HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF CLAIMS IN ANTARCTICA

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• Publication Date: March 1, 1948
• Content Type: REPORT

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tk2,-14.
CURRENT STATUS
ANTARCTICA
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LIGENCE AGENCY
March, 1948
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FOR THE
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"Irrewormw...,
HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS
OF CLAIMS IN ANTARCTICA
M-1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
MARCH, 1948
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U. B. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
2332-B-1848
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction .
Page
I. Official Government Claims .
1
A. British Commonwealth of Nations
1
B. France
6
C. Norway
7
D. Argentine
9
E. Chile .
11
II. Claims by Individuals for their Countries, not taken up by Governments
13
A. Claims by Individuals for the United States
13
B. Claims by Individuals for Norway
15
C. German Claims .
15
D. Japanese Claims
16
E. South African Interest
16
III. Discovery as Basis? for Claims
17
A. Discovery and Exploration
17
B. United States
18
C. Great Britain
19.
D. Netherlands
19
E. Russia
19
F. Norway
19
G. Belgium
19
H. Sweden
20
I. France
20
J. Germany
20
IV. American Policy in the Antarctic . . .
21
A. The Official Attitude of the Department of State .
21
B. Preparations for Active Assertion of American Claims
21
C. The United States Antarctic Service Expedition
23
D. Antarctic Developments Project 1946-47
24
Table 1. List of Expeditions .
27
Table 2. Activities in the Antarctic, by Country
37
Appendix No. I .
39
LIST OF MAPS
Map No. 10700, Discovery and Exploration in Antarctica: Palmer Peninsula.
Map Na. 10701, Discovery and Exploration in Antarctica: South American Quadrant
(20? W.-110? W.).
Map No. 10702, Discovery and Exploration in Antarctica: Pacific Quadrant (1100 W.-
160? E.) .
Map No. 10703, Discovery and Exploration in Antarctica: Indic Quadrant (1600 E.-
700 E.).
Map No. 10704, Discovery and Exploration in Antarctica: African Quadrant (700 E.-
20?W.).
Map No. 10705, Territorial Claims in Antarctica.
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INTRODUCTION
Since the beginning of the twentieth century,
questions of sovereignty over Antarctic territory
have been raised at increasingly shorter intervals.
New claimants, overlapping claims, fears that new
claims would be raised on the basis of either former
interests or new discoveries, and the lack of inter-
national rules for acquisition of uninhabitable ter-
ritories, all contributed to the increasing uneasi-
ness.
The Antarctic has experienced several periods
during which it attracted much interest, separated
by long intervals of almost complete neglect.
As long as it was thought that the existence of
large continents in the northern hemisphere re-
quired a counterbalance in the southern hemi-
sphere, the search for an Austral continent con-
tinued. When Captain James Cook proved on his
voyage of 1772-75, that there was no extensive
southern land mass north of the Antarctic Circle,
interest in possible lands farther south died down.
After an interval of almost fifty years, British and
American seal hunters discovered, exploited, and
soon exhausted the vast wealth to be gained from
seals. As they often kept their hunting grounds
secret from each other, it is impossible to say how
far the geographic knowledge of sealers went. It
is certain, however, that their activity was con-
centrated to the south of the American Continent;
and that one of them, the American Palmer (1819-
21) , sighted the Antarctic Continent. About the
same time scientific interest in the Antarctic awoke
and was fostered by several governments. The
voyages of Bransfield and Bellingshausen began a
series of government-sponsored scientific expedi-
tions, which ended about twenty years later with
the expeditions of Ross, Dumont D'Urville, and
Wilkes. The result of this period was the near ex-
tinction of the seals and the knowledge of the ap-
proximate, often conjectural, outlines of the Ant-
arctic Continent.
The second interval of inactivity was interrupted
by voyages of slight consequence. Not until near
the end of the century did the new interest rise to
a high point. Thereafter it increased steadily, in-
terrupted only by a short period of inactivity follow-
ing World War I. During this second period, scien-
1 The United States Board on Geographical Names re-
cently issued a bulletin entitled "The Geographical Names
of Antarctica" (Special Publication No. 86, 1947) . Where-
ever possible the approved names have been used in this
report. Where it has been necessary to use old names,
the names approved by the B.G.N. have been added in
brackets or explained in footnotes.
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tific exploration and business interests went hand
in hand, the latter taking the lead in time. First
Norwegian, a little later British, and then whalers
of other nations did much to widen our knowledge
of the Antarctic, while scientific expeditions helped
? them by their investigation of meteorological,
hydrographic, and biologic conditions. At the be-
ginning of this period, sturdy but small sailing
ships and dog sledges were the only means of
transportation, as they had long been in the Arctic.
The entire aspect of exploration was revolutionized
by the use of the airplane, aerial photography,
radio, "floating factories," and the introduction of
fleets. The era of adventurous, individualistic ex-
ploration has drawn to an end; that of systematic
planned investigation has just begun.
To date, the most important economic interest
in the Antarctic has been the animal life of the
surrounding ocean. Seals, and later whales, at-
tracted whole fleets. In order to prevent the ex-
termination of the whale, as happened in the case
of the seal, international agreements have been
signed, the last on December 2, 1946. Whaling
was formerly dependent on shore bases. Through
the development of floating factories the work of
hydro,graphers, hydrobiologists, and meteorologists
became of immediate, practical importance. The
knowledge of living conditions, currents, etc., en-
abled whalers to extend their field of activity
around the Antarctic Continent. Whalers gradu-
ally entered regions formerly regarded as impene-
trable.
An actual recession of the edge of the ice would
open new areas, first to geological investigation and
possibly later to mining activities. Laurence M.
Gould, geologist of the second Byrd expedition,
writes that there is sufficient evidence of coal "to
enable us to state rather definitely that the Ant-
arctic has coal reserves second only to those of
the United States." 1 Other experts have stated
that mining, even below the ice sheet, may be tech-
nically feasible. From an economic point of view,
the distance of coal deposits from shipping points
is the greatest disadvantage.
1 Geographical Review, Vol. XXI, No. 2, April 1931, p. 194.
Note: The intelligence organizations of the Departments
of State, and Navy have concurred in this report;
the Army and Air Force had no comment. Advance
copies were furnished to the Department of State
in December 1947. Comments, based on recent
information, were submitted by the Department
of State and have been incorporated in Appendix
No. I of the report.
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There is less assurance that the discovered de-
posits of copper, magnesium, and molybdenum are
worth exploiting. The presence of petroleum is
indicated, but not proved. The same applies to
fissionable minerals.
Many branches of science have and will profit
from further polar research which, like some of
those mentioned above, may ultimately lead to
practical results. Glaciological studies assume
new importance. Long-range 'weather forecasts
for the entire Southern Hemisphere are impossible
without a better knowledge of the mechanics of
Antarctic air movements and continuous weather
observations. Magnetism also is an important
field of study because of its use in air and sea navi-
gation.
On the other hand, it seems doubtful whether
the Antarctic ever will play the role that the Arctic
is expected to play in air navigation. The great
urban centers of the Southern Hemisphere are not
connected with each other by lines crossing the
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Antarctic Contine4 Flying conditions are un-
favorable during most of the year.
Generally speaking, the strategic importance of
Antarctic areas, alsq, may be rated low. The only
exception is the no'Fthern part of Palmer Penin-
sula, which togethep with the South Shetland Is-
lands is considered by some as a possible base for
controlling Drake Strait, the broad and stormy
connection betweeU the South Atlantic and the
South Pacific. Meteorological conditions, however,
would make flightS, impossible most of the year
and the provisioning of bases would be difficult.
This paper is coUcerned only incidentally with
aspects of the AntaOic problem other than claims.
As for the claims made during the period before
1933, this report h0 drawn heavily on a State De-
partment study of 1September 21, 1933, by S. W.
Boggs, entitled TO Polar Regions. The Boggs
report should be consulted for special problems not
taken up in this report, and for documentation of
the early explorations.
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History and Current Status of Claims in Antarctica
I. OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT CLAIMS
Several governments officially claim parts of the
Antarctic region. Some of these claims have been
recognized by other governments; but none has
attained either general international recognition
or recognition by the United States. The claims
have various bases, such as discovery, exploration,
exercise of actual authority and supervision, oc-
cupation, historical rights, and geographical con-
tiguity and geological affinity. In several cases
the claims extend over known as well as unex-
plored territories because they are delimited by
degrees of longitude and latitude. The method of
delimitation sometimes is referred to as the "sector
principle," using an expression originally developed
for the Arctic. The legal forms of such claims
vary and may be parliamentary laws, letters pat-
ent, notes to foreign governments, or simply dec-
larations before the claiming governments.
In this report claims are discussed in the chrono-
logical order in which the general public became
aware of their existence. An exact chronological
order cannot be used because of the peculiar
character of the Argentine and Chilean claims.
It would also involve taking a definite stand on the
merits of the same claim, and the United States
has refused to recognize the validity of any claim.
A geographical arrangement would be possible but
the starting point would have to be selected ar-
bitrarily because Antarctica is roughly a circular
area centering on the South Pole, and the over-
lapping of claims would make such an arrangement
of doubtful value. The main objection, however,
is that such a geographical arrangement would
not permit discussion of the claims of any one
country as a unit.
A. BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS.
Great Britain, or one of the Dominions, has laid
claim to or administered three different parts of
the Antarctic. The Union of South Africa has
shown only academic interest. All of the Do-
minions in the Southern Hemisphere collaborated
with Great Britain in the establishment of the
"Discovery Committee" in 1923. Steps for safe-
guarding their common interests were discussed
at the Imperial Conference of 1926, and an an-
nouncement was made that "There are certain
areas in these regions [the Antarctic] to which a
British title already exists by virtue of discovery."
In 1929-30, Mawson led the joint British, Aus-
tralian, and New Zealand Antarctic Research Ex-
pedition (BANZARE) that took possession of
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I Proclamation Island off the coast of Enderby Land.
At the Imperial Conference in 1937, certain agree-
ments for cooperation also were adopted. When
systematic exploration and survey were resumed
during the latter part of the war, the staffs of the
survey parties were recruited from the United King-
dom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, New-
foundland, Canada, Rhodesia, and the Falkland
Islands.
During the whaling season 1946-47, three of the
15 floating factories active in the Antarctic came
from the United Kingdom and one from the Union
of South Africa.
1. Falkland Islands Dependencies.
The British claim to the Falkland Islands
Dependencies is made in letters patent and is based
on discoveries, formal acts of taking possession,
maintenance of several settlements, and the ex-
ercise of acts of sovereignty such as granting of
whaling licenses and fairly regular supervision.
British claims were first made to islands
and territories within a "sector" defined below in
British Letters Patent, dated July 21, 1908.' By
these letters patent the Governor of the Falkland
Islands was also appointed Governor of South
Georgia, the South Orkney Islands, the South
Shetland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands, and
Graham Land.' In the preamble, these areas are
indicated as lying withina single sector which is
rather poorly defined, including portions of Ar-
gentina and Chile south of 50? S. latitude. The
preamble and Article I read as follows:
Whereas the group of islands known as South
Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shet-
lands, and the Sandwich Islands, and the terri-
tory known as Graham's Land, situated in the
South Atlantic Ocean to the south of the 50th
parallel of south latitude, and lying between the
20th and 80th degrees of west longitude, are part
of our Dominions, and it is expedient that provi-
sion should be made for their government as
Dependencies of our Colony of the Falklands:
1 Pages 1-2 of the section on the Falkland Islands De-
pendencies are paraphrased from S. W. Boggs, The Polar
Regions, U. S. Department of State, September 21, 1933
(manuscript) , pp. 56-59.
British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 101, 1912, pp.
76-77.
Graham Land = Palmer Peninsula.
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1. Now We do hereby declare that from and
after the publication of these our Letters Patent
in the Government "Gazette" of our Colony of
the Falkland Islands the said group of islands
known as South Georgia, the South Orkneys,
the South Shetlands, and the Sandwich Islands,
and the said territory of Graham's Land shall
become Dependencies of our said Colony of the
Falkland Islands.
Letters Patent of March 28, 1917, provide for
the further definition and the administration of the
dependencies.1 According to the new definition,
southern Argentina and Chile and the Falkland
Islands are eliminated from the sector, and the
territorial claim is increased to include "all islands
and territories whatsoever" within the sector de-
fined in Article I. The preamble and Article I read
as follows:
Whereas doubts have arisen as to the limits of
the groups of islands known as South Georgia,
the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, and
the Sandwich Islands, and the territory of Gra-
ham Land otherwise known as Graham's Land;
and whereas it is expedient that provision should
be made for the government, not only of these
islands and territory but also of certain other
our [sic] islands and territories adjacent thereto
as Dependencies of our Colony of the Falkland
Islands:
1. Now we do hereby declare that from and
after the publication of these our Letters Patent
in the Government "Gazette" of our Colony of the
Falkland Islands, the Dependencies of our said
Colony shall be deemed to include and to have
included all islands and territories whatsoever
between the 20th degree of west longitude and
the 50th degree of west longitude which are situ-
ated south of the 50th parallel of south latitude;
and all islands and territories whatsoever be-
tween the 50th degree of west longitude and the
80th degree of west longitude which are situated
south of the 58th parallel of south latitude.2
The British have not specifically claimed
Weddell Sea or any portions of the South Atlantic
and South Pacific Oceans that fall within the sec-
tor, with the exception of the territorial waters
within three miles of the lands and territories.
The Colonial Office List, 1946, an official pub-
lication (pp. 91-92) , contains the following interest-
ing paragraphs relating to these dependencies:
There are two groups of dependencies: (i)
South Georgia with South Orkney and South
Sandwich, the boundaries being the 50th paral-
lel of south latitude and the 20th and 50th merid-
ians of west longitude; (ii) South Shetland and
2
1 Ibid., Vol. 111, 1921, pp. 16-17.
2 Ibid., Vol. 111, 1921, pp. 16-17.
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Graham Land, bonded by the parallel of lati-
tude 58? S., and tike meridians of longitude 50?
and 80? W.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich group
were discovered in 17'75 by Captain James Cook,
who took possession of them for Britain. South
Shetland was disOovered and taken possession
of by Captain Wi14am Smith in 1819, and South
Orkney by Captain G. Powell in 1821.
The Dependencies were visited only by explor-
ing expeditions, sPalers and whalers until the
rise of the modern whaling industry in those
regions. 1
The island of Sd,uth Georgia is a mass of high
mountains which ; are covered with deep snow
where they are not too precipitous, while the
valleys between alre filled with glaciers which
in many cases decend to the sea. There is a
coastal fringe free from snow in summer and
more or less clothed with vegetation, including
tussac "grass." Land whaling stations have
been established irk five of the numerous bays.
The remaining Dependencies are even more in-
hospitable, being nearly completely covered with
snow and ice and almost entirely destitute of
plant life. All thP Dependencies have a rigorous
climate of Antarctic character.
The Dominions and Colonial Office List, 1940
(p. 304) , states further that:
A Land Statior is equipped at Deception Is-
land, in the South Shetland group, and another
in the South Orkilleys, but neither has operated
within recent yeats.
This British Claim has been recognized by
the French and NorWegian Governments, and pos-
sibly by some otheri. The United States Govern-
ment, in this case as in all others, has declined to
recognize any soveignty rights. American ex-
plorers, notably Byrd and Ellsworth, who found
new land within the British claim did, however,
refrain from claiming this newly discovered ter-
ritory for the United States.
The British claim is formally based on dis-
covery. Though British expeditions ? sealers and
whalers who were n'ot primarily interested in geo-
graphical exploratidn, as well as scientific expedi-
tions ? contributed; heavily to the exploration of
this area, they were by no means alone. American,
Russian, French, German, Belgian, Norwegian and
Swedish expeditions have contributed significantly.
Though none of them seems to have claimed land
for its own country l the work of such expeditions
can hardly be cited in confirmation of the British
claim. Some authdrs claim that the principal is-
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land groups in this sector were discovered first by
British seamen ? South Georgia and South Sand-
wich Islands by Captain James Cook in 1775, South
Shetland Islands by William Smith in 1819, South
Orkneys in 1821 by George Powell, and the Ant-
arctic Continent by Biscoe in 1831. There is strong
evidence, however, that Palmer, an American, in
1820 saw the continent first and that Biscoe did not
actually land on the continent, but on the islands
of the archipelago. How far the discoveries of
Palmer and other Connecticut sealers went is the
subject of hot academic dispute, which will prob-
ably never be definitely sett1ed.1
To the list of British explorers should be
added Bransfield in 1820, Foster in 1828-30, and
Ross in 1840 for the earlier period; and for the
more recent period, the sustained work of the "Dis-
covery Committee" of 1925-37, Cope in 1920-22,
Wilkins in 1929-31, and Rymill in 1934-37. Among
the earlier explorers, Smith in 1819 and Foster in
1829 made formal claims for Great Britain. There
is no evidence that any of the others took such
action.
Wilkins when flying over Charcot Island in
1930 initiated the practice of confirming sover-
eignty by dropping documents and flags, in this
case British. The island had been discovered from
the sea by Charcot, but apparently no claim was
made on that occasion.
Though some people attach considerable im-
portance to symbolic acts, such as the dropping of
flags or documents, others question their value.
Official American opinion shares the view that dis-
covery and formal declaration of sovereignty have
to be followed by actual occupation in order to be
valid. This rule was established in Articles 34 and
35 of the Berlin Congo General Act of 1885.2 Other
governments and experts maintain that such a
policy, formulated for Africa, could not be applied
to uninhabitable polar regions.
A few settlements have been made within the
Falkland Islands Dependencies. The earlier were
shore establishments for whalers, maintained
chiefly during the summer months although a few
people have wintered there. The largest of these
establishments is Grytviken in South Georgia.
