LAUNCHED! - Royal New Zealand Navy

F I F T Y Y E A R S A G O :ENDEAVOUR GOESA BA . H M N Z S E N D E A V O U R w i t ha i r c r a f t o n b o a r d d e p a r t i n g f o rt h e I c e . B . D S E s c i e n t i s t s r e c o v e r ab a t h y t h e r m o g r a p h . C . E N D E A V O U Rd e m o n s t r a t i n g h e r c h a r a c t e r i s t i cr o l l . D . L i g h t J a c k s t a y t r a n s f e ro f C H A P M c K e n z i e t o H A W E A o nC h r i s t m a s D a y 1 9 5 6 . E . E N D E A V O U Rp a s s e s t h e f i r s t i c e b e r ge n c o u n t e r e d , a t 6 7 S o u t h . F. C A P TK i r k w o o d , S i r E d H i l l a r y , C H A PR o y M c K e n z i e a n d C D R H a l e o nE N D E A V O U R . G . E N D E A V O U R , s e e nf r o m P U K A K I , d e p a r t s a t 6 7 S 1 7 94 5 W a f t e r t h e f r i g a t e s c h e e r s h i pf o r t h e e x p e d i t i o n m e m b e r s . P h o t o sf r o m V o y a g e S o u t h , O D T 1 9 5 7 , w i t ht h a n k s . I M A G E R I G H T : E N D E A V O U Ra l o n g s i d e t h e f a s t i c e a t M c M u r d oS o u n d . P h o t o © C T A E 1 9 5 8IN December 1956 HMNZS ENDEAVOURembarked personnel, dogs, two aircraftand stores to take to the Antarcticto set up Scott Base and suppor tthe Commonwealth Trans AntarcticExpedition. The CTAE was the primarycontribution of Britain, South Africa,Australia and New Zealand to theInternational Geophysical Year (1957-58) and the expedition to cross thefrozen continent was supported bygovernment, commercial and publiccontributions, especially in the UK andNZ. (Massey Harris Ferguson Ltd providedthe NZ party with five Ferguson tractorsmodified to work in snow conditions,for example.) The establishment of ScottBase by the NZ party would also facilitateour country’s own national commitmentto scientific research in Antarctica.Commanded by CAPT Kirkwood RN (anexperienced ice navigator) who had beencontracted to the RNZN, ENDEAVOUR’stask was to land the NZ section of theexpedition (under the leadership ofSir Edmund Hillary) and assist with theconstruction of Scott Base. (The previoussummer LTCDR W J L Smith DSO, RNZNhad gone south with Op Deepfreeze Ito find unloading sites for ENDEAVOUR,he was now the ship’s First Lieutenant.)The Navy had also loaned CPO PeterMulgrew to the expedition as one ofthe two radio operators; from the RoyalNavy LTCDR F R Brooke was the party’sSurveyor and one of the dog drivers. The34 N TT 1 116 77 ND DO EEC VC E EM B BE ER R0 066W W W . . N A VV Y . . M I I L L . . N ZZ