Island. In the summer of 1948 the icebreakers returned to Boston 

 by way of Prince Regent Inlet, Fury and Hecla Strait, Foxe Basin, 

 and Hudson Strait. Two "firsts" are credited to our forces : 

 farthest north afloat in the Western Hemisphere, and transit of 

 Fury and Hecla Strait. The latter resulted in the opening of a 

 long sought route to the Canadian Arctic. 



Following completion of Operation Nanook, the task force com- 

 mander was directed to plan and prepare for Operation Highjump 

 to Antarctica. The numerous ships (CV, AV, AO, AKA, AGC, 

 SS) assigned to the force departed for their stations in December 

 1946. It consisted of three groups : one operating in the Palmer 

 Peninsula — Weddell Sea sector ; one in the Ross Sea sector ; and 

 one in the Wilkes Land — Queen Maud Land sector. Thus, the 

 continent was circumnavigated in the short period of 21/2 months. 

 The valuable achievements of this exploring expedition can only 

 be grasped and appreciated by a study of the comprehensive report 

 submitted by the task force. 



Probably the most significant lesson learned during Operation 

 Highjump was that extended operations of 13 ships, 8,000 miles 

 from their bases, were highly successful without the necessity of 

 special preparations and special training and that our materiel 

 and ship equipage performed satisfactorily, in most instances, to 

 the extreme conditions encountered. These conditions were near 

 to what might be expected in various sea-land areas in the arctic 

 and subarctic regions during a large part of the year. 



For many years the Navy has assisted in the protection of the 

 seal fishery around the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, and has 

 participated in the logistic support of the islands. 



The Point Barrow resupply expedition (Barex) is conducted 

 annually in August in the Beaufort Sea in logistic support of 



Figure 1-7. — Summer scene. Beach at Resolute Bay. 



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