Even permanent buildings have been erected there,
including a Norwegian Church. Grytviken was
deserted during World War II and has not been
resettled as yet. There are four more such settle-
ments in South Georgia. In the past, the major-
ity of the whalers were Norwegian. They sub-
mitted to British sovereignty, however, to the ex-
tent of accepting inspection, taking out licenses,
1 For more detailed discussion of early American and
British explorations see Boggs, op. cit., pp. 59-60, 62-64.
Sir Edward Hertslet, The Map of Africa by Treaty,
London, 1908, Vol. II, pp. 484-485.
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etc. The importance of these whaling shore sta-
tions has decreased since 1925, when floating fac-
tories initiated the practice of pelagic whaling.
The Falkland Islands Government has maintained
lights at the entrance to the harbor on Deception
Island for several years during the whaling season.
In the 1946-47 whaling season, only three land sta-
tions in South Georgia were used. Most of the
whalers operated from floating factories.
Another group of settlements is often called
"token settlements" because the purpose is not and
could not be true colonization. Although they pro-
vide bases for meteorologic observations and survey-
ing, their major purpose is to provide proof of
effective occupation. Seven such settlements have
been established by the British since 1943:
Port Lockroy (Palmer Archipelago) Base A
(February 1944)
Deception Island (South Shetland Islands)
Base B (February 1944)
Laurie Island, Cape Geddes (South Orkney
Islands) Base C (December 1945)
Hope Bay (Louise Philippe Peninsula) Base
D (February 1945)
Marguerite Bay, Neny Fiord (main base) Base
E (December 1945)
Argentine Islands (1947)
Admiralty Bay, King George Island (South
Shetland Islands) (1947)
In addition, an unmanned hut was erected at
Sandefjord Bay on Laurie Island in the South
Orkney Islands. Even before 1943, the Falkland
Islands Government exercised effective control over
the area claimed, supervising the activities of
whalers and, since about 1915, charging license
fees. This official supervision was extended after
1925 by the work of the "Discovery Committee,"
which with the help of the two specially equipped
ships, Discovery II and William Scoresby, cruised
continuously in and beyond this area. Scientific
pelagic research, especially important biological
studies and whale marking, were interrupted only
by the outbreak of the war. They have been re-
sumed recently and a new ship has been built for
this service. A marine biological station at Gryt-
viken, South Georgia, was established in 1925. In
1947, the Governor of the Falkland Islands made
a tour of inspection as far as Marguerite Bay. A
post office and a judicial court are said to be in
operation at each base.
Large areas of this claim are still completely
unexplored; others, especially in the Weddell Sea,
have been explored by one expedition only, for ex-
ample, W. S. Bruce at Coats Land [Bruce Coast]
in 1903-04, Shackleton at Caird Coast in 1914-15,
" This station was scheduled to be moved to the Argen-
tine Islands presumably to the old site of the British
Graham Land Expedition of 1935.
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and the German Filchner at Luitpold Coast in 1911-
12. Areas beyond the customary whaling grounds
are not supervised regularly.
There is some uncertainty as to whether the
high seas are included in the sovereignty claims.
The facts that the British required licenses from
whalers operating on the high seas and that a
parallel is mentioned as the northern border might
seem to indicate that the British claim the high
seas. This, however, would be contrary to most
British policy.
2. Ross Dependency.'
The British claim to islands and territories
within a sector defined below was made by an
Order in Council of July 30, 1923,2 from which the
preamble and Article I read as follows:
WHEREAS by "The British Settlements Act,
1887," it is amongst other things, enacted that
it shall be lawful for His Majesty in Council from
time to time to establish all such laws and in-
stitutions and constitute such Courts and of-
ficers as may appear to His Majesty to be neces-
sary for the peace, order and good government
of His Majesty's subjects and others within any
British settlement;
And whereas the coasts of the Ross Sea, with
the islands and territories adjacent thereto, be-
tween the 160th degree of East Longitude and
the 150th degree of West Longitude, which are
situated south of the 60th degree of South Lati-
tude are a British settlement within the mean-
ing of the said Act;
And whereas it is expedient that provision
should be made for the government thereof;
Now, therefore, His Majesty, by virtue and in
exercise of the said powers of the said Act, or
otherwise in His Majesty vested, is pleased, by
and with the advice of his Privy Council, to order,
and it is hereby ordered, as follows:
1. From and after the publication of this Order
in the "Government Gazette of the Dominion
of New Zealand" that part of His Majesty's Do-
minions in the Antarctic Seas, which comprises
all the islands and territories between the 160th
degree of East Longitude and the 150th degree
of West Longitude which are situated south of
60th degree of South Latitude shall be named
the Ross Dependency.
The Governor-General of New Zealand was
charged with the administration and supervision of
the Ross Dependency. Although New Zealand did
not attain full dominion status until after the is-
suance of the Order in Council, it is generally as-
4
Based on Boggs, op. cit.
British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 117, pp. 91-92.
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sumed that the sovereignty over the Ross Depend-
ency was transferred automatically to New Zea-
land. The wording of the Colonial Boundaries Act
of 1895, however, seems to contradict such an as-
sumption. The New,Zealand Government is, there-
fore, expected to take action to clarify the legal
position of the Ross Dependency.
The Ross Dependency may be divided into
four parts: Victoria I Land and coastal islands, the
Ross Shelf Ice and Ross Sea, Edward VII Land
and neighboring coastal areas of Marie Byrd Land,
and part of the Antarctic Polar Plateau.
a. Victoria Laui and Coastal Islands. Only
British explorers h ve worked in this area until
recently, when airplanes, of the United States Naval
Task Force flew over the southern part of this
area.
John Balleny discovered the Balleny
Islands in 1839 and Ilanded on one of them.
Captain James Clark Ross, 1841-42, dis-
covered and explored the great Ross Sea; discov-
ered the high coastal mountains of the Admiralty
Range; landed on Jamuary 12, 1841, in the Posses-
sion Islands, near the mainland at Cape Adare (the
latter being inacceasible) ; and raised the British
flag and took formal possession of Victoria Land
for Great Britain. par south in Ross Sea, at the
edge of the shelf ie, Ross discovered the island
now named for him on which are the active twin
volcanoes, Mounts 1rebus and Terror. On Janu-
ary 27, 1841, Ross; discovered and landed upon
Franklin Island, where he collected rock specimens.
Mountains 10,000 feet high prevented him from
attaining his goal, the south magnetic pole. He
discovered and nanlied Victoria Land, and sailed
close to the mountainous coast along the entire
north-south length f over 600 miles.
C. E. Borcingrevink, a Norwegian sailing
under the British flag, reached the mainland on
the Southern Cross expedition of 1899-1900, and
wintered at Cape Adare. His was the first expedi-
tion to winter anyWhere on the Antarctic Conti-
nent.
Captain R bert F. Scott, 1901-04, on the
Discovery Expedition, which was financed largely
by the British Gov rnment, spent two winters on
Ross Island at the southern end of the Ross Sea
(connected with the mainland by shelf ice) ; dis-
covered the Antarctic plateau behind the mountain
range; made many sledge trips on the continent,
including one westward well inland into the plateau
(to 149? E.) and anOther toward the pole (reaching
82?17' S.) ; and discrrered from the sea and named
Edward VII Land.
Ernest H. Shackleton, in the Nimrod, was
leader of a South Polar expedition in 1907-09. He
was aided by a grant of ?20,000 from the British
Government and additional funds from the New
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Zealand and Australian Governments. Shackle-
ton wintered on Ross Island; landed his party at
Cape Bernacchi on October 17, 1908; and raised
the British flag and claimed Victoria Land for the
British Empire. He traveled over the shelf ice and
the high plateau to within 97 miles of the South
Pole. Here (82?23' S. 162? E.) he raised the British
flag and claimed the plateau for Great Britain on
January 9, 1909.
David, Mawson, and Mackay reached the
south magnetic pole January 16, 1909, raised the
flag and claimed the area for Great Britain (cross-
ing from the Ross Dependency into the "Australian
Antarctic Territory").
Captain Scott, 1910-13, on the Terra Nova
Expedition, wintered on Ross Island; followed
Shackleton's route closely and reached the South
Pole January 18, 1912 (about four weeks after
Amundsen had arrived by a route somewhat farther
east within the Ross Dependency claim) . Scott
and his party perished on the return journey. Two
of his party wintered in 1911 at Cape Adare and
discovered Oates Coast from the sea. Whaling has
been carried on in this area by nationals other
than the British, primarily by Norwegians.
A party from Shackleton's 1914-17 Trans-
antarctic Expedition was landed from the Aurora
on Ross Island and carried out depot-laying activi-
ties from there to the Beardmore Glacier. Mem-
bers of this party were left stranded for 20 months
when the Aurora was driven to the north.
b. The Ross Shelf Ice and the Ross Sea.
Here, as in other areas claimed by the British, the
shelf ice seems to be included in the sovereignty
claims since in many respects it is continental in
character. Ice has even been defined as a type of
rock. As its outer edge has only relative stability,
the question of territorial waters becomes compli-
cated. Since no possibility of economic exploita-
tion of the ice either by mining or by planting is
conceivable, its character is unique.
c. Edward VII Peninsula and Some Neigh-
boring Coastal Areas of Marie Byrd Land. This
area lies within the Ross Dependency sector.
d. Part of the Antarctic Polar Plateau. The
territories east of the routes of Scott and Shackle-
ton as far as the western border claimed for the
Ross Dependency were explored almost exclusively
by the Norwegians Amundsen and Prestrud, and
by American expeditions. The second Japanese
expedition of Shirase also entered this area. Ed-
ward VII Peninsula was the only part of the area
that was seen first by Scott from the sea. Borch-
grevink in 1899 was the first to land on the eastern
part of the barrier and to make a short sledge trip
inland. Whereas Byrd refrained from raising any
claim within the Ross Dependency claim, Amund-
sen, Prestrud, and Shirase claimed their discov-
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eries ? Framheim, parts of Edward VII Peninsula,
and the Polar Plateau south of Shackleton's south-
ernmost point ? for Norway and Japan. Neither
the Norwegian nor the Japanese Governments ever
took up their claims, and it is understood that the
Norwegian Government implicitly or explicitly has
recognized the British claim, as did also the French
Government. The New Zealand Government at
various times has sent ships to the aid of explorers
and to supervise whaling.
The semiofficial Dominions Office and
Colonial Office List, 1940 (p. 156) contains the
statement:
The dependency includes Edward VII Land
and a portion of South Victoria Land. There
are no permanent inhabitants of the territory,
but floating whaling factories have operated in
the territorial waters on occasion.
This wording excludes the high seas from the claim
as defined by parallels and meridians. Whether
coastal and territorial waters are measured from
the Great Barriers of the Ross Shelf Ice is an open
question.
4. Australian Antarctic Territory.'
The Australian claims to "islands and terri-
tories other than Adelie Land" within this "sector"
were made by a British Order in Council, dated
February 7, 1933,2 which reads as follows:
WHEREAS that part of ,the territory in the
Antarctic Seas which comprises all the islands
and territories other than Adelie Land situated
south of the 60th degree of South Latitude and
lying between the 160th degree of East Latitude
and the 45th degree of East Longitude is territory
over which His Majesty has sovereign rights;
And whereas by the Commonwealth of Aus-
tralia Constitution Act, it is provided that the
Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
may make laws for the government of any ter-
ritory placed by the King under the authority of
and accepted by the Commonwealth;
And whereas it is expedient that the said ter-
ritory in the Antarctic Seas should be placed
under the authority of the Commonwealth of
Australia;
Now, therefore, His Majesty, by virtue and in
exercise of the power in that behalf in His Ma-
jesty vested, is pleased by and with the advice of
His Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby
ordered, as follows:
1. That part of His Majesty's dominions in the
Antarctic Seas which comprises all the islands
and territories other than Adelie Land which are
situated south of the 60th degree of South Lati-
1 See Boggs, op. cit., pp. 79-82.
'London Gazette, February 14, 1933.
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tude and lying between the 160th degree of East
Longitude and the 45th degree of East Longitude
is hereby placed under the authority of the Com-
monwealth of Australia.
2. This Order shall come into operation on
such date, after legislation shall have been passed
by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Aus-
tralia providing for the accepi,ance of the said
territory and the government thereof, as may be
fixed by Proclamation by the Governor-General
of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The Australian Parliament provided for the
acceptance of the territory and the Australian Gov-
ernment assented by the act of June 13, 1933,
known as the "Australian Antarctic Territory Ac-
ceptance Act" (Act No. 8 of 1933; issued as a
Proclamation of the Governor-General on August
24, 1936).
Australian claims in this area are supported
chiefly by the following discoveries and explora-
tion:
Biscoe, 1831,a whaling captain, sighted and
reported the coast of Enderby Land (second time
that any part of the Antarctic was seen).
Kemp, 1833, a whaling captain, reported
"an appearance of land" (Kemp Coast), which
was not verified until Mawson's expedition in 1930.
Balleny, 1839, _reported discovery of Sabrina
Land (Sabrina Coast) .
Captain James Clark Ross, 1841, following
Wilkes (American) and D'Urville (French) by a
year, explored the seas close to the eastern portion
of the coast, and reached a point farther south
than the southernmost points reached by Wilkes
or D'Urville.
Scott's expedition, 1911, discovered and
named Oates Land [Oates Coast] from the east
(seen again by Shackleton's party, 1915).
Douglas Mawson, 1911-14, on the Austral-
asian Antarctic Expedition, made his winter head-
quarters at Commonwealth Bay (George V Coast) ,
where the party landed and spent two winters on
the adjacent shelf ice. Sledge journeys were made
in various directions, including one 300 miles in
length toward the south magnetic pole. At the
farthest point of this journey, the British and
Australian flags were raised. A western exploring
party discovered and explored Queen Mary Coast
and wintered on adjacent shelf ice.
Mawson, 1929-1930, on the BANZAR
Expedition, landed on Proclamation Island, adja-
cent to Enderby Land, where he raised the Union
Jack on January 13, 1930; and sighted from an
airplane a new land to the south, which he named
6
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Mac-Robertson Land' (called Lars Christensen
Land by the Norwegians) .
Mawson, 193o-31, reoccupied his base on
Commonwealth Bay;' raised the British flag again
and claimed the territory between 140? E. and 160?
E. for the British Enipire (defined as the limits of
George V Coast) ; discovered and named Princess
Elizabeth Land;' and. made a landing on Kemp
Coast.
Land was sighted from the Discovery II in
the neighborhood of tlanzare Land in 1936. In the
same year, the William Scoresby verified the loca-
tion of Bowman Islarid. Since a landing was made
at Scullin Monolith, IVIac-Robertson Coast (seen by
Mawson only from a I distance) could be accurately
surveyed.
Since there is I no whaling in the territorial
waters, no provisions by the Australian Govern-
ment for active supOrvision of whaling are either
known or needed. The Australian, like the other
British Antarctic claims, are defined by degrees
of longitude and latitude with the point of the
spheric triangle at tie South Pole. Three expedi-
tions have penetratpd inland, but only one the
eastern border. Two led inland from Victoria
Land ? Scott apprwtimately along the parallel 78?
in 1903; and Davis, Mawson, and Mackay of the
Shackleton Expedition toward the magnetic pole
in 1909. A third ekpedition under Mawson ap-
proached the magndtic pole from George V Coast
in 1911-14.
5. Potential Basi. for Further British Claims.
There is some Ibasis for a slight extension to
the east of the British-claimed Falkland Island
Dependencies. Pertinent facts are discussed on
pages 15 and 18. I
B. FRANCE.
1. Adelie Land. I
Adelie Land,' the part of the Antarctic be-
tween 136? and 14? of Greenwich, and certain
Antarctic islands (Si. Paul, Amsterdam, Kerguelen,
and Crozet, all in the South Indian Ocean) are
claimed by France as dependencies of Madagascar.
They were placed under the administration of the
Governor General oif Madagascar by a decree of
November 21, 1924. I A decree of April 1, 1938, pub-
lished in the Journal Officiel of April 6, 1938, ex-
1 According to decisicn of the B.G.N., the western part
of the coast is called Mac-Robertson Coast and the east-
ern part Lars Christensen Coast.
'According to decision of the B.G.N., the name Princess
Elizabeth Land has been replaced by Ingrid Christensen
Coast and Leopold and Astrid Coast, the names given by
the Norwegians in 1935 and 1934, respectively.
'The name Adelie Coast, as approved by the B.G.N., is
limited to the coastal area actually seen by D'Urville and
consequently does not !include all of the area claimed by
France.
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tended the original claim from a narrow quadri-
lateral between 66? S. and 67? S. to a "sector"
comprising all land south of 600 S.
The French claim to Adelie Land is based on
its discovery by D'Urville in 1840. At that time, a
land was discovered which "stretched as far as
the eye could see to the southeast and northwest,"
with a vertical cliff of ice facing seaward. Small
islands were found in a bay, and members of the
expedition landed on one of them, raised the French
flag, and took possession of the islands and adjoin-
ing coast in the name of France.
This exploration by D'Urville overlapped that
of Wilkes (American) .1 In any event, D'Urville
laid claim to the area discovered, and Wilkes did
not. There is no record of any subsequent visit
to the area by a French vessel or expedition. Al-
though it was explored by a sledge party of the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Mawson
in 1911-14, the British have not laid claim to Adelie
Land and exclude it, as noted above, from the Aus-
tralian Antarctic claim. In 1934 the British recog-
nized French sovereignty and in 1938 agreed on its
limits.
The only act of sovereignty exercised by the
French was the issuance of a decree in 1924 includ-
ing Adelie Land and the islands mentioned in a
National Park. The islands have been visited fre-
quently by whalers and explorers, and the Ker-
guelens have several times been the site of scien-
tific observation stations for extended periods.
2. Other French Discoveries.
French explorers have been active in Palmer
Peninsula at various times, but no claims have
been based on their discoveries. The pertinent
facts are discussed on page 20.
