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36
A Forgotten Continent
A
ircraft were used by
several expeditions and
opened up Antarctica.
Antarctic Exploration
E
xpeditions had reached the South and Magnetic Poles
but vast areas were still unexplored. British and
Norwegian whaling companies plundered Antarctic waters.
Meanwhile a series of small expeditions came to Antarctica.
Many were privately organized and many used aircraft for
the first time to help in exploration.
Aircraft opened up Antarctica. In 1928 Richard Byrd
led an American expedition to the Ross Ice Shelf and made
the first flight to the Pole in 1929. Byrd with Floyd Bennett
was also the first to fly over the North Pole in 1926. Five
years later Byrd returned with a much larger expedition.
He extended his old base, called Little America. It now
housed more than 40 men in a dozen buildings. Byrd mapped
the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
Antarctic Crossing
From the other side of Antarctica a small expedition
prepared their plane for an historic flight. In November
1935, Lincoln Ellsworth and a pilot set out to fly across
Antarctica. He believed it would take 14 hours but blizzards
forced them to land and wait for good weather. Twenty-two
days later they ran out of fuel 16 miles (26 km) from Little
America. Ellsworth and his pilot had to walk there. Byrd
had left two years before. The two men had to wait a month
for their ship to sail round Antarctica to collect them.
Shackleton’s Bravery
Ernest Shackleton organized a third
expedition. In 1914-16, he attempted to
cross Antarctica. But his ship,
Endurance
,
never landed. It was crushed by ice in
the Weddell Sea. Only Shackleton’s skill
as a leader saved him and his crew. By
sleds and boats he reached Elephant
Island. Shackleton and five others sailed
800 miles (1,300 km) to South Georgia to
arrange a rescue. Shackleton brought all
his men safely home.