The Pittsburgh Press (May 5, 1941)
Byrd aide hints –
NAZIS BLEW UP BASE OFF CHILE
…
‘Draw your own conclusion,’ Paul Siple says
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Dr. Paul A. Siple of Erie, Pa., was greeted by his wife and Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd (right) when the motorship North Star docked at Boston today on its return from its Antarctic expedition.
Germans were reported by members of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, who returned to Boston today, to have blown up a naval repair base at Deception Island, 600 miles off the South American coast.
Boston, May 5 (UP) –
Germany maintained Antarctic naval repair ships at Deception Island Harbor – only 600 miles from South America – until they were blown up a few months ago, it was reported today when members of the United States Antarctic Expedition arrived here.
Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, who was among 200 persons who greeted the returning members of his expedition abroad the motorship North Star, expressed astonishment when he heard the report.
Admiral Byrd said:
I had no idea of such activities down there.
Dr. Paul A. Siple of Erie, Pa., who had charge of the expedition’s west base in Little America, told Admiral Byrd that he received his information from “a high Chilean naval officer” when the North Star stopped at a Chilean port.
Dr. Siple said:
The officer told me that the shops were built there and that German explorers were in the area in 1938. The officer said the shops were blown up and you can draw your own conclusions as to who may have done this.
Dr. Siple said that by the time he received the report, the expedition was too far from Little America to make possible any attempt at verification. He speculated that the German pocket battleship Graf Spee might have used Deception Island as a base for raiding operations in the South Atlantic before it was sunk more than a year ago.
Admiral Byrd said the North Star amd the expedition’s second ship, The Bear, due here later this month, probably would enter naval service shortly, perhaps in Greenland waters.
Coastline damaged
Dr. Siple, one of 35 returning explorers, said the group had surveyed 1,100 miles of coastline. Admiral Byrd explained that, including earlier explorations, this gave the United States claim to roughly a million square miles. He believes this territory might prove an important factor in Western Hemisphere defense.
Definite claims to the area by the United States, Admiral Byrd said, would be deferred pending conferences with the Chilean and Argentine governments.
Another accomplishment of the expedition during nearly two years in the Antarctic was reported by Dr. F. Alton Wade of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, spokesman for the group which was stationed at the east bade. He said meteorological observations made there might revolutionize forecasting throughout the world.
Siple sees daughter
Dr. Wade said that during these observations the expedition recorded what perhaps wa the lowest stratospheric temperature yet known – 130 degrees below zero. This reading was taken nine miles above earth.
About three years will be required, Dr. Wade estimated, to correlate the date assembled by the expedition.
Dr. Siple was greeted by his wife. His 11-month-old daughter, whom he never has seen, was not present when the North Star docked.
Those who returned included:
- Vernon D. Boyd, Uniontown, Pa.
- H. H. Richardson, West View, Beaver County, Pa.
- Finn Ronne, Pittsburgh, Pa.