C. NORWAY.
For many years during the twentieth century,
Norway had larger whaling interests in Antarctic
waters than any other country. This position con-
tinued essentially unchanged in the period follow-
ing World War I. During the 1946-47 whaling
season, seven out of 15 active floating factories
in the Antarctic were Norwegian. Though whal-
ing has become less dependent on shore stations
through the use of factory ships, the industry is
still interested in shore bases. Licensing of whal-
ing ships in offshore waters is still required. Nor-
wegian whalers have recognized British sovereignty
claims in their widest extent by applying for li-
censes. They in turn have benefited by the British
Discovery Committee's research on biological fac-
tors of Antarctic sea life.
Since 1903, Norwegian whaling firms, especially
the firm Christensen of Sandefjord, have taken
1 For discussion of priority, see Basis for Possible U.S.
Claims in Antarctica, OIR 4436, 1947.
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part increasingly in geographical and biological
exploration in these regions. They finally took the
initiative by advancing claims in order to preclude
any damage to and safeguard their interests in
potential shore bases, territorial waters, and high
seas. Lars Christensen was backed in this by the
Norwegian Parliament and Government.
Concentration on fishing explains why the Nor-
wegians are not interested in and have even relin-
quished some of their original claims in favor of
other countries. Conversely, the Norwegian Gov-
ernment has tried to safeguard its own claim by
obtaining mutual recognition of claims from Great
Britain and France. This implied the dropping of
claims raised by individuals on behalf of the Nor-
wegian Government within the areas claimed by
the British. In 1929 Norway promised Great
Britain that it would not raise any claim to land
within the area that had at that time been brought
under the dominion of the British Empire.' The
areas claimed by Norway are discussed in the fol-
lowing paragraphs.
1. Bouvet Island.'
Bouvet, a Frenchman, first sighted Bouvet
Island in 1739; in 1822 the American, B. Morrell,
is said to have landed;' and in 1825 Norris, a
British sealer, landed on "Liverpool Island" ? al-
most certainly identical with Bouvet Island ? and
took possession of it. This landing was the basis
for the British claim until it was waived in favor
of Norway. As several expeditions failed to find
Bouvet Island at the position given, it was regarded
by many as "lost" until it was rediscovered in 1898
by the German Valdivia deep-sea expedition.' In
1926, it was seen from the German deep-sea explora-
tion vessel Meteor, which was unable to land.
On December 1, 1926, Captain Hornveldt of
the Norvegia, landed, remained on the island four
weeks for scientific exploration, and erected a hut
as a depot. When he first landed, he claimed the
island "under instructions from the Norwegian
Government for Norway." An Order in Council of
January 23, 1928, formalized this proclamation.
Subsequent negotiations led to a British declaration
in the House of Commons on November 19, 1928,
that Great Britain had decided to waive its claim
to Bouvet Island in favor of Norway.
On their first landing, the Norwegians
erected a hut as shelter for sailors in distress, and
on a later landing rebuilt it, since the first shelter
1 American Journal of International Law, Vol. 34, 1940,
p. 84.
'See Boggs, op. cit., pp. 97-98.
Other alleged discoveries by Morrell have since been
disproved.
Three alleged sightings by American skippers ?
Williams in 1878, Church in 1882, and Fuller in 1893 ? are
questioned.
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had been destroyed by storms. Attempts to find
a suitable place for a permanent meteorological
station failed and Bouvet Island has remained un-
occupied despite several subsequent landings. The
only active exercise of Norwegian sovereignty is the
issue of a Royal Decree, confirmed by the Nor-
wegian Parliament, for protection of fur seals,
which have been exterminated in all other parts
of the Antarctic where they had. previously been
found.
2. Peter I Island.
The first land sighted within the Antarctic
Circle was Peter I Island, first seen by a Russian
expedition of January 10-22, 1821, led by von Bel-
lingshausen. It was next seen by the French ex-
plorer Charcot on January 12, 1910, at a distance
of only two or three miles. Neither of them seems
to have made any claim for his country.
On February 2, 1929, a landing was made by
Captain Nils Larsen of the Norvegia, after an at-
tempt on Odd] had failed the year before. Since
then Peter I Island has been seen by several ships,
but no further landings are known. Larsen on
landing had taken possession on behalf of Norway
and on May 1, 1931, "an official proclamation was
issued of the incorporation of this island in the
Norwegian State. At the same time, the Depart-
ment of Justice and Police was authorized to pre-
scribe regulations relative to the exercise of police
authority on the Island."'
3. The Antarctic Mainland.
The coast of the Antarctic Continent between
82?30' E. and 16?30' W. has been explored chiefly
by Norwegian whaling ships and expeditions con-
nected with whaling. Consul Lars Christensen
sent a series of expeditions between 1926 and 1937
and took part in four of them. His most successful
leaders were Captain Nils Larsen, Captain Hjalmar
Riiser-Larsen, Major Gunnar Isachsen, Commander
Liitzow-Holm, and Captain Klarius Mikkelsen.
Some of the ships employed, such as the Norvegia
and the J. H. Bull, were equipped for research.
Among the other whaling vessels2 that have con-
tributed considerably are the Thorshavn, Solglint,
Odd I, Ole Wegger, Sevilla, Firern, Thorshammer,
Hilda Knudsen, Torlyn, Bouvet II, and Bouvet III.
Thus the concerted effort of many ships, some
equipped with airplanes, succeeded in ascertaining
the outlines of a vast area that had previously
been practically unknown.
The only lands previously known in the east-
ern part of the area were Cape Anne in Enderby
Despatch No. 84, Oslo, May 7, 1931.
All of these ships were catchers, with the exception
of the Solglint, which was a factory ship, and the Thors-
havn, a motor tanker.
8
Land seen by Biscot from the sea in 1831, and
the reported "appeai lance of land" in what is now
called Kemp Coast Oen by Kemp in 1833. In this
eastern area of NorWegian activity, the discoveries
of the BANZAR Exp41itions of 1929-30 and 1930-31
and of the William SForesby of the Discovery Com-
mittee of 1936 overlapped those of the Norwegians.
They also corrected tlie positions of the coast lines,
which had been dirtily seen from afar by earlier
explorers and discoverers. On the coast of Enderby
Land, Captain RiiseriLarsen made his first landing,
raised the Norwegiat flag, and took possession of
the area for Norway.
When the easiern part of these coasts, the
area between the 82?30' E. and 45? E., was included
in the Australian Antarctic Territory, some Nor-
wegians regretted A but no official protest was
made. Late in 1938k when it became known that
a well-equipped Gentian expedition was being sent
into the area (which until then had been visited
exclusively by the I\l'orwegians) and when it was
publicly announeed that the Germans aimed at
procuring a base ther, the Norwegian Goiernment
took an official actinn. On January 14, 1939, an
Order in Council proClaimed :
That part of thip mainland coast in the Ant-
arctic extending qorn the limits of the Falkland
Islands Dependenqies in the west (the boundary
of Coats Land) to the limits of Australian Ant-
arctic Dependency in the east (45? E. Longitude)
with the land lying within their coast and the
environing sea shall be brought under Norwegian
sovereignty.'
The Norwegian claim was formally accepted
by the British Goveitnment on September 1, 1939.
It is not quite clear', however, whether the claim
extends to 20? W., the official eastern boundary of
the Falkland Islands Dependencies, or only to 17?
W., excluding the Whole of Coats Land [Bruce
Coast]. The latter interpretation was given by the
American Minister it" Oslo in 1939 on the basis of
Norwegian comments.' A note in the Geographi-
cal Journal, however, suggests that the British Gov-
ernment subsequently agreed to 20?2
Another consideration is the indefinite exten-
sion of the coast of he Norwegian Antarctic terri-
tory toward the intOior, but it seems clear that the
Norwegian claim doe's not include the unknown ter-
ritory behind the explored coast and, therefore, is
not comparable to the British or French claims.
The only lan ing on this coast so far was
made by Riiser-Lars n in 1929, but Norwegian flags
have been dropped: from airplanes. About 125
miles of coast line, approximately 35? E. and 40? E.,
'The American Jouripal of International Law, Vol. 34,
1940, p. 83. 1
'Despatch No. 360, OSlo, January 17, 1939.
'Geographical Journ l, Vol. 94, Nov. 1939, p. 432.
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and the immediate hinterland were mapped from
the air by Vigo Wider6e. It has been said that most
of the coast will remain inaccessible to ships, since
the inland ice cap slopes gently into the sea, con-
cealing the actual coast line from view at most
places, and as it breaks up leaves precipitous ice
cliffs. On the other hand, a gradual recession of
the polar ice cap seems to be in progress, and it has
been said that, due to the existence of high moun-
tains in the hinterland, the replacement of the
broken off shelf ice could take place only very
slowly if at all. It does not seem impossible, there-
fore, that the coast may become accessible at some
places in the near future and even remain so.
Norwegian whalers in pursuit of whales have
followed the ice as far south as possible as it re-
treats during Antarctic summer. Due to the inac-
cessibility of the coast, it seems improbable that
they can frequent the territorial waters regularly,
if territorial waters are defined as extending from
the actual coast line. If measured from the chang-
ing ice front, the territorial water rights may be-
come important. The problem is particularly com-
plicated in this area, as it is reportedly impossible
at times to distinguish land from floating ice, shelf
ice, and sea ice formed in the shelter of the coast.
4. Other Norwegian Discoveries.
Other Norwegian discoveries, which may or
may not serve as a basis of claims, are discussed on
pages 15 and 19 below.
D. ARGENTINA.
The Argentine claim in the Antarctic comprises
a sector between 25? W. and 68?34' (or 74?) W. and
is bordered in the north by the 600 parallel. The
Argentine claim is based on the geological and geo-
graphical continuation of the Andes through the
island chains into the Antarctic, on territorial prox-
imity, and (in addition the Argentine claim is
based) on the fact that Argentina has maintained
a meteorological station on Laurie Island in the
South Orkneys since 1904 and installed a light-
house at Dallmann Bay on Lambda Island, Palmer
Peninsula, in 1942. The lighthouse has been in
uninterrupted service. The meteorological station
was originally installed by the Scotia expedition
under W. S. Bruce and given by him in agreement
with the British Government to the Argentine Gov-
ernment. The meteorologist of the Bruce party,
R. S. Mossman, continued his work first at the sta-
tion itself and later as chief of the meteorological
service of the Argentine government. Most of the
meteorologists during the first few years after 1904
were Scandinavians, but of recent years few other
than Argentineans have served on Laurie Island.
To emphasize its claim, the Argentine Govern-
ment maintains that it is the only nation that has
occupied uninterruptedly any point in the Antarc-
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tic for more than a few years. The Argentineans
also point out as further proofs of their actual exer-
cise of authority in the waters around Palmer Pen-
insula that relief expeditions were sent to the rescue
of Nordenskj Old in 1903 (though it turned out
to be unnecessary) and to Charcot in 1905. In 1943
the naval vessel Primero de Mayo visited points in
the Antarctic as far south as Marguerite Bay. A
similar expedition on a somewhat larger scale was
undertaken in the summer 1946-47.
Argentina maintains that the decree by which
the Scotia's observatory on Laurie Island was taken
over was the "first official document issued by any
country establishing its sovereignty over lands of
the American Antarctic." 1 If this claim is ac-
cepted, the British Falkland Islands Dependencies
decrees issued in 1908 and 1917 would be invali-
dated, at least as far as they refer to Laurie Island,
by the uninterrupted occupation of this observatory
by Argentineans. The British contend that this
occupation was not an act of taking possession. It
is, therefore, interesting to quote the Argentine de-
cree of January 2, 1904.
In view of the note from the chief of the mete-
orological office and the other antecedents and
documents relative to the establishment of new
meteorological and magnetic stations in the seas
south of the Republic, and considering the great
scientific and practical conveniences of extend-
ing the operations of New Year's Island to said
region, the President of the Argentine Republic
decrees: (1) The Chief of the Argentine Meteor-
ological Office is authorized to accept the instal-
lations offered by Mr. William S. Bruce in the
South Orkney Islands, and to establish there a
new meteorological and magnetic observatory;
(2) the personnel will be composed of employees
whom the Minister of Agriculture will designate
and those who may be provided by the Ministry
of Marine.
This document does not seem to contain any
claim to sovereignty. Other pertinent acts, how-
ever, are referred to by Argentina. One of the
members of the meteorological station was desig-
nated postmaster, and the Argentine flag was raised
over the observatory. Granted the pertinence of
these acts, it remains hard to see how this docu-
ment and supporting evidence can be construed a
claim to territory outside Laurie Island, thus pre-
ceding the British letters patent quoted above.
The problem is further complicated by the fact
that Argentina never recognized British sovereignty
over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). De-
pendencies of the Falkland Islands are, therefore, a
Despatch No. 2607, Buenos Aires, June 26, 1941. Speech
of Jos?anuel Moneta, in Bahia Blanca in the presence
of many dignitaries as quoted in La Prensa (Buenos
Aires) , May 31, 1941.
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contradiction according to the Argentine view-
points. As Argentina bases its claim in part on the
geological and geographical continuation of the
Andes via the submarine ridges to the Falkland
Islands, the South Sandwich Islands, South Geor-
gia, the South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland
Islands, and Palmer Peninsula, any break in this
chain would weaken the Argentine basis for the
claim. The dispute between Great Britain and
Argentina over the Falkland Islands, lying outside
the Antarctic, is not within the scope of this report.
Though the Argentine Government undoubted-
ly regarded the Republic as entitled to a share in
the Antarctic before that date, only vague indica-
tions and unofficial utterances seem to have been
made before 1943. Argentina, in a note to the
Chilean Government of November 13, 1940, express-
ly stated that though Argentine rights were a fact,
and that "with the aggregate of antecedents sup-
porting its claims, the Argentine Government could
doubtless have adopted a similar attitude [of pro-
claiming] . . . unilateral claims." On February
20, 1943, in a note to the British Government, the
Argentine claim was defined as lying between longi-
tudes 25? W. and 68?34' W. It was after 1943 that
Argentina tried to prove that its claims antedated
others. Argentineans state that, in Article 3 of the
Treaty with Chile of July 23, 1884, the claim was
formulated and recognized by Chile. Article 3 of
this treaty reads:
In Tierra del Fuego a line will be drawn which,
starting at the point called Cabo del Espiritu
Santo in latitude 52?40' will continue to the
south coinciding with longitude 68?34' West of
Greenwich as far as Beagle Channel. Tierra del
Fuego, thus divided, will be Chilean to the west
and Argentine to the east. Concerning the
islands: those belonging to Argentina will be Isla
de los Estados [Staten Island], the smaller
islands in its immediate vicinity, and other
islands that may be in the Atlantic east of Tierra
del Fuego and the east coasts of Patagonia; those
belonging to Chile will be the islands to the south
of Beagle Channel as far [east] as Cape Horn and
those that may lie to the west of Tierra del
Fuego.'
Unofficial translation of the following Spanish text:
"En la Tierra del Fuego se trazare, una linea, que par-
tiendo del punto denominado Cabo del Epiritu Santo en
la latitud 52?40', se prolongara hacia Sud, coincidiendo
con el meridiano occidental de Greenwich, 68?34', hasta
tocar en el Canal de Beagle, La Tierra del Fuego, dividida
de esta manera, sera chilena en la parte occidental y
argentina en la parte oriental. En cuanto a las islas:
pertenecerian a la Republica Argentina la Isla de los
Estados, los islotes proximamente immediatos a este y
las demas islas que haya sobre el Athintico, al oriente de
la Tierra del Fuego y costas orientales de la Patagonia y,
pertenecerian a Chile, todas las Islas del Sud del Canal
de Beagle hasta el Cabo de Hornos y las que haya al
occidente de la Tierra del Fuego."
10
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It may also be mentioned that the Chilean For-
eign Minister on one occasion took pains to explain
that the silence of this treaty regarding boundaries
between Chile and I Argentina in the Antarctic
should not be conOrued as a tacit dropping of
Chilean claims to territory in the Antarctic.
The Chilean proposals of 1906 and of 1907 "to
divide between these two countries the American
Antarctic islands and continent" 2 were rejected by
Argentina. An Ar&ntine counterproposal for a
common defense against British claims (the origi-
nal Falkland Islands Dependencies Order of 1908)
has been construed 3, as referring to the Antarctic,
but obviously refers only to the inclusion of south-
ern Patagonia within the British boundaries.
I
Apparently, the 'Argentine Republic did main-
tain certain activity! in the northernmost part of
Antarctica, but raised claims to sovereignty only
after the British claim had been asserted. The
original protests of the Argentine Republic seem to
refer only to the long standing dispute over Falk-
land Islands themselves and to Patagonia. A
statement made in ).922 by the Director of Inter-
national Boundaries in the Ministry of Foreign Re-
lations and Worship4ngeniero D. Zacarias Sanches
states only that "the Argentine Government is
gradually acquiring 'Fights of possession over those
regions by repeated voyages and acts of jurisdiction
exercised in those regions."' The document denies
further the validity ;f any claim of other American
republics and of Gre t Britain, and states that "the
circumstance should, not be passed over lightly that
the English Government regards itself as having
legitimate jurisdicti9n over these lands and seas,
by imposing fees on the fishing vessels. . . ." 5
;
A National Antal ctic Commission was created
by Presidential Decr e of May 29, 1940. Until 1941
no known negotiations definitely show that the
.Argentine Government regarded parts of Antarc-
tica as under its sqvereignty. At that time the
Chilean Government supported the claim, but no
agreement was reached. New diplomatic negoti-
I
1 Speech before the Chilean Senate, January 21, 1947.
dividir entre al mbos paises las islas y continentes
1
antarticos americanos"i Quoted from Juan Carlos Rodri-
guez La RepublicaArgentina y las adquisiciones territori-
ales en el Continente Alptartico.
'Ibid., p. 17. " . . . Onvenia que Chile supiera que In-
glaterra reclamaba tod'as estas tierras y que tendriamos
que defendernos unidog". .
' Ibid., p. 16. "El gdbierno argentina va adquiriendo
paulatinamente derechOs de posesion sobre muchas tierras
con repetidas viajes y drctos de jurisdiccion ejercitados en
aquellas regiones". ,
'Ibid., p. 16. " . . . due ingles se considera con derecho
a la jurisdiccien de esas tierras y aguas, imponiendo tasas
a los buques pesqueros I . . ."
