Island at the southwest end of the group to establish ground control for USN Operation Highjump photographs. The term "Operation Windmill" is a popular expression which developed after the expedition disbanded and refers to

56-535: A Martin PBM Mariner ) during a blizzard. The surviving six crew members were rescued 13 days later, including aviation radioman James H. Robbins and co-pilot William Kearns. A plaque honoring the three killed crewmen was later erected at the McMurdo Station research base, and Mount Lopez on Thurston Island was named in honor of killed naval aviator Maxwell A. Lopez. In December 2004, an attempt

84-811: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 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 operation was organized by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd , Jr., USN, Officer in Charge, Task Force 68, and led by Rear Admiral Ethan Erik Larson , USN, Commanding Officer, Task Force 68. Operation HIGHJUMP commenced 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Task Force 68 included 4,700 men, 70 ships, and 33 aircraft. HIGHJUMP's objectives, according to

112-416: Is discussing Operation HIGHJUMP with admirals Byrd and Cruzen. The film re-enacted scenes of critical events, such as shipboard damage control and Admiral Byrd throwing items out of an airplane to lighten it to avoid crashing into a mountain. It won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

140-661: Is estimated that at least 150,000 such envelopes were produced, though their final number may be considerably higher. Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen , USN, Commanding Capt. George J. Dufek , USN, Commanding Capt. Charles A. Bond , USN, Commanding Rear Admiral Richard H. Cruzen , USN, Commanding Officer Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd , Jr. USN, (Ret), Officer in Charge Capt. Clifford M. Campbell , USN, Commanding On December 30, 1946, aviation radiomen Wendell K. Henderson, Fredrick W. Williams, and Ensign Maxwell A. Lopez were killed when their plane crashed (named George 1—

168-647: The Battle of Leyte Gulf , which destroyed the Japanese Navy as an effective combat force. On 26 October 1944, Mount Olympus departed for Hollandia , New Guinea , via Peleliu Island , in preparation for the next assault on the Japanese-occupied Philippines . After invasion rehearsals at Huon Gulf , New Guinea , the ship departed Manus Island , Admiralties , on 31 December for the assault on Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945. After

196-583: The Distant Early Warning Line . While underway from Point Barrow, Alaska to Point Hope, she became icebound, but was freed by the icebreaker Burton Island . Having sustained damage to structural bulkheads from the ice pressure, the ship was repaired by Current in Point Hope. Mount Olympus returned to San Diego on 29 September and on 31 October 1955, she proceeded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for deactivation. Mount Olympus

224-559: The Martin PBM-5 George 1 crashed on Thurston Island killing Ensign Maxwell A. Lopez, ARM1 Wendell K. Henderson, and ARM1 Frederick W. Williams. The other six crew members were rescued 13 days later. These and Vance N. Woodall, who died on January 21, 1947, were the only fatalities during Operation HIGHJUMP. On January 1, 1947, Lieutenant Commander Thompson and Chief Petty Officer John Marion Dickison utilized "Jack Browne" masks and DESCO oxygen rebreathers to log

252-906: The Mediterranean Sea on 21 June 1951. Mount Olympus was relieved by the USS ; Adirondack  (AGC-15) in August 1951, and she returned to Norfork and duty with the Amphibious Group 2, joining in NATO naval exercises Operation Mainbrace and Longs in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean from August through December 1952. After an overhaul in Norfolk from December to March 1953, when her helicopter deck

280-598: The Philippines and other bases to ports in Japan and China , she left Shanghai on 28 May 1946, bound for San Diego , the Panama Canal , and New York Harbor , arriving on 7 July 1946. In September, Mount Olympus was made the flagship for Operation Highjump , the U.S. Navy 's Antarctic Expedition. The ship sailed from Naval Station Norfolk on 2 December, passed through the Panama Canal to rendezvous with

308-619: The United States Coast Guard . USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8) USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8) was a Mount McKinley -class amphibious force command ship, named for the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains of the State of Washington . She was designed to be an amphibious forces flagship —a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by

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336-591: The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio and read in part as follows: Admiral Richard E. Byrd warned today that the United States should adopt measures of protection against the possibility of an invasion of the country by hostile planes coming from the polar regions. The admiral explained that he was not trying to scare anyone, but the cruel reality is that in case of a new war, the United States could be attacked by planes flying over one or both poles. This statement

364-594: The East Coast in early July, arriving at Hawaii via the Panama Canal on 23 July. With the Commander, 3rd Amphibious Force, embarked, she was underway from Hawaii on 29 August. She arrived Leyte Gulf 20 October, there to serve as the floating headquarters for the huge U.S. Army invasion force. The landing force was subjected to continual air attacks, but its survival was assured by the American naval victory in

392-634: The Pacific group, and with it she reached the Bay of Whales , New Zealand on 16 January 1947. Mount Olympus was detached from the group on 11 February, and she returned to Norfolk on 17 April to become the flagship of Commander, Amphibious Group 2, in training along the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea . She became flagship and temporary headquarters for CINCNELM/CINCSOUTH in

