Balchen overflight of north of the Arctic circle. 1940. After reflying the Trawler support: Lark, areas at low level, RooPolarbjorn. Although it sevelt and Forbes agreed is fairly certain that the that none of the locaSe/is accompanied the extions appeared acceptpedition past Port Burable. Upon returning to well, the record does not Gander, Roosevelt se- The Hudson's Bay Co. trading post at Fort Chimo, ca 1941-42 (US Army photo) tell to which group she cured authorizatio n to was assigned . overfly the Ungava Bay region of northern addition to carrying cargo, three of the • CRYSTAL III, THE NORTHERN BASE: Lt. Quebec, concentrating on an area near trawlers would tow barges. The seven trawl- Cdr. Charles ]. Hubbard was to command Fort Chimo. Fort Chimo, on the Koksoak ers would fo llow Sicilien to a final depar- until a base location was selected. The River, had long been a trading post of the ture point on the northern Labrador coast. overwintering party was then to be comHudson's Bay Company. According to the There they would take on deck loads of manded by a Captain D yer, USAAC. 3 Canadians, coastal steamers of medium lumber from the freighter and split into Trawler support: Cormoran t, Quest. draft were able to reach Fort Chi mo, which three groups, each going to a different Port Burwell was found to be deserted during the summer months was used by Crystal site. when they arrived. An old Hudson 's Bay the Eskimos as a supply base. 1 Grening tentatively selected the harbor Company post stood abandoned, most of En route to Fort Chimo by float plane, of Hebron on the coast of Labrador as the its buildings in ruins. Since there were no Roosevelt and Forbes sighted a large flat final departure point. However, Lt. Cdr. usable docks, the offloading of lumber area about four miles upriver from the Charles J. Hubbard, USNR, who had been from Sicilien to the trawlers was done at trading post. Landing across the river from chosen to accompany the expedition and ancho r. T he Crystal I trawler group was the post and hiking upstream to confirm who had knowledge of the area, argued the first to take on its deck load and on 9 what they had seen, they esti mated that that Hebron was a poor choice as there October it left for Fort Chimo. As soon as two or more runways of up to 5,000 feet in were deadly tide rips and uncharted haz- the Crystal II and Crystal III trawlers relength could be constructed without un- ards along that section of the coast. He ceived their loads, they sailed north for due earth moving. T hey returned to Gan- suggested Port Burwell on the southern Baffin Island. der, Roosevelt continuing on to Washing- side of the Hudson Strait, a recommendaThe trawlers assigned to Crystal I took ton to recommend the site. T he War De- tion approved by Lt. Colonel Wimsatt. a southerly route across Ungava Bay to the partment approved the recommendation. Once the loading of the trawlers began mouth of the Koksoak River. Forbes was T he Crystal Project had called for two at Halifax, it was discovered that they did responsible for preparing sketch charts of additional airstrip locations north of the not have the hold capacity to handle all the the approaches to the river and its channel Hudson Strait. Crystal II was to be some- cargo that had come north aboard Sicilien. up to Fort Chimo. The gro up arrived at the where in the area of Frobisher Bay on Hurriedly, the Norwegian navy's Selis, an mouth of the river at maximum ebb tide, Baffin Island and Crystal III abo ut 150 antisubmarine trawler then at Lunenburg, which precluded passage until the tide miles farther north and east near C umber- Nova Scotia, was time chartered and sent slacked. Schlossbach ordered the trawlers land Sound. Once the sites were selected, to join the expedition at Halifax. Even with anchored, but this proved a difficult task, base camps would have to be established Selis added, a good part of the supplies still as the skipper of the Cambridge soon disfor overwintering so that work could begin remained aboard Sicilien, requiring the covered. With her anchor bouncing along the next spring, and enough vessels had to freighter to continue beyond Port Burwell the rocky bottom, the Cambridge went be quickly found to carry the needed men to the Crystal II and III locations. Prior to hard aground in a matter of minutes. Meanleaving Halifax, the command arrange- while, the Fabia had anchored at what and construction materials. From the New England fishing fleet, ments were decided, and the trawlers were proved to be the position of maximum Grening chartered five diesel-powered assigned to the base group they wo uld current, her anchor cable paying out at such a rapid rate that the man on the trawlers-Fabia, Flow, Cambridge, Lark, support. and Cormorant--complete with their regu- • CRYSTAL I, FORT CHIMO: Lt. Com- anchor winch could not brake the drum. lar crews, which were then sent on to mander Schlossbach, USNR. Schlossbach' s Barely in time, her skipper throttled his Halifax. Two other trawlers, Polarbjorn polar experience had included overwinter- engine and, with the vessel headed upand Quest, ofNorwegian registry, were also ing in the Arctic when he had been associ- stream , the winchman gained enough slack chartered. 2 At Halifax, the trawlers were to ated with the British explorer Sir Hubert in th e anchor cable to lock down the dogs load personnel, radio equipment, prefab Wilkins. Trawler support: Fabia, Flow, on the winch drum. The not-so-lucky Camhousing, and enough fuel and supplies to Cambridge. bridge, hard aground with her hull pressed subsist at the base camps over the coming • CRYSTAL II, FROBISHER BAY: Major John agai nst an underwater boulder, heeled over, winter. All of this was to be brought to T. Crowell, USAAC. Crowell had sailed as allowing water in through her engine room Halifax from Boston on the Army freighter master of the schooner Thebaud during ventilators. The crew finally managed to USAT Sicilien. At Halifax, the freighter's Donald MacMillan's Arctic explorations seal things off, and, aro und midnight, the cargo would go aboard the trawlers. In and, like Schlossbach, he had overwintered rising tide floated her off without serious
SEA HISTORY 10 l , SUMMER 2002
11