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ations are planned for 1947. An Argentine expedi-
tion also sailed for the Antarctic in January 1947
and three Chilean officers were invited to partici-
pate. A similar invitation extended by the Chilean
Government to Argentina for participation of three
Argentine officers in the Chilean expedition of 1947
was accepted. Three- Chilean naval officers had
also participated in the voyage of the Primer? de
Mayo in 1943. The expedition of 1947, consisting
of four ships, planned to visit South Georgia and
to reinstate the lighthouse on Lambda Island in the
Melchior Archipelago. A meteorological station
was established in the same vicinity and it is re-
ported that some aerial surveying was done from
this base.
The Argentine Government originally chose the
meridian 68?34' W. of Greenwich as the western
boundary of its Antarctic claim, probably because
it is a continuation of the meridian dividing Tierra
del Fuego between Argentina and Chile. This me-
ridian, however, does not serve as the international
boundary all the way to the southern limits of
South America, and many islands south of the
Beagle Channel and east of this line are undisput-
edly Chilean. A decree of 1946,1 which prohibits
publication of maps that do not show the Argentine
Antarctic, gives 74? W. of Greenwich as the western
boundary of the Argentine Antarctic claim, appar-
ently because the Argentine territory on the South
American Continent extends almost as far west as
this meridian. The fact that the southernmost
part of Chile lies much farther to the east is ig-
nored.
E. CHILE.
Unlike Argentina, Chile advanced claims to a
sector of the Antarctic early in the nineteenth cen-
tury and maintained them consistently. Chilean
activity in this region, even in comparison with
Argentine, has remained negligible. The short-
lived activities of Chilean whalers licensed by the
Chilean authorities are regarded as an act of sover-
eignty by Chile; however, the legal inferences of an
act like licensing ships of its own nationality are
doubtful as far as territorial claims are concerned.
Chile maintains the official position that its
sector of the Antarctic should extend from 530 W. to
900 W. of Greenwich. Although it was necessary to
fix boundaries by decree, this in no way implied that
the decree created a new legal situation since a
Chilean sector had already been created. The de-
cree, according to the Chileans, merely imple-
mented the situation emerging from the "race to
the South Pole" and drew the attention of other
nations to the "uncontested" existence of a Chilean
sector.
Decree No. 9844, Article 7, September 2, 1946.
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The State Department translation of the perti-
nent part of Decree No. 1747 of November 6, 1940,
which accompanied the note of November 12, 1940,
from the Chilean Ambassador in Washington,
reads:
. . . whereas the special commission appointed
by Decree 1541 of this Ministry, of September 7,
1931, has established the limits of Chilean Ant-
arctic territory in conformity with the data fur-
nished by the geographic, historical, juridical
and diplomatic antecedents collated, which have
been accumulated up to this date,
I DECREE
The Chilean Antarctic or Chilean Antarctic
Territory is composed of all the lands, islands,
islets, reefs, pack ice [glaciales] and others
known and to be known, and the respective ter-
ritorial sea, existing within the boundary of the
segment constituted by the meridians of 53 de-
grees longitude west of Greenwich and 90 degrees
longitude west of Greenwich.
Let this be noted, communicated, published,
and inserted in the Bulletin of the Laws and
Decrees of the Government.
[signed]
Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Marcial Mora. '
The Chilean confidence, that its sovereignty
established centuries ago is uncontestable and
only recognition by neighboring countries of the
exact location of boundaries is now needed, is re-
flected in the repeated attempts by Chile to open
negotiations on the subject with Argentina. (See
above.) The two meridians 530 W. and 90? W. may
be regarded, therefore, as merely tentative limits.
Why 90? W. was chosen is not clear. Although it
lies far west of the coast of Chile, its continuation
northwards would not include Easter Island, which
recently was confirmed as a part of the homeland
rather than as outlying possession.1 A possible ex-
planation may be that Chile did not want to claim
Peter I Island in return for the recognition of its
claim by Norway. The 50? line includes all of
Palmer Peninsula and its coastal islands, but ex-
cludes other sub-Antarctic groups.
Chile bases its claim on writs and orders of the
Crown of Castille, dating as far back as the six-
teenth century. Their reasoning runs as follows: 2
From 1555 the Chilean territory from Peru to
the Antarctic Pole maintained its geographic con-
tinuity (sic) and all the Governors of the King-
dom . . . exercised uninterrupted jurisdiction
1 Airgram, No. 144, American Embassy, Santiago, April
2, 1947.
'Speech of Minister of Foreign Affairs Juliet before the
Chilean Senate on January 21, 1947. Despatch No. 14,923,
Santiago, February 12, 1947.
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over all this territory. The various royal orders
of appointment prove this beyond a doubt.
This state of affairs was not affected by the
discovery of Drake Sea . . . because, not having
present-day geographic knowledge, the Royal
Writs simply spoke of the lands situated on the
other side of the Straits, and the fact that these
lands might be separated by some strait or sea
passage, such as Drake Sea, is of no importance.
The Chileans also quote a letter of Bernardo
O'Higgins, Father of the Nation, to Captain Cogh-
land of the British Royal Navy of August 20, 1831.
Though this letter certainly shows that O'Higgins
regarded the South Shetland Islands as part of
Chile and as "the key to the Atlantic south of 30?
latitude to the Antarctic Pole," it can hardly be
regarded an official assertion of claim since O'Hig-
gins was in exile and not President of Chile when
he wrote the letter. The repeated attempts since
1906 to secure boundary agreements with the Ar-
gentine Republic express the official attitude of
the Chilean Government. The theoretical willing-
ness of both countries to negotiate a boundary
agreement constitutes mutual recognition of claims
of the other country to some territory in the Ant-
arctic, even though their views on its extent are
widely divergent. This policy was advanced a step
recently, when President Gonzalez of Chile, ac-
companied by his Foreign Minister, visited Buenos
Aires. A joint declaration was signed on July 12,
1947, which reads in parts:
The Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Argen-
tine Republic and Chile having met in Buenos
Aires and being animated by the purpose of car-
rying out a friendly policy with the object of
determining the frontier of both countries in the
Antarctic region,
Have agreed to declare ? convinced as they
are of the sovereign rights of the Argentine Re-
public and of Chile in the South American Ant-
arctic?that they advocate the realization of a
harmonious plan of action on the part of both
Governments with a view to attaining greater
scientific knowledge of the Antarctic region by
means of explorations and technical studies; they
likewise consider it advisable to join efforts with
regard to the utilization of the natural wealth of
that region, and they are desirous of concluding
as early as possible an Argentine-Chilean treaty
for the demarcation of boundaries in the South
American Antarctic.
In witness whereof they sign the present decla-
ration in duplicate, in the city of Buenos Aires,
on the twelfth day of the month of July one
thousand nine hundred and forty-seven.1
At the time of the issue of the decree of 1940,
Chile notified all American and interested non-
American countries and, consequently, can refer
1 Despatch No. 2793, Buenos Aires, July 15, 1947.
12
I
!
to the recognition olf its claims by a long list of
countries. Only Great Britain, the United States,
and Japan refused rebognition. Great Britain may
have refused recognition only for the part included
in the Falkland Islands Dependencies, which in it-
self is an important area. Chile maintains that
Finn Ronne requested the authorization of the
Chilean Government for installing himself, and
that this act constitutes American recognition of
the Chilean claim.1 II
Chile, like other I countries, tried to bolster its
claim by reference to unchallenged acts of author-
ity exercised in the Antarctic. The Chilean For-
eign Minister mentions several fisheries concessions
between 1902 and 1914, activity of whalers, and help
extended to the Shackleton expedition of 1916-17.
A closer investigatioi shows that, with one excep-
tion, the fisheries concessions referred to the Diego
Ramirez and the San Illdefonso Islands, both close
to Tierra del Fuego 4nd north of the Antarctic Cir-
cle. As for sending help to Shackleton in 1916,
countries like Uruguay did the same without draw-
ing political conclnsions therefrom. This year
(1947) a Chilean expedition, the first on record,
sailed for Palmer Peninsula. The establishment of
a permanent meteorological station and various sci-
entific research projects are planned. A previous
expedition that had been planned for 1906 was can-
celed apparently bebause the earthquake of that
year brought unpr4edented catastrophe to Chile.
In order to bolster the Chilean claim, the 1947 expe-
dition erected a hut Ifor a meteorological station on
Greenwich Island i* the South Shetland Islands,
ceremoniously raise the Chilean flag, renamed the
bay Sovereignty ( oberania) Bay, and also re-
named other places1---- for example, the tip of Pal-
mer Peninsula beciame Penisola O'Higgins, and
Clarence Island became Isola Shackleton. Six men
were left at the meteorological station on Green-
wich Island, and one at another unidentified sta-
tion in the South Shetland Islands.
The second basi I for the Chilean claim rests on
geographic proximi y and geological affinity. It is
difficult to underst nd how the latter factor could
constitute the basis for sovereignty claim. More-
over, the existence oif a submarine ridge connecting
Tierra del Fuego directly with Palmer Peninsula is
in doubt. Most geologists assume that the connec-
tion is made by the proven submarine ridge whose
above-water summlts emerge in the Falkland
Islands, the South 8andwich Islands, South Geor-
gia, and the Sout# Orkney Islands, to none of
which Chile has assrrted claim.
In this case, tile Argentine claim is more in
accord with geologip structure, but the reasoning
from geologic fact to political consequence is ques-
tionable. :
1 Despatch No. 15,32'L Santiago, May 26, 1947.
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II. CLAIMS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR THEIR COUNTRIES, NOT
TAKEN UP BY GOVERNMENTS
While none of the claims discussed in the first
chapter are recognized internationally as valid and
none at all are recognized by the United States,
they are regarded by the claimants as fixed in pub-
lic law not only by their own acts but also as a
result of recognition by at least one other inter-
ested power.
It is possible that an unbiased international court
might find that some of the unofficial claims have
firmer foundations than some of the official claims.
The unofficial claims are based on discovery and
exploration, accompanied by some symbolic act of
taking possession. It is, however, no sign of dis-
approval if the home government does not take up
such a claim immediately and explicitly. Con-
versely, the mere act of raising a flag (without ac-
companying declaration) does not in itself consti-
tute a claim. Many expeditions have raised their
flags in territory that they readily conceded was
under the sovereignty of another country.
On August 5, 1941, a representative of the British
Embassy called at the Department of State and
said that:
the Embassy had received instructions from Lon-
don to express the hope that the raising of the
United States flag by members of the United
States Antarctic Service of East Base, Neny
Island, Marguerite Bay . . . had no political sig-
nificance . . . The Embassy was instructed to
make no representation in the matter beyond
placing the foregoing on record in the State De-
partment.
Recently this matter was discussed publicly be-
cause Finn Ronne's expedition raised the American
flag over the reoccupied base on Stonington Island
in Marguerite Bay on March 13, 1947. The com-
mander of the nearby British Neny Fiord base,
Major K. S. Pierce-Butler, suggested in a letter the
next day:
I assume that the United States Government
has made no claim to this territory and that the
flying of this flag is merely an indication of the
presence of a United States Expedition.
If that is so, I have no objection to the raise.
If, however, this flag is intended to represent a
territorial claim, I am bound to protest on behalf
of His Majesty's Government, as this violates
British Sovereignty. . . .
In his reply, Commander Ronne made no men-
tion of any American sovereignty claim but said
somewhat evasively:
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The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition is
now reoccupying the base built by the United
States Government on the United States Antarc-
tic Service Expedition 1939-41. The flagpole was
built by this expedition as part of the U. S. Gov-
ernment's camp.
As an American expedition reoccupying this
base on Stonington Island, we have reflown the
American flag on the American-built flagpole at
the American camp.
Orally Ronne reiterated to Major Pierce-Butler
that "as I understand it, the United States Govern-
ment does not recognize any other Government's
claim to territory in the Antarctic, nor do we make
any claims."
A. CLAIMS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR THE UNITED STATES.
1. Marie Byrd Land.
This name was given by Admiral Byrd to all
the country he discovered between 1500 W and 1200
W longitude.' He has made no claim to Edward
VII Peninsula or other parts of the coastal strip
east of the Ross Sea and Ross Shelf Ice, located west
of 150?, although their separation from the hinter-
land creates an artificial boundary. By this re-
striction Admiral Byrd personally recognized the
validity of the Ross Dependency claim of New Zea-
land. Therefore, Little America does not lie within
the Byrd claim. This area was the headquarters
for four successive American expeditions ? two
private expeditions led by Byrd, the United States
Antarctic Service Expedition, and the United States
Naval Developments Expeditions. They first es-
tablished the existence of land and explored some
of its marginal parts in 1929-30. Explorations
were much extended by the expedition of 1933-35,
by the United States Antarctic Service Expedition
(also inaccurately referred to as 3d Byrd Expedi-
tion) of 1939-41, and by the United States Naval
Antarctic Developments Project (commonly, but
inaccurately, referred to as the 4th Byrd Expedi-
tion) of 1946-47. The results of this last expedition
are known only in outline, but apparently most of
the area was photographed from the air. All of
these expeditions employed sledges, motor vehicles,
and airplanes; and mapped parts of the area from
both the ground and the air. Least successful
A decision of the B.G.N. has extended the name to in-
clude areas east of 120? W. This paper has to retain
the original usage in conformity with the claim based on
it.
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were the attempts to establish the outline of the
coast from ships, due to the apparently continuous
blockade of heavy pack ice. On at least one oc-
casion on November 12, 1940, L. Berlin placed a
brass cap containing a document asserting the
claim of the United States to Antarctic territory
on the slope of Mt. Grace McKinley, 210 miles east
of Little America. Apparently, several more sym-
bolic claims of this type were made.
Only Americans have been active in this
sector. Lincoln Ellsworth, on his trans-Antarctic
flight in 1935, is the only person not associated with
Byrd who has crossed Marie Byrd Land.
Admiral Byrd has stated that he does not
favor the division of the Antarctic Continent among
different sovereignties, but rather collaboration by
interested nations, with strong representation from
the smaller countries of the Southern Hemisphere.
He strongly opposes international administration
by the United Nations.' Even before returning
from his first Antarctic expedition, undenied news-
paper reports attributed to him a statement,' made
at Dunedin, New Zealand, that all of his discoveries
were for the benefit of the world and that he would
not claim them for the United States.
Very recently he was quoted to have said at
a conference in the Navy Department8 that the
United States "has not claimed anything in the
South Polar region" and that he has not recom-
mended any claim to the State Department.
Speaking for himself, he expressed doubt that there
would be a formal claim by the United States.
Admiral Byrd was joined by several other
members of the United States Naval Expedition in
expressing hope that research in the South Polar
region would be carried on in the future as an in-
ternational cooperative effort. To this Byrd added:
Science knows no boundaries and I think na-
tions should join scientific developments pri-
marily in establishing weather stations. I dis-
cussed this unofficially in New Zealand with
Prime Minister Fraser and he expressed his in-
terest in this.
2. James W. Ellsworth Land.'
Lincoln Ellsworth started on November 23,
1935, from Dundee Island near the northeastern tip
of Palmer Peninsula for his trans-Antarctic flight.
1 New York Times, April 17,1947.
2 Memorandum of the Department of State Conference
of March 15, 1930 (for Departmental use only).
8 Department of State Wireless Bulletin, No. 91, April 17,
1947.
'By decision of the B.G.N., the name Ellsworth Highland
has been extended on the northeast as far as the base
of Palmer Peninsula but has been restricted to the rela-
tively narrow belt flown over by Ellsworth. The original
name, James W. Ellsworth Land, has been used in this
report since it includes all of the territory claimed by
Ellsworth.
14
The route led in almost straight line to a point 15
miles from Little America, which point was reached
on December 5. En route, three landings in James
W. Ellsworth Land aere made ? November 23-24,
November 24-27, and November 27-December 4.
The landings on the, hitherto unknown high pla-
teau were made at 79?12' S and 104?10' W (6,400
feet), at 79?30' S and 107?55' W (6,400 feet), and at
79?58'-S and 114?15'1W (6,300 feet) . On the first
landing the flag of the United States was raised re-
portedly in accordance with permission obtained
from the Department of State, and the area be-
tween 80? W and 120? W longitude was claimed
for the United State."
Ellsworth's claim is in the form of a spheric
triangle, with the coast of the Antarctic Continent
as its northern boutidary. This coast was com-
pletely unknown in a.935. Since then the United
States Antarctic Exbedition and the work of the
Naval Task Force have partially filled in the out-
line.
It may be noted that Ellsworth refrained
from claiming any territory within the British Falk-
land Islands Dependencies though parts of this
territory were seen by him for the first time. Nor
did he think it necessary to claim that part of Marie
Byrd Land that was Seen by him for the first time.
3. American Highland.
On January 11, 1939, Lincoln Ellsworth flew
south from the edge of the ice shelf at 68?30' S
along the meridian of 79? E to latitude 72? S.
After flying 60 miles south of the coast, he claimed
for the United States the land 150 miles to both
sides of his route an4 the same distance ahead of
the southernmost point of his flight. A document
enclosed in a brass Ipylinder and dropped on this
southernmost point ead:
TO WHOM IT MAT" CONCERN
Having flown on a direct course from latitude
68.30 south longittide 79 east to latitude 72' south
longitude 79 eastlildrop this record together with
t
the flag of the inited States of America and
claim for my country, so far as this act allows,
the area south of 'latitude 70 and to a distance
of 150 miles east and 150 miles west of my flight
and to a distance la 150 miles south of latitude
72 longitude 79 east of which I claim to have
explored.
11 [signed] Lincoln Ellsworth
This claim of Ellsworth differs in several
notable features froth his former claim. Ellsworth
did not land, but saw the area only from the air.
1Geographical Revieiv, Vol. XXVI, No. 2, 1936, p. 331.