420-466: The Ross Ice Shelf under a piece of roller equipment designed to 'pave' the ice to build an airstrip." The documentary about the expedition The Secret Land was filmed entirely by military photographers (both USN and US Army) and narrated by actors Robert Taylor , Robert Montgomery , and Van Heflin . It features Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz in a scene where he

448-603: The U.S. Navy report of the operation, were: The Western Group of ships reached the Marquesas Islands on December 12, 1946, whereupon the USS Henderson and USS Cacapon set up weather monitoring stations. By December 24, the USS Currituck had begun launching aircraft on reconnaissance missions. The Eastern Group of ships reached Peter I Island in late December 1946. On December 30, 1946,

476-528: The United States in late February 1947, and the expedition was terminated due to the early approach of winter and worsening weather conditions. Byrd discussed the lessons learned from the operation in an interview with Lee van Atta of International News Service held aboard the expedition's command ship, the USS Mount Olympus . The interview appeared in the Wednesday, March 5, 1947, edition of

504-426: The admiral – is one of the most important lessons learned during his recent Antarctic exploration. I have to warn my compatriots that the time has ended when we were able to take refuge in our isolation and rely on the certainty that the distances, the oceans, and the poles were a guarantee of safety. After the operation ended, a follow-up Operation Windmill returned to the area in order to provide ground-truthing to

532-442: The aerial photography of HIGHJUMP from 1947 to 1948. Finn Ronne also financed a private operation to the same territory until 1948. As with other U.S. Antarctic expeditions, interested persons were allowed to send letters with enclosed envelopes to the base, where commemorative cachets were added to their enclosures, which were then returned to the senders. These souvenir philatelic covers are readily available at low cost. It

560-707: The amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations. Mount Olympus was laid down on 3 August 1943 at the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington, North Carolina . She was launched on 3 October 1943 as the USS Eclipse , a transport ship , sponsored by Mrs. W. C. Park, and then renamed Mount Olympus on 27 December 1943. She was commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts , after her conversion on 24 May 1944. Mount Olympus departed from

588-464: The extensive use of helicopters made by this group. The official title of this expedition was the 'Second Antarctic Development Project', U.S. Navy Task Force 39, 1947–48. Some of the main geographic features of the archipelago are: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from "Windmill Islands" . Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . This Wilkes Land location article

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616-474: The first dive by Americans under the Antarctic. Paul Siple was the senior U.S. War Department representative on the expedition. Siple was the same Eagle Scout who accompanied Byrd on the previous Byrd Antarctic expeditions. The Central Group of ships reached the Bay of Whales on January 15, 1947, where they began construction of Little America IV . Naval ships and personnel were withdrawn back to

644-495: The initial assault and with the ground force commander disembarked, Mount Olympus was soon underway on 11 January from Lingayen Gulf. She called at Ulithi Atoll to allow the Commander, 3rd Amphibious Force, to disembark and travel by plane to Hawaii, while she herself sailed for an overhaul at San Francisco Bay , arriving on 11 February and leaving on 22 April for Pearl Harbor and Guam . Arriving at Guam on 6 July 1945, Mount Olympus sailed on for Manila Bay , colliding with

672-464: The oiler Millicoma along the way. The ship was escorted to San Pedro Bay on the Leyte Gulf , for repairs by the heavy repair ship Ajax  (AR-6) . Then she continued to Manila, arriving on 3 August. After the close of hostilities in August 1945, Mount Olympus arrived at Tokyo Bay on 2 September with part of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division . After months of moving occupation troops from

700-474: Was also installed, she served in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until 5 January 1955, when she sailed for the Panama Canal and San Diego, California , arriving on 23 January 1955. Having participated in exercise Surfboard with the 38th Infantry Regiment from Washington State off the coast of San Simeon, California in mid-March, Mount Olympus proceeded to Arctic waters as part of Project 572 in support of

728-817: Was decommissioned on 4 April 1956, and she was struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1961. The ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration in June 1966, and she remained in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay , California. She was sold and sent to the scrapyard in 1973. Mount Olympus received two battle stars for her service in World War II . [REDACTED]   This article incorporates text from

756-404: Was made as part of a recapitulation of his own polar experience, in an exclusive interview with International News Service. Talking about the recently completed expedition, Byrd said that the most important result of his observations and discoveries is the potential effect that they have in relation to the security of the United States. The fantastic speed with which the world is shrinking – recalled

784-626: Was made to locate the remains of the plane. In 2007 a group called the George One Recovery Team was unsuccessful in trying to get direct military involvement and raise extensive funds from the United States Congress to try to find the bodies of the three men killed in the crash. On January 21, 1947, Vance N. Woodall died during a "ship unloading accident". In a crew profile, deckman Edward Beardsley described his worst memory as "when Seaman Vance Woodall died on

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