Inside the Navy's historic 1955 Antarctic expedition

The chaotic King Neptune initiation at sea

En route to Antarctica, the crew stages a rowdy Crossing the Line initiation complete with King Neptune costumes, mop wigs, and saltwater dunk tanks.

Vintage Navy Crossing the Line Ceremony

50-year-old biscuits found still edible in Antarctica

US personnel uncover Captain Robert Scott's 1902 expedition caches, finding cocoa tins and biscuits perfectly preserved by the freezing climate.

50-Year-Old Edible Food Found in Antarctica

Curious Adélie and Emperor penguins approach arriving US military units, sliding on their bellies across the snow to greet helicopters and crewmen.

Antarctic Penguins Welcome Navy Sailors

Refueling heavy planes on 4-foot ice over an 1,800-foot drop

To maintain flight schedules, planes taxi directly over fragile sea ice to refuel from a tanker, resting on ice barely four feet thick over nearly 2,000 feet of freezing ocean.

Refueling Heavy Planes on 4-Foot Ice

A 75-foot tower swallowed by Antarctic snow

Explorers return to the historic Little America site and find a 75-foot communications tower almost completely buried by decades of Antarctic snow.

A 75-Foot Tower Buried in Snow

Icebreakers don't cut ice, they crush it.

Footage of the USS Glacier demonstrates that icebreakers do not slice ice like a knife, but climb over it to crush it with downward force.

How Icebreakers Actually Work

Crews take a massive risk during Antarctic unloading operations by suspending a heavy tractor double the crane equipment rating.

A Dangerous 24-Ton Gamble

Unexpected warm weather begins cracking the ice shelf, forcing an emergency 48-hour evacuation of vital supplies before the sea ice breaks away.

Racing the Melting Antarctic Ice

Trapped in an open boat during a polar blizzard

A survey team in a small watercraft gets caught in an unexpected polar blizzard and battles treacherous freezing seas to reach safety.

Caught in an Antarctic Blizzard

Left behind for an entire year of isolation in Antarctica.

Over 160 sailors and scientists remain behind at Little America and McMurdo Sound with tons of supplies, preparing to endure brutal winds, subzero temperatures, and months of complete isolation.

Left Behind for an Antarctic Winter

[07:08] Vintage Navy Crossing the Line Ceremony
[10:41] 50-Year-Old Edible Food Found in Antarctica
[11:06] Antarctic Penguins Welcome Navy Sailors
[13:32] Refueling Heavy Planes on 4-Foot Ice
[14:23] A 75-Foot Tower Buried in Snow
[15:28] How Icebreakers Actually Work
[16:24] A Dangerous 24-Ton Gamble
[17:36] Racing the Melting Antarctic Ice
[20:33] Caught in an Antarctic Blizzard
[20:58] Left Behind for an Antarctic Winter

Inside the Navy's historic 1955 Antarctic expedition

Explore related topics