In Ellsworth's report to the Department of State of April
17, 1939, there is no mention of previous permission given
by the Department of State.
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He did not even photograph the area, because of
the featureless character of the high plateau. He
did not make a claim delimited by meridians of
longitude. Although he raised no objection to the
Australian claim to the coastal area, he ignored
the Australian claim to unseen territory. "So as
to cause no conflict between previous and my own
claims," Ellsworth said, "I deliberately waited until
I had flown 60 miles inland from the coast on my
flight of January 12 before asserting any claim to
terrain for the United States." 1 Sir Hubert Wil-
kins, who accompanied Ellsworth on this expedi-
tion, raised the Australian flag at two points where
he landed, apparently with the approval of Ells-
worth.
This attitude of Ellsworth's, though at vari-
ance with his former sector claim in James W. Ells-
worth Land, is quite understandable. Had he ac-
cepted the principle of delimitation by meridians,
he could not have claimed any territory south of
the coast claimed by Australia. On the other hand,
as he did not land on this flight, he accepted the
opinion that everything that was within eye's view
could be claimed. Accordingly, Australia's claim
would be as broad a coastal strip as Mawson could
possibly have seen. Whatever the merits of such
reasoning are, it is likely that Ellsworth was
prompted to his attitude by other motives, which
will be discussed more fully in Chapter III, B.
4. Areas on the Ice Cap.
During the United States Naval Expedition,
numerous proclamations were dropped from air-
planes by individual members of the Task Force.
The claims were made by individuals as American
citizens, not by the Task Force itself. The text
for these claims is quoted on page 25.
Such documents were dropped not only in
Marie Byrd Land; but also in the hinterland of the
Australian claim, behind the coast claimed by Nor-
way, and on the plateau behind the South Vic-
toria Land coastal mountains.
Although no public announcement has been
made as yet, newspapers have learned of these ac-
tions.' Their background will be discussed in
Chapter III, A.
B. CLAIMS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR NORWAY.
These claims in general have only slight interest
since, with one small exception, all are located
within the British claim. In 1939 the Norwegian
Government, in return for recognition of its other
claims, promised not to "raise any claim in respect
to land within the region which had then been
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brought under the dominion of the British Em-
pire." 1 It is, therefore, sufficient to enumerate
these abandoned Norwegian claims and to note the
one exception.
1. Amundsen landed in 1911 along the Bay of
Whales, established a base at "Framheim," and
reached the Pole on December 14, 1911. He raised
the Norwegian flag on the sledge as soon as he
reached the southernmost point attained by
Shackleton at 88?23' S. He claimed the plateau
around the Pole for Norway, calling it King Haakon
VII Plateau. Before the Norwegian Government
abandoned its potential claim in favor of Great
Britain, it had regarded not only the area im-
mediately around the Pole as an area of possible
Norwegian claims, but had also stated that the
claims included "the territories on both sides of
Captain Amundsen's route to the South Pole south
of Edward VII's Land and including i.a. Queen
Maud's Range." I It is of theoretical interest only
that this claim would include parts of the Ross
Shelf Ice.
Not abandoned but also never officially claimed
are those sectors of King Haakon VII Plateau not
included in the British "sectors." They overlap
Marie Byrd Land and James W. Ellsworth Land,
and though not contiguous with the hinterland of
the Norwegian Antarctic coast, are apparently un-
contested.
2. Lieutenant Prestrud of Amundsen's expedi-
tion, sledged from Framheim northeast and was
first to enter Edward VII Land, which was seen
from the sea by Scott in 1901 and later thoroughly
explored by several United States expeditions.
Prestrud raised the Norwegian flag and claimed
the area for Norway. This area is included within
the claim Norway has promised to abandon.
3. Captain Riiser-Larsen landed from an air-
plane on Enderby Land near Cape Anne on Decem-
ber 22, 1929, raised the Norwegian flag, and claimed
the area for Norway. Though the Norwegian
promise referred only to the British claims of that
time, Norway has abandoned this claim, also.'
C. GERMAN CLAIMS.
A fat shortage in Germany led to the organi-
zation of a German whaling fleet under the Nazi
regime. In order to carry out scientific research,
especially on biological conditions, and to create
a possible land base for Antarctic whaling, a Ger-
man expedition was sent south under Captain Rits-
cher. From the launching platform on board the
'Norway: Norwegian Trade ReMew, Vol. 10, No. 2, Feb-
ruary 1939.
Letter from Lincoln Ellsworth to the Secretary of 2Note from the Norwegian Minister in Washington,
State, April 17, 1939. April 15, 1929.
Washington Post, April 26, 1947. 'Lars Christensen, Such is the Antarctic, London, 1935.
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ship Schwabenland numerous flights were under-
taken within a period of three weeks in February
1939, a large area was mapped from the air and
named "Neu Schwabenland" [New Schwabenland],
numerous flags and proclamations were dropped,
and an area extending inland from the coast be-
tween 4?50' W and 16?30' E was claimed. On the
south, a broken line from 71?23' S and 4?50' W,
south to 72?41' S and 4?50' W, from there in a
straight line to 72?10' S and 16?30' E, was desig-
nated the boundary. Previous Norwegian claims
were disregarded.
The German Government announced in 1939
that it would take up this claim officially. The
outbreak of war either prevented such action or
prevented it from becoming known outside of Ger-
many. Australia suggested, as a precaution, that
a renunciation by Germany of whatever claims it
may have in the Antarctic should be incorporated
in the coming peace treaty.
D. JAPANESE CLAIMS.
The Japanese have twice made attempts to
compete with the Western Powers in the Antarctic.
Both expeditions were led by Lt. Nobu (Naoshi or
Choku) Shirase on the Kainan Maru. The first, in
1911, had to turn back on reaching the pack ice.
The second, in 1912, reached the area of the Bay
of Whales, named two bays, effected a landing,
and made a short trip (150 miles) inland. The
allegedly planned march to the Pole was never
attempted probably because of his inadequate
equipment but ostensibly because Shirase found
Amundsen's men at Framheim awaiting his re-
turn from-the Pole.
16
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Apparently Shirage did not assert any claim at
that time, although he did later. With the back-
ing of patriotic socieOes, he vainly tried to get the
endorsement of the Japanese Foreign Office. This
belated Japanese interest apparently is due to the
recent interest in Whaling resulting from a fat
shortage in Japan. In 1940-41, when all other
whaling fleets had diappeared from the Antarctic
because of the war, 10 Japanese floating factories
dominated the field. This was primarily the re-
sult of successful qerman raids on Norwegian
whalers. In 1946-4/ occupation authorities per-
mitted whaling on a restricted scale by two Japa-
nese floating factories.
The Chilean dec4e concerning the Antarctic
was protested in 1940 by the Japanese Government
which reserved the rights but did not raise specific
claims at any time. The Japanese Government
does not seem to haTe made special claims in the
Chilean sector.
E. SOUTH AFRICAN IN
TEREST.
A South African group has recently planned to
install a meteorological observatory in Coats Land,
possibly in the area beyond the Falkland Islands
Dependencies, between 20? and 17? W of Green-
which. The Imperi9,1 Conference of 1926 asserted
the British title to t4is land in a general way, and
it would conform with former procedure to claim it
as a South African dependency. The South Afri-
can Government has informed the proponents of
the plan that no official help in the undertaking
can be expected. South Africa has participated
in whaling recently, though not conspicuously.
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III. DISCOVERY AS BASIS FOR CLAIMS
There is a wide variety of opinion as to whether
or how far discovery constitutes a legal basis for
claims of sovereignty. Many experts on interna-
tional law adhere to the opinion that discovery
without subsequent occupation is insufficient. This
opinion was adopted by most governments in rela-
tion to Africa by the Berlin Congo Conference and
was incorporated in the Congo Act of 1885. It has
been shared by the United States and to some de-
gree by Argentina and Chile. Other experts and
several governments (including Great Britain, the
Dominions, France, and Norway) deny its appli-
cability to uninhabitable country in the polar re-
gions.
Because of possible future claims, it is necessary
to consider briefly those discoveries that have not
yet been used as a basis for claims in addition to
those discussed in the first two chapters. Some
legal authorities maintain that titles by discovery
lapse if not implemented within a reasonable time.
Most of the discoveries discussed in this chapter
preceded the establishment of the Falkland Islands
Dependencies in 1907. The most recent discovery
mentioned was made more than 35 years ago and
others more than a century ago. Though a
"reasonable time" has never been defined, the con-
cept should be kept in mind.
A. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION.
The first discoveries in the Antarctic were usu-
ally made by sighting land from aboard a ship.
This raises the question of whether the act of sight-
ing land, sometimes from far out at sea, is adequate
for establishing even a preliminary title in the re-
stricted sense of giving the nation of the discoverer
the option of establishing a better title within a
reasonable time. In the Antarctic, the situation is
complicated by the fact that estimates of distances
are subject to gross errors, due to the peculiar at-
mospheric conditions in high latitudes. Refrac-
tion can even lift the image of a coast or mountain
above the horizon. It seems fairly well established
that coasts have been seen though they were 200
or more miles away. Often cloud banks or debris-
loaded icebergs have also been mistaken for land.
In a few cases, the nonexistence of islands or coasts
reported as sighted has been proved. Recent ex-
peditions have found deep sea in areas of reported
landfall, even when reasonable allowance is made
for possible mistakes in computing latitude and
longitude. In the case of the Morrell Coast, the
discoverer claimed to have sailed along the coast
for several days. But the west coast of Palmer
Peninsula, the nearest known coast, is about 100
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longitude away. In other cases, land was later
found.at some distance from the reported position.
In most cases, it probably will never be known
whether the original discoverer actually saw a coast
and misjudged its position, or whether he was de-
ceived by a cloud bank that concealed the land seen
later in the same general area. This is one of the
problems concerning discoveries made by the Amer-
ican expedition under Captain Wilkes in 1840.
(See below.)
More recent explorers have found that their
predecessors sometimes drew inferences from what
they actually had seen as to the configuration of
much wider areas. Conclusions that may later be
disproved are of no concern for this report. If,
however, a conclusion drawn from inadequate in-
formation is proved to be correct, it is doubtful as
to how much credit is due to the discoverer. Wilkes,
for example, sailed along the edge of the ice for
more than 60? longitude, saw from time to time
parts of a coast, and even more continuously the
cliff of shelf ice before the coast, noted the existence
of a continental shelf, and concluded that he had
sailed parallel to the coast of a continent. Al-
though his conclusions proved right, it has been
said that the facts at his disposal could have been
explained equally well by the existence of a chain
of islands or shelf ice like the Ross Barrier.
Similarly, flying over unexplored areas involves
a large number of uncertainties not usually recog-
nized by the layman. A striking example is that of
Sir Hubert Wilkins' flight along the western coast
of Weddell Sea in 1929. He was quite certain (and
his photographs seemed to confirm it) that he had
discovered at least three broad, ice-filled straits,
that divided Palmer Peninsula (Graham Land)
into an archipelago. A few years later, the British
Graham Land Expedition of Rymill disproved the
existence of these straits by traveling by sledge at
5,500 feet altitude over the area where Stefansson
Strait, the broadest of them, was supposed to be
located. Even Ellsworth, who had flown over the
same area, thought he had been able to confirm
the existence of Stefansson Strait. On the other
hand, he was unable to recognize that George VI
Sound was a frozen strait, although he recognized
the existence of a depression. When Ellsworth re-
crossed the strait at its western end, even the de-
pression seems to have escaped his notice.
One of Ellsworth's photographs enabled investi-
gators at the American Geographical Society in
New York to recognize George VI Sound. Wilkins'
photographs, however, serve as a warning against
the danger of overevaluation of air photographs
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under Antarctic conditions. Only if it is possible to
establish ground controls and to tie the aerial pho-
tographs to these control points is aerial photog-
raphy fully reliable.
There is also question as to how far claims made
by dropping flags and proclamations from airplanes
can be accepted. In 1930 Wilkins flew around
Charcot Island and dropped flags and proclama-
tions over the easternmost and westernmost capes.
Fliers of the United States expedition, however,
have expressed doubts as to whether Charcot Island
is not a part of Alexander I Island.
On his first expedition, Byrd flew over land
never before seen and named it Marie Byrd Land.
He "realized with some satisfaction that the land
that lay to the east could be claimed for the United
States." 1 But he did not claim it at that time.
Not until L. M. Gould, leader of a geological sledge
party, crossed the meridian of 150? W much farther
south was the following documentary claim de-
posited: 2
We are beyond or east of 150th meridian and,
therefore, in the name of Commander Richard
Evelyn Byrd claim this land as a part of Marie
Byrd Land, a dependency or possession of the
United States of America.
From the discussion above, it is obvious that a
ship should either pass very close to the coast or set
a party ashore to explore newly discovered lands by
actually traveling over them. All explorers have
realized this and tried to effect landings, establish
shore bases, arrange sledge trips, and (since the de-
velopment of aerial photography) establish ground
control points. It is also generally accepted, and
adherents of the theory agree, that whereas discov-
ery establishes a title, it is usual to deposit a docu-
ment and to raise a flag at one point of the claimed
territory in order to formalize a claim. Opinion is
divided as to whether this can be done by dropping
claims from the air.
The maps of the Antarctic accompanying this
report distinguish between different types of explo-
ration and discovery. But large margins of uncer-
tainty will remain. Even if areas seen from the sea,
areas seen from the air, and areas surveyed with
help of aerial photography are distinguished from
each other, the reports of explorers leave wide lee-
way as to how far visibility can be assumed. On
a single day, it certainly varies with changing at-
mospheric conditions and light. Any statements
of visibility distance under specified conditions are
still estimates. Recent explorers with wide expe-
rience in the Antarctic, who have been warned by
the failures of their predecessors, are known to have
erred considerably. Sir Douglas Mawson and the
1Richard E. Byrd, Little America, New York, 1930, p.
142.
2 Ibid., p. 407-8.
18
Norwegians were able to correct each other's esti-
mates by dozens of ihiles, and the landfalls o pre-
vious explorers by even larger distances.
Another problem is posed if mountains are seen
from the sea. If mountain tops farther inland are
high enough, they may have been seen from a ship
at sea although the loast lay below the horizon or
was hidden by low fogs. The validity of a claim
depends, therefore, on how close to shore a ship
sailed and on the character of the coast. Where an
icecap slopes gently to the coast and merges gradu-
ally into frozen sea ie, even a sledging party may
be unable to establish the exact location of a coast
line.
In general, land parties have the best opportu-
nity to establish exalt locations. Their slow move-
ments make possible a greater degree of accuracy
in estimating distanles, since most features along
their routes can be seen for several days. Under
such relatively favorable circumstances, however,
grave errors may be :made. Amundsen's "Carmen
Land," for example, '1,ad to be removed completely
from maps.
Coastal surveys irom ships, also, may have a
high degree of accuracy if the ship is able to sail
close to the shore. itt is impossible to distinguish
between such reliable surveys from aboard ship and
sightings from far out at sea.
All these circumstances should be kept in mind
in judging claims derived from discovery or explo-
ration and in using' maps that show territory al-
legedly seen or explored.
B. UNITED STATES.
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century,
seal hunters have visited the southern Atlantic,
among them many Americans from Connecticut.
Stonington, Connectlicut, was the main port of de-
parture. The most important of the Connecticut
whalers was Nathaniel B. Palmer, who (in 1820)
probably was the first person to see the Antarctic
Continent. He did hot land or stop there, because
he was hunting for sealing grounds and was not
interested in exploi4tion for its own sake. His ex-
ploration of some ox the South Shetland Islands
was incidental. Anther voyage of his (or possibly
of some other Comiecticut sealer) is vaguely re-
ported to have gone as far south as 66?. It is im-
possible to say definitely which part of the Antarctic
was seen. The literature on this point is volumi-
nous but inconclusivle. Although the accounts may
contain truth, they were written many years after
the discoveries.
In 1840, Lt. Charles Wilkes, as head of the offi-
cial United States Exploring Expedition, discovered
various stretches of land and saw parts of the coast
of the Antarctic Cohtinent between 96? E and 155?
E, within the area now claimed by Australia. His
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discoveries, also, have been the topic of acrimonious
discussions. Probably it can never be proved con-
clusively whether some of the coasts reported as
seen by him were cloud banks or land lifted above
the horizon by mirage. Few of his discoveries
could be found by later expeditions in the exact po-
sitions he gave. The main result of his expedition
was the discovery of the existence of the Antarctic
Continent and the location of its coast roughly par-
allel to and near the Antarctic Circle. Though
sponsored by the United States Government, Wilkes
did not claim for this country any of the coasts seen
by him.
A small sub-Antarctic island at approximately
530 S and 74?30' E was discovered by the American
Captain J. J. Heard in 1853 and named Heard Is-
land. Within a year it was reported by four other
ships, all British, none of which seems to have had
knowledge of its previous discovery. The desolate,
ice-covered, volcanic island has been frequented by
British and Norwegian sealers, but no settlement of
claims appears to have been attempted. The al-
most simultaneous discovery was due to the adop-
tion of a new great circle route from Capetown to
Melbourne. This route may be of interest again
in the age of airplane travel, though existing re-
ports do not indicate whether it would be possible to
locate suitable landing grounds. Most maps show
Heard Island as British. Heard's suggestion of
sending an American warship to take possession
was not heeded at that time.
C. GREAT BRITAIN.
While most of the British discoveries have served
as a basis for official claims (see Chapter I, A) ,
Coats Land east of the 200 W meridian is still out-
side the territory claimed by the British. It was
sighted from the sea by the Scottish expedition of
W. Bruce in 1902. The Imperial Conference of
1926 indicated that this might serve as the basis
for a title, but no action has been taken as yet.
According to one report, Britain has waived its
claim to that coast in favor of Norway. Plans of a
South African group to establish a meteorological
station have not so far been carried out.
