Balleny Islands, Northern Group [cartographic material] / surveyed by Lieut. L.C. Hill ; assisted by officers of the Royal Research Ship Discovery II, 1936 & 38
- Bib ID:
- 4452270
- Format:
- Map
- Author:
- Hill, L. C. (Leonard Charles), 1908-2003
- Scale:
- Scale 1:190,000, lat. S 65°35' ; Mercator proj. (E 161°45'--E 164°15'/S 66°00'--S 67°20')
- Description:
-
- [1938?]
- 1 map ; 46.8 x 41.2 cm.
- Series:
- Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) map collection ; no. 3/4/43.
- Biography/History:
-
Comprising three large islands (Young, Buckle, and Sturge) and numerous islets and stacks (including Sabrina, Row, Borradaile, Chinstrap, and Monolith), the Balleny Islands are located 66° 15' to 67° 10'S, 162° 15' to 164° 45'E, which is approximately 150 miles (240 km) off the coast of Victoria Land in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. The archipelago forms a chain that is about a hundred miles (160 km) in length, and straddles the Antarctic Circle. Its highest point is Brown Peak (roughly 6000 feet, 1800 m). Sturge Island is the largest, approximately 20 miles long by 8 miles wide (32 by 13 km). The islands are heavily glaciated, with cliffs of rock or ice and a few gravel beaches, and are volcanic in origin, although no recent seismic activity has been recorded. The Balleny Islands are the only truly marine or oceanic islands (as opposed to continental islands) other than Scott Island on the side of Antarctica that they are on, making them distinctive from any neighboring areas. Their biological diversity exceeds that of any other site in the Ross Sea region.
Leonard Charles Hill was born on September 5 1908. Aged 16, he took a four-year Merchant Navy cadetship with the shipping line of P Henderson and Company. From 1928 to 1930 he served as a junior officer in the line of J & J Denholm, and then, as a sub-lieutenant RNR, as a navigating officer in the submarine service of the Royal Navy. In 1931, as Lieutenant RNR, he was appointed chief officer and navigator of Discovery II on her second two-year commission, continuing in these posts on her third commission. Four years later, Hill gained his Master Mariner's ticket with a foreign-going certificate, and, still only a lieutenant, was promoted to command Discovery II on her fourth and fifth commissions up to 1939. When asked how he rose so quickly, he would reply: "Because I was sober." Between 1931 and 1939 oceanographic surveys were made on three voyages around the Antarctic continent - the 1932 voyage being the first to have been made in winter. More detailed surveys were made in the waters around South Georgia, the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands. Hill also directed the rescue from King George Island of six Discovery II men stranded there. Visits were also made to a number of sub-Antarctic islands, including Bouvet{rcedil}ya far down in the South Atlantic Ocean, where a rare landing was made. The net results of all this work were vastly improved Admiralty charts of the Southern Ocean and adjacent waters. For his part in the operations, in 1941 Hill received the Bronze Polar Medal (clasp Antarctic 1931-39), and the Gill Memorial Prize of the Royal Geographical Society in 1942. In the Antarctic he is commemorated in Hill Bay on Brabant Island.
- Notes:
-
- Nautical chart of the northern group of the Balleny Islands which include Young Island and Buckle Island and Borradaile Island inbetween. Depths shown by isolines, soundings and bathymetric tints which are marked in colour. Soundings in fathoms.
- Includes a memoir signed by Commanding Officer L.C. Hill.
- Signature at bottom left of sheet: H. Kirkwood, 2nd. Off.
- National Library's copy marked "Recd. 30.8.48 vide G.L. 191/503 and initialled E.S.B. Stamped "30 Aug 1948" ; "Antarctic Mapping Branch, Map Library" ; "Records, Information and Research Section, National Mapping Office, 23 Sep 1956" ; also stamped S1/3.
- Subject:
- Time Coverage:
- 1936 and 1938
- Also Titled:
- At head of title: Southern Ocean
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the SCAR special map collection.
This collection contains 208 records. - Copyright:
-
Out of Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Since 2010 [Created/Published Date + 50 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Artistic
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1960
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