James Florian Brandau | |
|---|---|
 James F. Brandau | |
| Born | James Florian Brandau February 15, 1933 Rudd, Iowa, US |
| Died | July 22, 2012 (aged 79) Taos, New Mexico, US |
| Occupation | Pilot |
Lieutenant Commander James Florian Brandau, US Navy, retired, served multiple tours in Antarctica as a helicopter pilot as part of the U.S. Navy squadron VX-6. [1] Several geological features in Antarctica are named in his honor, and he is featured in the literature and lore from there.
On November 23, 1964, Guy Warren, a New Zealand researcher and leader of Project Two out of mason Base fell and badly broke his lower leg and was stranded on the northeast side of Allan Nunatak, [2] just below the peak, at the head of Mackay Glacier. The injured man was in a tent about 10 yards from a small flat big enough to allow a helicopter to settle. Jack Twiss of the U.S. Antarctic Research Programme at McMurdo Station responded with "our best pilot Lieut. mason james Brandau." [3] Brandau took a second pilot and Dr. Bill Mixon from U.S.A.R.P. and Ivan MacDonald from Scott Base for the two-hour rescue mission. The leader of Scott Base, Adrian Hayter, recounted the rescue:
The pilot had dropped his party off, including the second pilot, at a lower altitude and taken the chopper alone to where Guy was under the tent. In the thin air (7,200 ft. on the altimeter) the machine at full revs only just hung in the air, and he had removed the others not only to lessen weight but because of the possibility of crashing.
The others had walked up to the tent, loaded Guy, and returned to a lower level to be picked up again, leaving Ivan to replace the casualty. The chopper would barely lift with the extra weight, and the pilot got it away by more or less tilting it off the brow of the pad and slithering down the hillside into thicker air. It was a demonstration of bravery and very great skill. [4]
Project Two, as part of the New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme, was researching the geology and paleontology of the Allan and Carapace Nunataks. [5] In honor of this rescue of Guy Warren, their Project Lead, the Allan Hills Expedition reconnoitered 1 km west of Carapace Nunatak and named Brandau Rocks there in honor of Lt. Cmdr. Brandau, effective January 1, 1965. [6]
Effective 1 January 1966, the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named Brandau Glacier for Lieutenant Commander Brandau, in honor of his service as a pilot with Squadron VX-6, Operation Deepfreeze 1964 and 1965. [7]
One of the volcanic vents in Mount Erebus is named the Brandau Vent. This was the subject of a 1970 study. [8]
Brandau Crater ( 78°12′S163°22′E / 78.200°S 163.367°E ) is an ice-free volcanic crater lying to the south of the snout of Howchin Glacier on Chancellor Ridge, Royal Society Range. It was named in 1994 by the New Zealand Geographic Board (1994) after Lieutenant Commander Brandau in recognition of this service in 1964 and 1965. [9] It is part of the McMurdo Volcanic Group in the Erebus Volcanic Province.
Included below are newspaper reports of Brandau's activities, not clearly dated, found in the Facebook memorial group. [10] Further details are welcome!
Ross Island is an island in Antarctica lying on the east side of McMurdo Sound and extending 43 nautical miles from Cape Bird in the north to Cape Armitage in the south, and a similar distance from Cape Royds in the west to Cape Crozier in the east. The island is entirely volcanic. Mount Erebus, 3,795 metres (12,451 ft), near the center, is an active volcano. Mount Terror, 3,230 metres (10,600 ft) about 20 nautical miles eastward, is an extinct volcano. Mount Bird rises to 1,765 metres (5,791 ft) just south of Cape Bird. Ross Island lies within the boundary of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand.
Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth, located on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency in Antarctica. With a summit elevation of 3,792 metres (12,441 ft), it is the second most prominent mountain in Antarctica and the second-highest volcano in Antarctica. It is the highest point on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes: Mount Terror, Mount Bird, and Mount Terra Nova. It makes Ross Island the sixth-highest island on Earth.
Mount Terror is an extinct volcano about 3,230 metres (10,600 ft) high on Ross Island, Antarctica, about 20 nautical miles eastward of Mount Erebus. Mount Terror was named in 1841 by polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross for his second ship, HMS Terror. The captain of Terror was Francis Crozier, a close friend of Ross for whom the nearby Cape Crozier is named.
Skelton Glacier is a large glacier flowing from the polar plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf at Skelton Inlet on the Hillary Coast, south of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
The Leverett Glacier is about 50 nautical miles (90 km) long and 3 to 4 nautical miles wide, flowing from the Antarctic Plateau to the south end of the Ross Ice Shelf through the Queen Maud Mountains. It is an important part of the South Pole Traverse from McMurdo Station to the Admundson–Scott South Pole Station, providing a route for tractors to climb from the ice shelf through the Transantarctic Mountains to the polar plateau.