D. NETHERLANDS.
The Dutch sailor Dirck Gerritsz is credited with
having seen the South Shetland Islands as early as
the sixteenth century, but his discovery was com-
pletely forgotten. The attempt of some, especially
German geographers of the nineteenth century, to
replace the name of the South Shetland Islands by
Dirck Gerritsz Archipelago had little success. In
this case, if ever, the principle of lapse of title if not
implemented within reasonable time should apply.
There is no evidence of a contrary opinion in the
Netherlands.
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E. Ru8s1A.
The Russian expedition of Baron Thaddeus (or
'abian Gottfried) von Bellingshausen in 1820 was
the first to discover land south of the Antarctic Cir-
cle. He was sent out by Emperor Alexander I to
circumnavigate the Antarctic south of Cook's track.
He accomplished his mission, but found no land un-
til he discovered Peter I Island. A few days later
he sighted and named Alexander I Land [Alexan-
der I Island]. He could not appioach close enough
to any of these shores for a landing. Although offi-
cial in character, this expedition raised no claim.
Nor has the Soviet Government as yet given any
indication that it would base claims on Bellings-
hausen's discoveries, despite the renewed interest
of the Soviets in the Antarctic manifested by the
dispatch of a whaling fleet in the 1946-47 season.
F. NORWAY.
Norwegians as individuals have played a much
larger part in Antarctic discovery than is indicated
by the record of expeditions under the Norwegian
flag. Borchgrevink and his crew were entirely
Norwegian; but his ship, the Southern Cross, sailed
under the British flag. Norwegians served on al-
most all modern expeditions because of their experi-
ence as whalers in ice-covered regions. Byrd, for
example, on his two expeditions, arranged to have
his ship towed through the pack ice by Norwegian
whalers.
A special case is that of Captain Larsen. His
vessel, the Jason, was chartered by a Hamburg firm,
but sailed from Sandefjord?under the Swedish flag
in 1892-94, as Norway at that time was part of the
Swedish kingdom. He was the first to discover
large parts of the Palmer Peninsula coast of the
Weddell Sea. He probably did not see much of the
actual coast line, but the mountains behind it. The
Larsen Shelf Ice along this coast was mapped in
most of its extent by his expedition. He raised no
claims, but had he done so they would have had to
relinquish them along with others lying within the
areas claimed by the British.
G. BELGIUM.
An expedition under Lt. Adrien de Gerlache in
the Belgica visited the northwestern coast of Pal-
mer Peninsula and islands adjacent to it in 1898-99.
The crew was multinational?including the
American Dr. Cook and Amundsen, the discoverer
of the South Pole. The Belgian Government was
connected with the expedition only insofar as it
bore part of the costs of the equipment and of the
publishing of its scientific results. After an inter-
val of about sixty years of inactivity, this was the
first purely scientific expedition to the Antarctic to
explore the areas visited and vaguely described by
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earlier sealers. Many landings were made. The
Belgica was also the first ship to winter in the Ant-
arctic. The names De Ger'ache Strait, Anvers
Islands, etc., are reminders of this expedition. No
claims were raised or are likely to be raised by the
Belgians on the basis of the expedition.
H. SWEDEN.
In addition to the expedition under the Swedish
flag led by Larsen, there was one truly Swedish
expedition, that of the Antarctic in 1901-03, which
was led by Otto Nordenskjold, nephew of the fa-
mous explorer of the Siberian coast. The expedi-
tion wintered for two years on Snow Hill Island and
near Hope Bay. A large part of the eastern coast
and some little known parts of the northern coast
of Palmer Peninsula were explored. The Antarctic
was lost, but the expedition was saved by the Argen-
tine ship Uruguay. Ironically, this Argentine re-
lief expedition, rather than the Swedish with its
important scientific results, furnished the basis for
sovereignty claims.
I. FRANCE.
Dumont D'Urville, on his circumnavigation of
the Antarctic in 1838, explored the northeastern
tip of Palmer Peninsula and named Joinville Island
and Louis Philippe Land [Louis Philippe Penin-
sula]. As he did not land, D'Urville did not take
symbolical possession as he did later on his landing
on an island off Adelie Coast.
Jean Charcot led two notable expeditions to the
area west and south of the field of exploration of
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the Belgica. The Francais (1902-04) and the Pour-
quois Pas (1908-10) 40xpeditions also performed val-
uable scientific research. The former wintered at
Wandel Island, and he latter at Petermann Island.
Names like Fallieres 'lc oast, Loubet Coast, and Char-
cot Island are reminders of Charcot's exploits. No
claim was raised.
J. GERMANY.
The German shin Gronland, on a whaling expe-
dition under Captain Eduard Dallmann in 1872-74,
mapped a few detafls in the then practically un-
charted archipelagd off Palmer Peninsula. Bis-
marck Strait and Dallmann Bay were named by
this expedition.
In 1901-03, Drygalski in the Gauss discovered
and named Kaiser! Wilhelm Land [Wilhelm II
Coast]. A landing was effected and Mount Gauss
was climbed.
In 1911-12, Wilhelm Filchner in the Deutsch-
land reached the southernmost point of Weddell
Sea. He discovered. Luitpold Coast and the exist-
ence of shelf ice, app4rently comparable to the Ross
Shelf Ice. Two landings were attempted but no
land base could be eOtablished, due to the immense
icebergs that break pway from the glacier and the
shelf ice.
Apparently, non f of the German discoveries led
to claims. Such a claim would have been can-
celed, in any case, by the conditions of the Treaty
of Versailles.1
Articles 118-119 of Versailles Treaty.
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IV. AMERICAN POLICY IN THE ANTARCTIC
The United States has not raised any Antarctic
claim so far, and its public statements have been
limited to a refusal to recognize the claims of other
countries and the reservation of its own rights.
Actually, this attitude has changed slightly and
official interest has become more marked.
A. THE OFFICIAL ATTITUDE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
STATE.
During recent years the Department repeatedly
has stated that it does not recognize the claims of
any other country. As yet it has advanced no
claims of its own, but has reserved all rights that
the United States or its citizens may have.
When the secretary of the Republican Publicity
Association inquired in letters dated February 2
and 16, 1924, whether the United States had a valid
claim to Wilkes Land by right of discovery, whether
this claim had ever been proclaimed, and what
might be the objections in law or policy to annex-
ing the area, Secretary of State Charles E. Hughes
replied on May 13, 1924,1 as follows:
It is the opinion of the Department that the
discovery of land unknown to civilization, even
when coupled with a formal taking of possession,
does not support a valid claim of sovereignty un-
less the discovery is followed by an actual settle-
ment of the discovered country. In the absence
of an act of Congress assertative in a domestic
sense of dominion over Wilkes Land this Depart-
ment would be reluctant to declare that the
United States possessed a right of sovereignty
over the territory.
This attitude can be further illustrated by quot-
ing one fairly detailed example among a number of
policy statements. In referring to the French
proclamation of sovereignty over Adelie Land,
based on the discovery by D'Urville one hundred
years ago, the American Ambassador was instructed
to declare: 2
I am instructed to inform Your Excellency that
in the light of long-established principles of in-
ternational law the United States Government
cannot acknowledge that sovereignty accrues
from mere discovery unaccompanied by occupa-
tion and use, or by reason of unimplemented
declarations, decrees or laws. It is on this basis
American Journal of International Law, Vol. 30, 1939,
p. 52.
Draft note of April 25, 1939. The note actually de-
livered on May 16, 1939, was much shorter, stopping after
"mere discovery." See G. H. Hackworth, Digest of Inter-
national Law, Washington, 1940, Vol. 1, p. 457.
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that my Government has, as yet, recognized no
sovereignty claims in the Antarctic and takes the
view that it can recognize only such sovereignty
and dominion in that area as has been acquired
by the accepted rules and principles of interna-
tional law, or through pertinent international
agreements to which the United States is a party.
Similar but, in most cases, less specific state-
ments have been made repeatedly, not only about
foreign claims, but also calling attention to the fact
that Americans were among the explorers of the
Antarctic.
The most recent statement confirming this pol-
icy was that of Acting Secretary of State Acheson
at a press conference on December 27, 1946:
. . . the United States Government has not rec-
ognized any claims of any other nation in the
Antarctic and has reserved all rights which it
may have in those areas. On the other hand,
the United States has never formally asserted
any claims, but claims have been asserted in its
behalf by American citizens.
In many cases, the Department has even refused
to discuss the matter, as when asked whether it
considered it appropriate to take up the claims
made by Ellsworth and Byrd. In the same vein is
the note of January 14, 1939, to the Norwegian
Minister in response to the announcement of the
Norwegian claims:
Without at this time desiring to enter into a dis-
cussion of the various territorial and other ques-
tions suggested by the contents of the Royal
Decree to which you have drawn my attention, I
wish to inform you that the United States re-
serves all rights which it or its citizens may have
in the area mentioned.
In all these communications potential American
rights were reserved. Such was the case after Ad-
miral Byrd had disavowed claims in the Antarctic.
On March 15, 1930, in a press conference but ap-
parently off the record, the Acting Secretary of
State replied that he understood that Admiral
Byrd's statement was not one that would affect na-
tional claims in regard to the territory which he
discovered.
B. PREPARATIONS FOR ACTIVE ASSERTION OF AMERI-
CAN CLAIMS.
The recent change in official policy is either not
known or only partially known to the public. On
"Department of State, Bulletin, january 5, 1947, p. 30.
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June 30, 1930, Senator Tydings introduced the fol-
lowing resolution: 1
Whereas certain hitherto unknown areas of
land in the South Polar region have been discov-
ered and explored by Rear Admiral Richard E.
Byrd; and
Whereas the British Government has notified
the Department of State that various areas in
the Antarctic, which comprise almost the entire
South Polar cap, are claimed as British territory;
and
Whereas the regions claimed by Great Britain
include two areas originally discovered by .Amer-
ican Naval officers as early as 1820 and 1840; and
Whereas the Department of State has not de-
fined a policy for the United States regarding
American discoveries and explorations in the
Antarctic, but has declared that "in the absence
of an Act of Congress" it "would be reluctant to
declare that the United States possessed a right
of sovereignty over that territory": Therefore be
it
Resolved, That the Senate of the United States
does hereby authorize and direct the President
to lay claim to all areas in the Antarctic which
have been discovered or explored by American
citizens.
The resolution was discussed, and numerous in-
quiries were addressed to the Department in subse-
quent months regarding American policy. The
resolution was not acted upon prior to the adjourn-
ment of the Senate.
A further positive step in the change of attitude
toward American claims was made when Congress
adopted ?an act,2 approved June 16, 1936, which
reads:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That the President of the
United States is authorized to present a gold
medal of appropriate design, with accompanying
distinctive ribbon to Lincoln Ellsworth, noted
American explorer and outstanding pioneer in
exploratory aviation in the Arctic and in Antarc-
tica, for claiming on behalf of the United States
approximately three hundred and fifty thousand
square miles of land in Antarctica between the
eightieth and one hundred and twentieth merid-
ians west of Greenwich, representing the last
unclaimed territory in the world, and for his ex-
ceptionally meritorious services to science and
aeronautics. . . .
It will be noted that Congress put the act of claim-
ing land on behalf of the United States first among
Ellsworth's achievements.
1 Senate Resolution No. 310, 71st Congress, 2d session,
1930.
249 Stat. 2324.
22
When Ellsworth ig.eparted on his fourth Antarc-
tic expedition in 1938, he approached the Depart-
ment of State for sOggestions as to which part of
Antarctica he should explore in order best to serve
American interests. The Department was reluc-
tant to make suggesOons because Ellsworth's expe-
dition was a private tindertaking, he was accompa-
nied by the famous Biritish explorer Sir Hubert Wil-
kins, his airplane wits flown by a Canadian pilot,
and the crew of his 11esse1, the Wyatt Earp, was al-
most entirely Norwe'Rian. The Department, how-
ever, directed the Arnerican Consul in Capetown to
inform Ellsworth in ' trict confidence that: 1
. . . it seems appr priate for him to assert claims
in the name of the lUnited States, as an American
citizen, to all ter Itory he may explore, photo-
graph, or map whi
ered and unexplo
not it lies within
already claimed b
h has hitherto been undiscov-
ed, regardless of whether or
sector or sphere of influence
any other country. It is, of
course, preferable that such claims shall relate
to territories not already claimed by another
country. Reasserition of American claims to ter-
ritory visited by pierican explorers several dec-
ades ago would seem to be appropriate if he
should desire to dxplore such areas. You may
suggest the possibility of dropping notes or per-
sonal proclamatiOns, attached to parachutes,
containing assert Ons of claims, and subsequently
making public the text of such claims, together
with approximate latitude and longitude of the
points concerned. It should be made clear to
Ellsworth that he should not indicate or imply
advance knowled e or approval of the Govern-
ment of the United States but that he should
leave it for this government to adopt its own
course of action.
The extent of American activities in Wilkes Land,
Palmer or Graham ,ILand, Marie Byrd Land, and
Heard Island, and other areas in the Antarctic were,
of course, well known to Ellsworth.
It was also suggested that he use a form for as-
sertion of claims, as! did Sir Hubert Wilkins when
he dropped two proclamations over Charcot Island
in 1929 (the first case in which a claim was asserted
this way) . Ellsworth, seems to have expected more
positive backing, bui loyally executed the wishes of
the Department. (ee Chapter II, A, 3.)
Despite its polidy of refraining from official
claims, the Departrhent at that time (1938) ap-
proved the assertion of claims by individual ex-
plorers. Although Preference for claims in hith-
erto unclaimed territory was indicated, it was
clearly stated that "Sector claims" should be disre-
garded. This, obvi*sly, was taken by Ellsworth as
implying that claiMs to areas actually discovered
and explored by others should be respected.
1 Instruction from Secretary Hull to James Orr Denby,
American Consul at qapetown, August 30, 1938.
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C. THE UNITED STATES ANTARCTIC SERVICE EXPEDI-
TION.
The instructions to the American Consul in
Capetown are the first outward sign of a slightly
changed approach to the problem of sovereignty in
polar regions.
According to a directive issued by President
Roosevelt, Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles
discussed, in a memorandum to the President on
January 8, 1939, American policy in the polar re-
gions. This memorandum states:
I am inclined to believe, however, that these
naked reservations of American rights would,
alone, have little practical weight in an ultimate
settlement of Polar territorial questions when
balanced against the positive steps to preserve
their territorial rights which have been and are
being taken by other countries pursuing vigorous
and acquisitive Polar politics.
Welles, therefore, proposed under the third head-
ing of the memorandum:
. . . a modification of the American position
that sovereignty in the Polar regions should be
based, among other factors,-on "effective occupa-
tion," as that term is understood when applied to
territories in the temperate zones. The United
States might take the position that appropriate
bases for sovereignty claims in the Polar areas
should be discovery, followed by "constructive
occupation," such as exploration, the exercise in
the claimed territory of administrative functions
et cetera, coupled with a formal claim to pos-
session.
From these suggestions, plans for the United
States Antarctic Service Expedition were evolved
in collaboration with Interior and Navy Depart-
ments and the Coast Guard. In hearings before
the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives on June 2,
1939,1 the main purpose was said to be:
. . . to establish and strengthen the claims of
the United States there [in the Antarctic] . . .
we have a very considerable basis for our claims,
on the grounds of discovery, occupation, particu-
larly the explorations and settlements of the two
Byrd Antarctic expeditions and the several Ells-
worth flights.
The State Department felt that the time had
come when we should assert those claims, or at
least, develop the basis of the claims. . . .
From this and other statements, it is obvious
that the Department did not intend to abandon the
Hughes doctrine or recognize other claims, but
1 General statement of Ernest Gruening, Director, Di-
vision of Territories and Island Possessions, Interior De-
partment. In Hearings on H. J. Res. 310 before the sub-
committee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of
Representatives, 76th Congress, 1st session, 1939.
SECRET
SECRET
thought that Great Britain and, to a lesser degree,
other countries had followed up discoveries and
proclamations of sovereignty by "constructive oc-
cupation" and had thereby strengthened their
claims. The question of permanent occupation
was also given serious consideration.
The line of reasoning was not followed up, how-
ever, and it was even conceded that:
. . . we are the only ones who maintain that
there should be permanent occupation. The
others are claiming on grounds of discovery.1
They claim whatever they have seen, even though
they did not land, and some territory they
haven't even seen. They maintain that discov-
ery alone may form a basis for a claim to sover-
eignty. We have not agreed, and have main-
tained that international law requires permanent
settlement before title can be perfected.
An appropriation passed by Congress in 1939
contained a total of $350,000 for an "investigation
and survey of natural resources of the land and sea
areas of the Antarctic regions." It made no men-
tion of strengthening American claims. Some op-
position was raised because representatives felt
that this expedition might lead to international
complications or that such an outlay was not justi-
fiable for an economically unpromising, ice-covered
area. Opposition became so strong that when Con-
gress was asked for money to continue the expedi-
tion, the appropriation was refused. A supporting
letter from Secretary Hull on May 29, 1940, did not
change this decision. He wrote:
In my opinion, considerations of continental de-
fense make it vitally important to keep for the
21 American Republics a clearer title to that part
of the Antarctic Continent south of America
than is claimed by any non-American country.
The idea of regarding Palmer Peninsula as a
common area for all the American Republics has
been opposed by Argentina and Chile. Argentine
spokesmen, especially, objected to the "extension
of the Monroe Doctrine." The idea had been con-
ceived originally to allay apprehension, especially
in Argentina, as to the purpose of the United States
Antarctic Service Expedition and to emphasize the
common interest of all American Republics:
. . . in preventing any claims of European, Asi-
atic, or African nations to this sector. Any ques-
tion of ultimate or final sovereignty as between
individual members of the twenty-one American
Republics is, of course, premature.'
1 This statement was not quite accurate even at that
time; for example, "permanent occupation" was claimed
for Laurie Island, and Argentine and Chilean claims are
not based on discovery, as shown in Chapter I. The
statement would be even less accurate today.
2Memorandum from President Roosevelt to Secretary
of State and Under Secretary of State, July 28, 1939.
