Case 17
- Americans in Port, Richard Evelyn Byrd
Paul Carter. Little America: Town at the End of the World. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.
Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888–1957) of the United States Navy had flown over the North Pole in 1926 and he wanted to be first to fly over the South Pole. Dunedin played its part in enabling him to be called the ‘Admiral of the Ends of the Earth’. In 1928, the Otago Harbour Board offered to provide free mooring and storage services for his expedition.
Byrd was able to base many of his ships and their crews here over the course of subsequent expeditions to the ice, where his bases were known as Little America.
Paul Carter. Little America: Town at the End of the World. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.
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Photograph (copy). Byrd expedition ship City of New York, 26 November 1928.
The Americans were fêted in Dunedin and Port Chalmers. Crowds turned out to welcome and farewell each ship, and the expedition dogs, quarantined on Quarantine Island, attracted thousands of visitors. Local businesses and academics were also generous in their assistance. Local men applied to join the expeditions and some were signed on.
Photograph reproduced courtesy of Port Chalmers Regional Maritime Museum and Port Otago Ltd.
Photographs (copies). Byrd expedition ship Eleanor Bolling, 20 January 1930; one of two.
Photographs (copies). Byrd expedition ship Eleanor Bolling, 20 January 1930; one of two.
Both photographs reproduced courtesy of Port Chalmers Regional Maritime Museum and Port Otago Ltd.
