In the early 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression, Admiral Richard E. Byrd decided to put together an expedition to Antarctica—this would be his second time leading an expedition there, the first taking place from 1928 to 1930.
George Frizzell at the helm, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 5. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
In need of a sturdy ship to serve as an ice-breaker, Byrd traveled to Oakland, California, where he purchased the Bear, a former coast guard cutter from the city auction. The Bear was a wooden barkantine that had worked in the Arctic, policed the gold rush to the Yukon, and had served as a rescue vessel picking up six survivors of the Greely expedition at Cape Sabine in April 1884. Retired from Coast Guard service in 1928, the Bear served as a floating museum for the city of Oakland until Byrd’s purchase. After the auction, the Bear, renamed the Bear of Oakland, was sailed to Boston, where it was refitted for the expedition.
It was in Boston that George Frizzell joined the crew of the Bear of Oakland as an engine room hand. However, throughout the expedition he appears to have acted in many different capacities including unloading and re-loading supplies, delivering supplies from the ship to Little America (Byrd’s base camp) on a seven-dog freight sled and on snow tractors, and as a fireman on board the ship.
George Frizzell at the helm, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 5. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
Frizzell kept a diary of his experiences during the expedition, which left Boston in 1933. While it does not contain daily entries for the entire two years, it does provide us with a glimpse into the daily life of those who were a part of the Antarctic expedition.
The above entry, dated January 31, 1934, describes the day’s events, which included arriving at the Bay of Whales (the expedition’s drop off point in Antarctica), cleaning the fire room, and then …“We were told to get our heavy [clothes] and wind proves and work on the ice, well we got our [clothes] and went to no. 1 cache and get the supplies to Pressure Ridge we went to work there 12 hours on 12 hours off…” The entry then goes on to describe how he and another shipmate skied to Little America in their off hours to explore the base camp.
For me, the really interesting part of this collection are the photographs. Taken by either Frizzell or his shipmates, the photographs show life aboard the ship, activities related to the expedition, and downtime. These provide a glimpse into experiences that very few people will ever get to participate in. The subjects of the photographs include topics such as: the ships in dry dock; going through the Panama Canal; the crossing the line ceremony on board the Bear of Oakland; unloading and reloading the ships; transporting supplies; hunting; sailing; and general views of Antarctica.
Bear of Oakland, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 3. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
Below is a photograph of the unloading of supplies from the Jacob Ruppert, which was the other ship that accompanied the expedition. Though a steel ship, the Jacob Ruppert was far more vulnerable to the Antarctic ice than the wooden Bear of Oakland because it was not designed, as the Bear was, as an ice breaking vessel.
Bear of Oakland, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 3. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
The crew set up temporary nerve centers to manage the transfer of supplies from the shore to Little America. Below is one of the camps, Hooligan Heim, which had a shack with a stove, coffee, beer, tents with accommodations for twenty-four men, and radio equipment to communicate with the ship and Little America.
Dog team on bay ice of Discovery Inlet, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 6. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
One of the dog sled teams on bay ice in Discovery Inlet, in the Ross Sea. Frizzell identifies himself and someone named Dennis, as two of the people in the photo.
This next photograph is of Ross Ice Shelf in the Bay of Whales. You will notice that there are three planes on top of the ice shelf. The planes, which belonged to the expedition, were being picked up by the Bear of Oakland.
Dog team on bay ice of Discovery Inlet, undated. MH 103, box 2, folder 6. Courtesy of Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Rowley, MA.
Packing up a dog sled team in Discovery Inlet in the Ross Sea.
And of course who does not love to see pictures of penguins?
These particular penguins, Empire and Adélie penguins, are in a holding pen in Little America waiting to be taken back to the United States on the Bear of Oakland and Jacob Ruppert.
The George Frizzell Papers, MH 103, provides the researcher with a chance to learn about the Byrd Second Antarctic Expedition from a source other than from the individuals who had much more public roles in the expedition. You can view the finding aid for the collection here, or explore Frizzell's diaries and additional photographs on the Phillips Library Digital Collection.
Bibliography
Byrd, Richard E. Discovery: The Story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1935.
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