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Accordingly, American diplomatic officers in the
American Republics were instructed to deliver to
the respective Foreign Offices a confidential memo-
randum along those lines. After explaining the
plans of the expedition, the instruction 1 con-
tinued:
It will be the mission of the forthcoming
United States Expedition to add to the existing
scientific data concerning the Antarctic and to
determine and make recommendations regarding
the practicability of making permanent or semi-
permanent establishments in Antarctica. The
action of the United States in this connection is
not intended to prejudice in any way the rights
or interests which any American Republic may
have in the Antarctic regions.
This is further elaborated in a later instruction
which goes even farther in announcing possible for-
mal claims by the United States which, however,
were to be regarded as a safeguard for the rights of
the community of American Republics: 2
It is hoped that these investigations and sur-
veys may indicate the existence of natural re-
sources that can eventually be practicably de-
veloped and utilized. In such event, it is the de-
sire of the Government of the United States to
enter into arrangements with the Governments
of the other American Republics so that the Gov-
ernments and citizens, respectively, of all the
American Republics may have equal opportunity,
or mutually satisfactory bases, for participation
in the development and utilization of the natural
resources that may be found.
After repeating the nonrecognition and reser-
vation policies, it was stated that:
[for surveyed areas that] warrant settlement
and consideration for further development, it
may prove advisable for formal claims of sover-
eignty to be made over those areas. It is believed
that such claims might most efficaciously be
made by an individual Government, and should
such claims accordingly be asserted by the Gov-
ernment of the United States as a result of the
investigations and surveys described, it is desired
that the Governments of the other American Re-
publics know that these claims may be considered
as a safeguard to the opportunity of the Govern-
ments and citizens of all the American Republics
for participation in the development and utili-
zation of such resources as the regions claimed
may be found to possess.
The anticipated claim never was made and both
Argentina and Chile were dissatisfied with the pros-
pect of an American trusteeship, as has been dem-
onstrated by their activities since 1940. Although
the United States tried to win the support of Ar-
I Circular Instruction, August 8, 1939.
Circular Instruction, December 11, 1939.
24
1
gentina and Chile byl warning them against non-
American aggression British claims were not chal-
lenged. The instruCtions to Admiral Byrd indi-
cate clearly that Little America in the Ross De-
pendency and the East Base on Stonington Island
in Marguerite Bay were to serve as bases only if no
suitable places for b ses could be found outside the
British claims." Otli er areas to be investigated
were James W. Ellsvforth Land, Marie Byrd Land,
and areas such as the unexplored southwest coast
of Weddell Sea.2 Tije nonrecognition of claims to
undiscovered areas bounded by meridians is obvious
and is consistent with earlier policy.
The authorizatiol'. of individual members of the
expedition to assert ci aims was foreshadowed in the
suggestions to Linco n Ellsworth (1938) quoted on
p. 22, in spite of the ri4lvate character of his expedi-
tion. Furthermore, .i paragraph 6 of the instruc-
tions to Byrd (1939) reads:
The United States has never recognized any
claims of sovereignty over territory in the Ant-
arctic regions asserted by any foreign state. No
member of the United States Antarctic Service
shall take any action or make any statements
tending to compromise this position.
Members of the.l Service may take any appro-
priate steps such a dropping written claims from
airplanes, depositi g such writings in cairns, et
cetera, which mig t assist in supporting a sov-
ereignty claim by lhe United States Government.
Careful record sha1 be kept of the circumstances
surrounding each such act. No public an-
nouncement of sull, act shall, however, be made
without specific arhority in each case from the
Secretary of State.
Apparently, only one such document was de-
posited?by L. Berlin (see Chapter II, A, 1) ?and
none were dropped from the air. The form fOr
such a document had been prepared in advance.
Its main difference from the form suggested to Ells-
worth is that it shoifid be signed not only by the
depositor, but also by, several witnesses.
Further pursuit Of such claims was precluded
by the attitude of Congress as manifested in the
hearing before the 1-ouse Subcommittee for Appro-
priations, at which 1 unwillingness to involve the
United States in international complications be-
cause of Antarctic ar
outbreak of World
American activity in
eas was clearly manifest. The
War II further interrupted
the Antarctic.
D. ANTARCTIC DEVELOPMENTS PROJECT, 1946-47.
This project was originally planned for develop-
ing equipment and giving training for polar opera-
tions, as a result of the experience that the Navy
a Instructions for Admiral R. E. Byrd, November 25,
1939, Paragraph 6 a and b.
2 Ibid, Paragraph 6d.
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had had in Polar regions during the war. The com-
bination of exploration with the Navy program de-
veloped later. This introduced the question of
whether or not the claims should be raised in the
event of new discoveries. The attitude of the De-
partment of State and of the Navy, which under-
took the project, is shown in a telegram to the Offi-
cer in Charge: 1
State Department . . . expresses belief that
Naval Task Force is not precluded by prior terri-
torial rights or claims of other states from enter-
ing and engaging in lawful activity in any of
those areas or from making symbolic claims
thereto or to newly discovered territory on behalf
of the United States. You are directed to take
appropriate steps such as depositing written
claims in cairns, dropping from airplanes con-
tainers enclosing such written claims, etc., which
might assist in supporting a claim of sovereignty
by the United States Government and to keep a
careful record of circumstances surrounding
each act. No public announcement with respect
to these activities shall be made. Written
claims to be deposited should be expressed sub-
stantially in following form:
U. S. Naval Antarctic Developments Project.
1947.
I (name) (rank) , a member of the United
States Naval Antarctic Developments Project,
1947, operating by direction of the President of
the United States of America and pursuant to
1Navy Telegram No. 1676, Washington, December 30,
1946.
SECRET
SECRET
instructions of the Secretary of the Navy, being
engaged in the discovery, investigation, and sur-
vey of land and sea areas of the Antarctic regions
and being in command of a party carrying out
the aforesaid instructions,
Hereby declare that we have discovered and
investigated the following land and sea areas:
(Here describe briefly what the party has done,
means of transportation, course taken, and in-
clusive dates)
And I hereby claim this territory in the name
of the United States of America and in support
of this claim I have displayed the flag of the
United States thereon and have deposited this
record thereof under the following circum-
stances
(Here indicate, where and how deposited or
dropped from airplane at approximately
south latitude, and longitude
of Greenwich on this day of
1947.)
Signature and three witnesses.
In accordance with this instruction numerous
claims were dropped from airplanes, many of them
in territory never seen before but claimed by some
other power. There are also numerous instances
of claims dropped in places that had been seen be-
fore by other explorers, as in Wilkes Land. No sug-
gestion was made for any form of semipermanent
occupation. If "constructive occupation" had still
been thought necessary, this principle was defined
as including the policy of basing claims on repeated
revisiting of places previously discovered.
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DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS
SECRET
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
1. 1599
2. 1738-39
3. 1771
4. 1772-75
5. 1800
6. 1808
7. 1819
Dirck Gerritsz De Blijde Dutch
Boodschap
Pierre (Lozier) Aigle & French
Bouvet Marie
Yves Joseph de
Kerguelen-
Tremarec
Capt. James
Cook
Capt. Swain
/I
Trading South
Shetlands
French Attempt Bouvet Island
East to discov-
India er "Aus-
Company tral conti-
nent"
Govern-
ment
Adventure & British British
Resolution Admir-
alty
U.S.
James Lindsay Snow Swan British Enderby
Bros.
Thomas Otter British
Hopper
William Smith Williams
8. 1819-21 Thaddeus (Fa-
bian G.) von
Bellings-
hausen
9. 1820 Edward
Bransfield
10. 1820-21 Nathaniel B.
Palmer
Mirny and
Vostok
Williams
& Andro-
mache
Hero
11. 1821-22 George Powell Dove
12. 1821
SECRET
Nathaniel B.
Palmer
James
Monroe
Kerguelen
Island
19
Circumnaviga- i, 2, 3
tion of Antarc-
tic Continent,
but out of
sight of land;
South Georgia,
South Sand-
wich Islands
Swain's Island,
apparently
nonexistent
South Atlantic
British Trading South Shet- 2, 3
land Islands
Russian Govern- Explora-
ment tion
British Govern- Explora-
ment tion
U. S. Private Sealing
B. Pendle-
ton, E.
Fanning
British Private Sealing
Ti. S. Private Sealing
Circumnaviga- i, 8, 19
tion of Antarc-
tic Continent;
Peter I Island,
Alexander I
Island
South Shet- i, 3
land Islands,
Trinity Island
North Coast of i, 3, 18
Palmer
Peninsula
South Orkney
Islands
South Shet-
land Islands,
and South
Orkney
Islands
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
M - 1
NAME OF SHIP
REFER-
LEADER OF
NATIONAL-
AREA OF
DATE
OR
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
ENCE
EXPEDITION
ITY
ACTIVITY
EXPEDITION
PAGE
13.
1822-23
Benj. Morrell
Wasp
U.S.
Private
Sealing
New South
Greenland and
several islands,
none of them
confirmed
later, perhaps
Bouvet Island
7
14.
1822-24
James Weddell
Jane and
British
Private
Sealing
Weddell Sea
Beaufoy
15.
1825
Norris
Sprightly
British
Private
Sealing
Bouvet Island
7
16.
1828-30
Henry Foster
Chanticleer
British
Private
Sealing
Palmer
3
Peninsula
17.
1830-32
John Biscoe
Tula and
Lively
British
Enderby
Bros.
Explora-
tion and
sealing
Cape Ann,
Enderby Land;
Adelaide and
3, 6
Biscoe Islands,
Graham Coast
18.
1833
Peter Kemp
Magnet
British
Enderby
Bros.
Explora-
tion and
sealing
Kemp Coast
Enderby Land
19.
1837-40
Jules Dumont
Astrolabe
French
Govern-
Explora-
Joinville
i, 7, 20
D'Urville
and zelee
ment
tion and
magnetic
survey
Island and
Louis Philippe
Peninsula
(Palmer
Peninsula)
Adelie Coast
20.
1838-39
John Balleny
Eliza Scott
and Sabrina
British
Enderby
Bros. and
7 cooper-
ating
Explora-
tion and
sealing
Balleny
Islands
Sabrina Coast
London
mer-
chants
21.
1838-42
Charles Wilkes
U. S. Explor-
ing Expedi-
tion, ships
U.S.
Govern-
ment
Explora-
tion
Wilkes Land
i, 7, 17,
18
Vincennes,
Porpoise
Sea Gull,
Peacock,
Flying Fish
22.
1839-43
James Clark
Ross
Erebus and
Terror
British
Govern-
ment
Explora-
tion and
magnetic
survey
Victoria Land,
Ross Sea, Ross
Barrier, Ross
Island, Snow
i, 3, 4
Hill Island
near Palmer
Peninsula
23.
1853
John J. Heard
Oriental
U. S.
Private
Trading
Heard Island
19
28
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
SECRET
NAME OF SHIP
REFER-
LEADER OF
NATIONAL-
AREA OF
DATE
OR
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
ENCE
EXPEDITION
ITY
ACTIVITY
EXPEDITION
PAGE
24. 1873-74 Eduard
Dallmann
25. 1874
George S.
Nares
26. 1892 Alexander
Fairweather
Thomas
Robertson
James
Davidson
Thomas
Davidson
27. 1892-94 C. A. Larsen
28. 1894-95 Leonard
Kristensen
29. 1897-99 Adrien de
Gerlache
30. 1898-99 Carl Chun
Adalbert
Krech
31. 1898- Carstens
1900 Egeberg
Borchgrevink
32. 1901-03 Erich v.
Drygalski
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Griinland
German
Challenger British
Balaena,
Active,
Diana,
Polar Star
Jason
Antarctic
Belgica
Valdivia
Southern
Cross
German
South Polar
Expedition,
Gauss
British
(Scottish)
Norwe-
gian
(German)
Norwe-
gian
German Sealing
Society
for Polar
Naviga-
tion
Govern- Deep sea
ment and explora-
Royal tion
Society
Private Whaling
Oceana
Co. of
Hamburg
& Chris-
ten Chris-
tensen, of
Sande-
fjord
Sven
Foyn
Belgian Govern-
ment,
Brussels
Geo-
graphical
Society, &
Popular
Subscrip-
tion
German Scientific
societies
with help
of the
Navy
British Sir
George
Newnes
Bismarck 20
Strait
(Palmer
Archipelago)
Southern
oceans
Dundee
Island;
northeastern
tip of Palmer
Peninsula
Whaling East coast of
Palmer Penin-
sula; Larsen
shelf ice
Whaling First landing
on the Antarc-
tic Continent
(Victoria
Land)
Explora- Gerlache
tion Channel,
Palmer
Peninsula.
First winter-
ing of a ship in
the Antarctic
19
19
Deep sea South Atlantic 7
explora-
tion
Scientific
research
German Private Explora-
with Gov- tion
ernment
Support
First wintering 4
on the Antarc-
tic Continent,
on Cape Adare
Wilhelm II 20
Coast
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
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DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
33. 1901-03
Otto G.
Nordenskjold
Antarctic
Swedish
Private
Explo a-
tion
East Coast of
Palmer Penin-
sula
20
34. 1903
Julian Irizar
Uruguay
Argentine
Govern-
ment
Relief
Hope Bay on
Palmer Penin-
sula
9
35. 1901-04
Robert Falcon
Scott
National
Antarctic
Expedition
Discovery
British
Private,
supported
by scien-
tific socie-
ties and
Govern-
ment
Explora-
tion
Ross Sea.
Over the Shelf
Ice to 82? 17'
S. And west to
the Antarctic
plateau, Ed-
ward VII Pen-
insula
4
36. 1902-04
William
Colbeck
Morning &
Terra Nova
British
Private,
supported
by scien-
tific socie-
ties and
Relief
McMurdo
Sound
Govern-
ment
1
37. 1902-04
William S.
Scotia
British
Principal-
Explora-
Coats Land.
9, 19
Bruce
Scottish
National
Antarctic
ly Andrew
Coats and
James
tion,
oceano-
graph1y &
Observatory
on Laurie
Land
Expedition
Coats, Jr.
metecir-
ology
38. 1904 If
Robert C.
Uruguay
Argentine
Govern-
Mete4r-
Observatory
9
Mossman and
changing
every year
and others
in later
years
ment
?Ingle ob-
servation
1
on Laurie
Island
39. 1904-05
Jean B.
Charcot
Francais
French
Private
Explora-
tion !
Palmer
Peninsula
20
40. 1907-09
Sir Ernest H.
Shackleton
Nimrod
British
British,
New Zea-
land &
Austral-
ian Gov-
ernments
and pri-
vate indi-
viduals
Explc1Ta-
tion. At
tempi to
reach
South
Pole
1
Beardmore
-Glacier to
Polar Plateau
4
Sir Edgeworth
David
British
Magnetic
research
Magnetic
South Pole
5
41. 1908-10
Jean B.
Pour quois
French
Govern-
Explora-
Fallieres
3, 8, 20
Charcot
Pas
ment, so-
cieties &
individ-
uals
tion
Coast Loubet
Coast, Mar-
guerite Bay,
Charcot Island
30
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SECRET
NAME OF SHIP
REFER-
LEADER OF
NATIONAL-
AREA OF
DATE
OR
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
ENCE
EXPEDITION
ITY
ACTIVITY
EXPEDITION
PAGE
42. 1910-12 Ronald
Amundsen
K. Prestrud
Fram
Norwe-
gian
Norwe-
gian
Private Explora- South Pole 5, 15
tion
Explora- Edward VII 5, 15
tion Peninsula
43. 1910-13 Robert Falcon Terra Nova British Private Explora- South Pole, 4
with, Gov- tion Victoria Land,
ernment Oates Coast
subsidy
(Great
Britain,
Union of
South
Africa &
Aus-
tralia)
44. 1910-12 Nobu (Choku) Japanese Japanese Private Attempt Edward VII 5, 16
Shirase Antarctic to reach Peninsula
Expedition, South
Kainan Pole. Ex-
Maru ploration
45. 1911-12 Wilhelm Deutsch- German Private Explora- Luitpold 4, 20
Filchner land with Gov- tion Coast
ernment
financial
support
46. 1911-13 Sir Douglas Austral- Austral- Austral- Explora- Adelie Coast,
Mawson asian ian ian & tion Magnetic Pole,
Antarctic British Queen Mary
Expedition, Govt., sci- Coast, George
Aurora entific so- V Coast,
cieties, in- Wilkes Land
dividuals
47. 1914-17 Sir Ernest H. Endurance British Private Explora- Coats Land, 4, 6
Shackleton and Aurora with tion Caird Coast,
Imperial Govt. sub- Cape Adare
Transant- sidy Area
arctic Expe- (Great
dition Britain,
Scott
New Zea-
land &
Aus-
tralia)
48. 1917 Luis Pardo Y elcho Chile Govern- Relief Elephant 12
ment Island
49. 1920-22 J. L. Cope Put ashore British Private Explora- Attempted 3
and relieved tion crossing of
by Norwe- Palmer
gian whalers Peninsula
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Conti/11rd)
M - 1
DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPO
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
50. 1921-22 Sir Ernest Quest British Private Explota- South Georgia,
Shackleton (mostly tion Weddell Sea
Frank Wild by John
Quiller
Rowett)
51. 1925-27 Different Discovery, British Official Surve , The ocean 3
- leaders' William Discovery ocean around the
Scoresby, Commit- graph c Antarctic
Discovery II tee resealtch, Continent.
whale Falkland
markrg Islands De-
pendencies
52. 1925-27 Stanley Kemp Discovery, British Discovery Hydrd- Southern
William Commit- graphic 8z Atlantic and
Scoresby tee biololical adjacent parts
(Official resea ch; of Polar seas
Agency) surveil.
