Ice and more Ice
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USNS Sappa Creek After hitting an Iceberg
The location of Thule, 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle, required the ships to sail in company with icebreakers from the Canadian and American Navy and Coast Guard. Due to the heavy flow ice, ships needed to depart by early September, or face a winter trapped in the ice. The mission posed serious dangers to the crews and ships. The tanker USNS Sappa Creek experienced a radar malfunction and while in reduced visibility struck an iceberg and suffered severe damage to its bow, but was able to continue its mission.
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USS Deuel APA160 as seen from the USS E.B.Hall On the way to Greenland
At Thule Airbase
Glacier at Greenland
Icebergs in Greenland
Tour of Glacier at Greenland
posted by Peter at 12:52 PM
8 Comments:
I left a piece of my heart in Thule, Greenland. Love that place. I was there from 99-01.
uss shadwell l.s.d-15 i served on the shadwell from 1950 to 1953-stan greenwood seaman-we run the material-supplies even[booze]to shore in l.c.ms-praying that the wind did not turn and crush us with ice-do you remmember this during blue jay?my friend and i were reprimanded for taking chances with the wind--so we wrote up transfer sheets for duty in thule-our cap. leroy taylor had them posted in the head-laugh now-but not then-
Thank you for an excellent visual story of early Thule. I was the base commander 2007-2008. Most of our housing and survival still depended on what was built then. If you would like to see some more current pictures of the area, visit my FB page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lee-Volker-Cox/669855853044470
Although right now, there are only a few, the number will grow with time. Thanks for your service.
My uncle worked on this in 1951 (he arrived on the ship), then my dad in '52 and '53 (he arrived by plane). He only went for 5 mo. periods. I have a group picture of the men my dad worked with. He took a lot of pics and put on informative slide shows for friends and relatives.
My father also worked in Thule in the early 50's. He was a up there twice for 5 or 6 months each time. They were just building the base at that time and it had to be rough on those men. He never talked about it much, but he did tell a few stories when he returned.
My father and uncle spent time working in Greenland sometime between 1951 and 1961. Would love to hear from other workers to share their stories about their respective jobs. My father would be in Greenland for none months at a time. Thanks.
My father was there in the early 50's as well. I would love to hear from anyone who knows the details of what they were doing.
I recently acquired photos from this operation. A lot of pictures of esquimos, walrus hunting, base housing some ship photos etc. Curious as to whether there is any value in these snap shots.
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