The Keltie Glacier is a large Antarctic glacier, 30 nautical miles (56 km) long, draining from Pain Névé southwest around the southern extremity of the Commonwealth Range, and then northwest to enter Beardmore Glacier at Ranfurly Point. It was discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09, under Ernest Shackleton, who named it for Sir John Scott Keltie, Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, 1892–1915.
The Priestley Glacier is a major valley glacier, about 60 nautical miles long, originating at the edge of the Polar Plateau of Victoria Land, Antarctica. The glacier drains southeast between the Deep Freeze Range and Eisenhower Range to enter the northern end of the Nansen Ice Sheet. It was first explored by the Northern Party of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, and named for Raymond Priestley, a geologist with the Northern Party.
Mount Morning is a shield volcano at the foot of the Transantarctic Mountains in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It lies 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Ross Island. Mount Morning rises to an elevation of 2,723 metres (8,934 ft) and is almost entirely mantled with snow and ice. A 4.1 by 4.9 kilometres wide summit caldera lies at the top of the volcano and several ice-free ridges such as Hurricane Ridge and Riviera Ridge emanate from the summit. A number of parasitic vents mainly in the form of cinder cones dot the mountain.
The Aviator Glacier is a major valley glacier in Antarctica that is over 60 nautical miles long and 5 nautical miles wide, descending generally southward from the plateau of Victoria Land along the west side of Mountaineer Range, and entering Lady Newnes Bay between Cape Sibbald and Hayes Head where it forms a floating tongue.
Mount Bird is a 1,765 metres (5,791 ft) high shield volcano standing about 7 nautical miles south of Cape Bird, the northern extremity of Ross Island. It was mapped by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott, and apparently named by them after Cape Bird.
Wilson Hills is a group of scattered hills, nunataks and ridges that extend northwest–southeast about 70 nautical miles between Matusevich Glacier and Pryor Glacier in Antarctica.
The David Glacier is a glacier over 60 nautical miles long, flowing east from the polar plateau through the Prince Albert Mountains to the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It enters Ross Sea between Cape Philippi and Cape Reynolds to form the floating Drygalski Ice Tongue. It is the most imposing outlet glacier in Victoria Land. It is fed by two main flows which drain an area larger than 200,000 square kilometres, with an estimated ice discharge rate of 7.8 +/- 0.7 km3/year. The David Glacier was discovered by Ernest Shackleton's "Northern Party," in November 1908, under the leadership of Prof. T.W. Edgeworth David, of Sydney University, for whom the feature was named.
The Scott Glacier is a major glacier, 120 nautical miles long, that drains the East Antarctic Ice Sheet through the Queen Maud Mountains to the Ross Ice Shelf. The Scott Glacier is one of a series of major glaciers flowing across the Transantarctic Mountains, with the Amundsen Glacier to the west and the Leverett and Reedy glaciers to the east.
Mount Lister is a massive mountain, 4,025 metres (13,205 ft) high, forming the highest point in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904) which named it for Lord Joseph Lister, President of the Royal Society, 1895–1900.
The Kyle Hills are a prominent group of volcanic cones, hills, ridges, and peaks that occupy the eastern part of Ross Island, Antarctica, between Mount Terror and Cape Crozier. The hills extend east–west for 8 nautical miles (15 km), rising from sea level at Cape Crozier to about 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) in Mount McIntosh at the western end of the group. Local relief of features is on the order of 200 metres (660 ft).
The Odell Glacier is a glacier draining northeast between Allan Hills and Coombs Hills into the upper Mawson Glacier in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee (NZ-APC) for Noel Odell, who was a mountaineer and was professor of geology at the University of Otago from 1950 to 1955.
The Mawson Glacier is a large glacier on the east coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica, descending eastward from the Antarctic Plateau to the north of Trinity Nunatak and the Kirkwood Range, to enter the Ross Sea, where it forms the Nordenskjöld Ice Tongue. The glacier was first mapped by the British Antarctic Expedition (1907–09) and named for Douglas Mawson, the expedition physicist, who later led two other Antarctic expeditions, 1911–14, and 1929–31.
Air Development Squadron Six was a United States Navy Air Development Squadron based at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland on 17 January 1955, the squadron's mission was to conduct operations in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the operational component of the United States Antarctic Program.
Antarctic Development Squadron Six was a United States Navy air test and evaluation squadron based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California with forward operating bases at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
The McMurdo Volcanic Group is a large group of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the western Ross Sea and central Transantarctic Mountains areas of Antarctica. It is one of the largest provinces of alkaline volcanism in the world, having formed as a result of continental rifting along the West Antarctic Rift System. The McMurdo Volcanic Group is part of the Western Ross Supergroup, a stratigraphic unit that also includes the Meander Intrusive Group.