53. 1926-37 Different Several fac- Norwe- Lars Explora- Falkland 7, 8
leaders 2 tory ships gian Christen- tion, bio- Islands
and some sen logica. re- Dependencies
catchers search,
whaling
from
PeterjtI
Island
east t
850 E.
54. 1926-27 Eyvind Tofte Odd I Norwe- Lars Estab ish- Peter 1 Island 8
gian Christen- ment of a
sen shelter
55. 1927-30 William British Discovery Hydro- Southern 3
Scoresby Commit- graphic & Atlantic and
tee biological adjacent parts
(Official resea ch; of Polar Seas
Agency) surve
56. 1927-28 H. Horntvedt Norvegia Norwe- Lars Estab ish- Bouvet Island 7
gian Christen- ment of a
sen shelt r &
oceano-
graphic &
metecH
ologici
resemch
57. 1928-29 Nils Larsen Norvegia Norwe- Lars Estabish- Bouvet & Peter 8
gian Christen- ment ' of a I Islands
sen shelter &
ocemio-
graphic &
mete9r-
ologi
resea ch
See also nos. 52, 55,65, 68, 72,74, 73, 81, 86.
'See also nos. 54, 56, 57, 60, 64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 73, 75, 82, 84, 85.
32 SECRET
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TABLE I? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
SECRET
DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
58. 1928-29 Sir Hubert Hektoria
Wilkins
59. 1928-30 Richard E.
Byrd
60. 1928-29
British- R. Hearst, Explora- West Coast of 17
U. S. Am. Geo- tion. Weddell Sea
graphical Trial of
Society & aircraft
others for Ant-
arctic
research
City of New U. S.
York, Elea-
nor Bolling
Private Explora- Ross Sea, 5, 13,
tion Marie Byrd 18
Land, South
Pole, Queen
Maud Range,
Edward VII
Peninsula
Thorsham- Norwe- Lars Whaling Bouvet Island 8
mer gian Christen-
sen
61. 1929-30 Sir Hubert William British Govern- Explora- Air Survey of 3, 18
Wilkins Scoresby ment and tion northern Pal-
private mer Peninsula,
individ- Charcot Island
uals
62. 1929-30 Sir Douglas BANZAR British Govern- Explora- Coast from 6
Mawson Expedition Austral- ments & tion Adelie Coast to
Discovery ian, New private MacRobertson
Zealand individ- Coast
uals, esp.
McPher-
son Rob-
ertson
63. 1930-31 Sir Douglas Discovery British, Govern- Explora- Coast from 6
Mawson Austral- ments & tion Adelie Coast
ian, New private to MacRobert-
Zealand individ- . son Coast
uals, esp.
Mcpher-
son Rob-
ertson
64. 1929-30 Hjalmar Norvegia Norwe- Lars Explora- Bouvet Island, 15
Riiser-Larsen gian Christen- tion; bio- Enderby Land,
sen logical Princess Mar-
research tha Coast,
Queen Maud
Land
65. 1929-31 Stanley Kemp Discovery 11 British Discovery Oceano- South Georgia, 3
1st Com- Commit- graphic South Sand-
mission tee research, wich Islands,
survey west coast of
Palmer
Peninsula
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Conthmed)
M - 1
NA ME OF SHIP
I
REFER-
LEADER OF
NATIONAL-
AREA OF
DATE
OR
SPONSOR
PLTR
OSE
ENCE
EXPEDITION
ITY
ACTIVITY
EXPEDITION
PAGE
66. 1929-30 H. Halvorsen
67. 1930-31 H. Halvorsen
68. 1930-32
69. 1930-31
70. 1930-31
Gunnar
Isachsen, later
Hjalmar -
Riiser-Larsen
0. Borch-
grevink
71. 1931 Arnold
Brunvoll,
Reidar Bjerko,
Carl Sjovold,
Rolf Walter
72. 1931-33 D. Dilwyn
John
73. 1932-33 Hjalmar
Riiser-Larsen
74. 1933-35 Capt. Nelson,
N. A. Mack-
intosh
75. 1933-34 Lars
Christensen
34
S'evilla
Sevilla
William
Scoresby
2nd Com-
mission
Norvegia
Antarctic
Numerous
factory
ships and
catchers
(Sekseren,
Bouvet II,
Bouvet III,
Thorgaut)
Norwe-
gian
Lars
Christen-
sen
Whaling,
explora-
tion
Princess
Martha Coast
8
Norwe-
gian
Lars
Christen-
sen
Whaling,
expora-
tion!
Princess Ragn-
hild Coast;
Princess Astrid
8
Coast
British
Discovery
Oce no-
Falkland
3
Commit-
graphic
Islands
tee
research;
Dependencies
surv!ey
Norwe-
Lars
Explora-
Princess Ragn-
8
gian
Christen-
sen
tion
logi
bio-
al
hild Coast
research
Norwe-
gian
Antarctic
Whaling
Co. of
Whaling,
explora-
tion
Enderby Land
to Queen Maud
Land
Tonsberg
Norwe-
gian
Lars
Christen-
sen
Whaling,
explOra-
tion
Along the
entire coast
south of the
8
Indian Ocean
Discovery II British
2nd Com-
mission
Thorshavn Norwe-
an .d numer- gian
ous whaling
vessels
Discovery II British
3rd com-
mission
Thorshavn Norwe-
gian
Discovery
Commit-
tee
Oceano-
graphic
research;
surveiy
Lars Wha ing,
Christen- explo a-
sen tion
Discovery
Commit-
tee
Lars
Christen-
sen
Oceano-
graphic
research;
survey
Explora-
tion, in-
spection
of whal-
ing filet
Falkland 3
Islands
Dependencies,
circumnaviga-
tion of the
Antarctic
Continent
Coast south of 8
Indian Ocean
From Cape- 3
town eastward
to New Zea-
land in high
latitudes
Circumnaviga- 8
tion of Antarc-
tic Continent.
Lars Christen-
sen Coast, Leo-
pold and As-
trid Coast
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
SECRET
NAME OF SHIP
REFER-
LEADER OF
NATIONAL-
AREA OF
DATE
OR
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
ENCE
EXPEDITION
ITY
ACTIVITY
EXPEDITION
PAGE
76. 1933-34 Lincoln
Ellsworth
Wyatt Earp U. S.
77. 1933-35 Richard E. Jacob
Byrd Ruppert &
Bear of
Oakland
78. 1934-37 G. W. Rayner William
Scoresby
3rd com-
mission
Private
Attempt-
ed trans-
Antarctic
flight
U. S. Private Explora-
tion
British Discovery Oceano-
Commit- graphic
tee research;
survey;
whale
marking
79. 1934-35 Lincoln Wyatt Earp U. S. Private Attempt-
Ellsworth ed trans-
Antarctic
flight
80. 1934-37 John R. Rymill British British British Explora-
Graham Govern- tion
Land ment,
Expedition, Royal
Penola Geo-
graphical
Society &
London
Times
81. 1935-37 H. F. P.
Herdman
G. E. R.
Deacon
82. 1935 Klarius
Mikkelsen
83. 1935-36 Lincoln
Ellsworth
84. 1936-37 Lars
Christensen
85. 1937 Bravold
86. 1937-39 H. F. P.
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Discovery II British Discovery
4th com- Commit-
mission tee
Thorshavn
Wyatt Earp
Thorshavn
and Firern
Thorsham-
mer
Bay of Whales
Little America 5, 13
Marie Byrd
Land, Edward
VII Peninsula
From Bouvet 6
Island to
Enderby Land
and MacRob-
ertson Coast
Snow Hill
Island
Southern part 3, 17
of Palmer
Peninsula,
George VI
Sound,
Alexander I
Island
Oceano- Falkland
graphic Islands
research, Dependencies.
explora- Indian and At-
tion lantic sectors
Norwe- Lars Explora- Ingrid Chris- 8
gian Christen- tion, tensen Coast
sen whaling
U. S. Private Trans- Crossing from 14
Antarctic Weddell Sea to
flight Little America,
Ellsworth
Highland
Norwe- Lars Air Norwegian 8
gian Christen- mapping Antarctic
sen Territory
Norwe- Lars Whaling Lars Christen- 8
gian Christen- sen Coast
sen
Discovery Oceano- Circumnaviga- 3
Commit- graphic tion of Antarc-
tee research, tic Continent.
survey of Balleny
islands Islands
Discovery II British
Herdman 5th com-
mission
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TABLE I ? LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continud)
M - 1
DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPO,
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
87. 1938-39
88. 1938-39
89. 1938-39
Lincoln
Ellsworth
Sir Hubert
Wilkins
Alfred
Ritscher
90. 1939-41 Richard E.
Byrd
91. 1942
and
1943
92. 1943 K. S. Pierce-
contin- Butler and
uing others
93. 1946-47 Richard E.
Byrd
Richard H.
Cruzen
94. 1946-47
36
Wyatt Earp U. S.
Schwaben-
land
The United
States Ant-
arctic Serv-
ice Expedi-
tion, North
Star, Bear
Private Explora-
tion
Austral-
ian
German Govern-
ment
U.S.
Govern-
ment
Primer? de Argentine Govern-
Mayo ment
Falkland British
Islands De-
pendencies
Survey,
Trepassey,
Fitzroy, and
one other
ship
U. S. Naval U. S.
_Antarctic
Develop-
ments Proj-
ect; Flag-
ship:
Mt, Olym-
pus
Luis M. Garcia Patagonia, Argentine
Don
Samuel
Chaco
M. Excurro
Govern-
ment
(Colonial
Office)
Govern-
ment
Govern-
ment
Assertion
of claims,
exploT
tion,
reseair
Explora-
tion,
also o
natural
resources
Assertpn
of claims,
installa-
tions f
unna e
light-
house,
survey'
Establsh-
ment pt7
semi- er-
mane t
bases.
Survey
Testing of
arctic
equip-
ment.
Exploa-
tion I
Assertion
of claiMs.
Reestab-
lishmsInt
of
house
Survey
American 14
Highland
Rauer Islands
New Schwab- 15
enland
Southern 23
Palmer
Peninsula,
Western Wed-
dell Sea Coast,
Coasts of Ells-
worth High-
land and Marie
Byrd Land,
Ross Sea Area
South Orkney 9
Islands, South
Shetland
Islands, west
coast of Pal-
mer Peninsula
Falkland 3
Islands
Dependencies
All around the 5, 13,
Antarctic Con- 24
tinent. Ross
Sea area.
Polar Plateau
Orkney
Islands, South
Shetland
Islands, Pal-
mer Peninsula
11
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TABLE I - LIST OF EXPEDITIONS (Continued)
SECRET
DATE
LEADER OF
EXPEDITION
NAME OF SHIP
OR
EXPEDITION
NATIONAL-
ITY
SPONSOR
PURPOSE
AREA OF
ACTIVITY
REFER-
ENCE
PAGE
95. 1947 Federico
Guezalaga
Toro
96. 1947 Finn Ronne
Angamos,
Iquique
Spirit of
Beaumont
Chilean
U.S.
Govern-
ment
Assertion
of claims.
Establish-
ment of
meteor-
ological
station.
Survey
Private Explora-
tion
South Shet-
land Islands
12
Marguerite 13
Bay Area
TABLE 2
ACTIVITIES IN THE ANTARCTIC,
BY COUNTRIES
Argentina
Belgium
Chile
France .
Germany
Great Britain
Japan
Netherlands
Norway
Russia
Sweden
United States
SECRET
PAGE OF TEXT
9-11
19-20
11-12
6-7, 20
15-16, 20
1-6, 16, 19
16
19
7-9, 15, 19
19
20
13-15, 18-19,
21-25
NUMBER IN
TABLE I
34, 38, 91, 94
29
48, 95
2-3, 19, 39, 41
24, 30, 32, 45, 89
4, 6-7, 9, 11, 14-18,
20, 22, 25-26, 31,
35-37, 40, 43, 46-
47, 49-52, 55, 58,
61-63, 65, 68, 72,
74, 78, 80-81, 86,
88, 92
44
1
27-28, 42, 53-54,
56-57, 60, 64, 66-
67, 69-71, 73, 75,
82, 84-85
8
33
5, 10, 12-13, 21,
23, 58-59, 76-77,
79, 83, 87, 90, 93,
96
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M - 1
APPENDIX NO. 1.
The Division of Research for American Repub-
lics of the Department of State submitted certain
specific suggestions, involving, in some cases,
changes in emphasis or viewpoint. These are listed
as follows:
"p. 9? The Argentine claim is based on the
geological and geographical continuation of the
Andes through the island chains into the Ant-
arctic'."
The list of the bases of the Argentine claim
should include a claim based on proximity under
the principle of territorial contiguity, as noted in
OIR No. 4436 and other sources; the claim from
proximity appears to be more important in
Argentine statements than the claim from con-
tinuity.
"p. 10 ? 'Though the Argentine Government un-
doubtedly regarded the Republic as entitled to a
share in the Antarctic before that date, only
vague indications and unofficial utterances seem
to have been made before 1943.'"
The Argentine Government made what seems
to be a reasonably specific claim to Antarctic ter-
ritory in 1923 in protesting to the Universal
Postal Union the issue of a British stamp for the
Falkland Islands and Dependencies. At that
time it stated that Argentina exercised "territo-
rial jurisdiction . . . de jure and de facto over its
continental surface, its territorial sea, and over
the islands situated on its seacoast, over part of
the Island of Tierra del Fuego, over the Islands
of Los Estados, Alio Nuevo, the South Georgias,
the South Orkneys, and polar areas which have
not been delimited." (Quoted in La Prensa, May
28, 1946.) This claim was repeated later in the
1920's and reservations referring to Argentine
claims in Antarctica were made at the Panama
and Habana Meetings of Foreign Ministers in
1939 and 1940, respectively. The first claim to a
definite sector appears to have been made in
documents and markers left at Deception Island
in early 1942 by the Primero de Mayo. The
sentence referred to might be rephrased to read
as follows: "Though the Argentine Government
undoubtedly regarded the Republic as entitled to
a share in the Antarctic before that date, no
claim to a definite sector was made in diplomatic
correspondence before 1943."
"p. 10 ? 'It was after 1943 that Argentina tried
to prove that its claim antedated others.'"
This should read: "It was after 1939, when
Antarctic claims first became a popular issue in
SECRET
SECRET
Argentina, that the Government tried to prove
that its claims antedated others."
"p. 10 ? 'A National Antarctic Commission was
created, etc.'"
The following substitute is suggested:
"A National Antarctic Commission was created
by decree of April 30, 1940, and under the spon-
sorship of the Commission the first Argentine
moves to stake claims in Antarctica were made
in 1942 and 1943. Negotiations were undertaken
to resolve conflicting Argentine-Chilean claims,
but were suspended without agreement having
been reached in 1941. Following a lull in activ-
ity under the de facto government, 1943-46, the
Peron Government initiated a new forward move-
ment in Antarctica in the 1947 and 1948 seasons.
A tentative agreement was reached in July 1947
with the Chilean Government on demarcation of
the sectors claimed by the two countries.
Chilean officers were invited to accompany the
Argentine expeditions, and the Chilean expedi-
tion of 1947 returned the courtesy. The 1947
and 1948 Argentine expeditions installed bases at
Deception Island in the South Shetlands and at
Gamma Island in Melchior Archipelago, supple-
menting the old-established base at Laurie Island
in the South Orkneys. Meteorological and radio
stations have been set up at these bases and
Argentine expeditions have engaged in mapping
and surveying activities in various parts of the
Palmer Peninsula area."
"p. 11 ? 'Unlike Argentina, Chile advanced
claims, etc.' "
This might be rephrased to read: "Chile ad-
vanced claims to a sector of the Antarctic early
in the nineteenth century, but its activity in this
region has remained negligible."
"p. 11 ?'Chile maintains the official position,
etc.' "
This might be rephrased to read: "The Chilean
Government in November 1940 asserted a claim
to a sector of the Antarctic between 53? W. to 90?
W. of Greenwich. This definition of its claim,
the Government stated, was not to be viewed as
a 'claim to sovereignty' since Chilean sover-
eignty had previously been established in the
area and existed without the necessity for fur-
ther action by the Chilean Government."
"p. 23 ? The idea of regarding Palmer Peninsula
as a common area for all American Republics has
been opposed by Argentina and Chile. Argen-
tine spokesmen, especially, objected to the "ex-
tension of the Monroe Doctrine".'"
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40
When the US Government exchanged notes
with the Argentine Government in 1939-40 rela-
tive to the Byrd Expedition of 1940, there appears
to have been no official Argentine reaction ad-
verse to the suggestion that the US expedition
would protect the interests of members of the
inter-American system against nonhemisphere
claims. The sentence might be rephrased to
read: "The idea of regarding Palmer Peninsula
as a common area for all American Republics
would probably be unwelcome to Argentina and
Chile."
"p. 24? 'both Argentina and Chile were dissat-
M - 1
isfied with the pro pect of an American trustee-
ship, as has been demonstrated by their activities
since 1940.'"
This assumes a "American trusteeship" has
been widely discu sed as a practical solution,
which does not a pear to have been the case.
Therefore, it is s4gested that the sentence be
rephrased to read: "Both Argentina and Chile
have shown by their activities since 1940 that
they will be stro4 partisans of the division of
the area into natio]lial zones and will not welcome
an inter-American l trusteeship."
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PROVISIONAL
mscovERY 411;pvegxnattmloiyom AwmAgukci4640 AMMER PENINSULA
10700
Latitudinal Scale 1:2750,000
loses of Petri Istsna and South Orimey Islamls am et the same acme as the main mop
Azimuthal Equidistant Am)...
qmpliett from American, British, Mnd Fran. O.; SIN MINIM. prior to 1967.
Namp horn THE GEOGRAPHICAL IMMO OF ANFARCTIC4, U.S. Bumf on Gassnzphizal Mama,
Spa P.A.. Me Off IAA/ 1547. in mass whins V1"?X
St i 3?G _?.1 g.-03
0 ?S94P V"'
BEICREFEELEEW
-MTS. '
e
...__ _ ..
'
,. --
/
-Little America
viti.4,.fre I /1
....0c-.., l
1
._...,,
rliati.
_
I
/
/
,
/
I
..WW
mall=
55
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