Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, National Security Affairs, Foreign Economic Policy, Volume I

800.014 Antarctic/5–349

The Acting Secretary of the Navy (Koehler) to the Secretary of State

confidential

Washington, 3 May 1949.

My Dear Mr. Secretary: In your letter NOE 800.014 Antarctic/1–1149 of February 28, 1949, it is noted that the Department of State favors actions which tend to diminish emphasis upon national claims in the international rivalry for the establishment of sovereignty in the Antarctic. You also point out that, if the objectives of the proposed naval expedition include strengthening of American claims in the area, the transpolar flights might have to be planned on the basis of an absolute minimum, or possibly complete absence of, international cooperation. You then raise the question whether, for purposes of the expedition proposed by the Department of the Navy, the desirability of strengthening American claims would outweigh thet advantages of the cooperation from other countries which could probably be obtained were the U.S, to express its willingness to forego using the expedition as a basis for claims.¹

As you are aware, the Navy is becoming increasingly interested in training for cold weather operations and in testing of equipment in extreme temperatures. Since the sensitivity of certain foreign governments precludes the desired amount of operations in the Arctic, Antarctica is considered a desirable alternate. While it is recognized that other nations which claim sovereignty over portions of Antarctica may be unwilling to assist in strengthening United States’ claims by providing bases and facilities for long range flights over hitherto unexplored areas, it should be understood that the primary purposes of the long range flights, and indeed of the whole operation, are training, testing of equipment and furtherance of our scientific knowledge.

In view of the above, the Department of the Navy desires that, in so far as possible, the whole operation be kept apart from any question of United States’ or other nations’ claims.

Sincerely yours,

John T. Koehler

1. In a letter of January 11, 1949, not printed, the Department of the Navy requested approval from the Department of State for a proposed naval expedition to the Antarctic in the Antarctic summer of 1949–50 for the purpose of cold weather training and equipment testing (800.014 Antarctic/1–1149). In his reply of February 28, the Secretary of State expressed approval in principle to the proposed expedition but raised the considerations recapitulated in the paragraph printed here (800.014 Antarctic/1–1149). In another letter of May 3 to Secretary of State Acheson, not printed, Acting Secretary of the Navy Koehler briefly outlined the aircraft flights to be undertaken in the proposed expedition of 1949–50 (code name—Operation High Jump II) and asked the Department of State to obtain permission from the Government of New Zealand for the use of landing and port facilities by the U.S. Navy in connection with the expedition (800.014 Antarctic/5–349). Such a request was made in a note of May 19 from the Department of State to the New Zealand Embassy, not printed (800.014 Antarctic/5–349). The New Zealand Embassy, in a note of June 20, 1949, not printed, stated that the New Zealand Government would be happy to make available the facilities requested (800.014 Antarctic/6–2049). On August 16 the Department of the Navy announced that the proposed 1949–50 expedition in the Antarctic had been abandoned for compelling reasons of economy.