Bartlett's schooner, bei ng damage. Early the next mornslower than the trawler, was ing, all three trawlers headed to follow. T he site for the upriver on the flood tide. By 22 October, their missions acCrystal II airstrip had yet to be established, and Forbes was complished , th e C rys tal I urgently needed to ass ist both trawlers were on their way back in that endeavo r and in the to Boston. survey of the ap proaches to By early October, the subC rystal II once its location arct ic wate rs of northern was selected. Canada were normally devoid When theMorrisseyarrived of shipping. However, by the at Port Burwell, Polaris was second week of October 1941 , nowhere to be seen. Rather the job of locating sites for C1ys tal II and III was just get- The survey team prepares to leave for the north aboard the schooner Effie than wait for her, Forbes inting underway. No one on the M. Morrissey, which sails today as the Ernesti na out of New Bedford, structed Bartlett to co ntinue mi ss ion had an y firsthand Massachusetts. Captain Bob Bartlett is fifth from right; Commander on to Frobisher Bay. On enknowledge of the area, so navi- Forbes stands behind him. (US Army photo) tering the bay, they encountered an extensive ice pack gating the waters off Baffin Island so late in the year was not going to be graphic Office was that a survey ship, ac- around which Bartlett had to maneuver, at an easy matter. compani ed by a tender and equipped for times even ramming the ice to get through. Crowell and his C rystal II gro up of wire dragging, should leave for the U ngava Once through the ice pack, Forbes's first eight men, badly pressed for time, estab- area as soon as ice broke up in the late task was to find Crowell's base camp-not lished an overwintering base camp on Fro- spring. Priority emphasis should be placed an easy undertaking, since Crowell's radio bisher Bay despite the fact that the adj acent on more thoroughly mapping the mouth had been inoperative for some time. Bartlett area seemed of questionable merit for an of the Koksoak and the upriver channel to anchored the schooner to the so uth of airstrip . A suitable site could be found in Fort Chimo-a task which wo uld be ac- Fletcher Island while Forbes took the whalethe spring. After overwintering materials complished before the arrival of the supply boat and began to search. On the second and supplies were ferried as hore from ships carryi ng materials for the construc- day, Forbes went ashore on an island higher Sicilien and the trawlers, the freighter left tion of the airfield . Forbes recom mended than most, climbed to its summit, and saw to meet Hubbard at the mouth ofFrobisher that the approaches to the Crystal II and in the distance what appeared to be buildC1ystal III sites also be surveyed.To Forbes's ings and a flag. Re boarding the whaleboat, Bay and the trawlers departed. Once Sicilien joined up with his gro up, surprise-his hydrographic skills having he headed toward the site, being shortly met by Crowell and one of his men with Hubbard began his search for a base camp been gained only as an amateur pursuitunder the guidance of a local Eskimo pilot. he was selected to lead these efforts using as their rifles at the ready, not sure whether A likely spot was located on Padloping his survey headquarters the chartered schoo- Forbes and his party were friend or foe. 5 Island off the northern coast of Baffin ner Effie M. Morrissey, owned and skip- Crowell returned with Fo rb es ro the Island. Construction materials for winter pered by Robert A. Bartlett, a 67-year-old Morrissey and piloted the schooner to an quarters were quickly moved ashore-none veteran Arctic explorer. In 1909, Bartlett anchorage off the camp. Forbes agreed that too soon as Sicilien and the two trawlers had served as master of Robert E. Peary's the terrain near Crowell's camp was not barely cleared in time to avoid being caught ship Roosevelt and had accompanied Peary suitable for an airstrip and the search conacross the ice to within five degrees of the tinued. Later in the week, they found a in the ice. When Forbes reported to Washington North Pole. Forbes was to join Bartlett's location about 30 miles from where the after his return from C rys tal I, he discov- schoo ner at St. John's, Newfoundland, early overwintering camp had been. The site ered that he had been called ro active duty in the coming summer. ab utted Koojesse Inlet east of the Sylvia Forbes's initial instructions from the Grenell River. T he alluvial plain formed by in the US Navy. With the rank of commander, he was to spend the winter at the Hydrographic Office were that once he the ri ve r provided an excellent platform for Navy's H ydrographic Office plotting the and his team completed the survey of the an airstrip . By the summer of 1942, the Russian soundings that he had recorded of Ungava Koksoak, they were to go to Frob isher Bay Bay and the Koksoak River. From those where Crowell had established his base front stood in danger of collapse. If that observations, adjustments wo uld be made camp the previo us October. 4 However, were to happen, the need to fly fighters to to the British Admiralty charts drawn from since it was subsequently felt that enough the United Kingdom would take on added surveys made during the 1800s. Although was known about the Koksoak River to urgency, so Washington put an even higher Forbes's work was superior to the old Brit- allow it to be navigated-at least for the priority on the C rys tal Project. On 16 ish charts, his own survey had been a hasty time being-Forbes and his survey team August, wo rd came by radio that the charone and, as he himself cautioned, should were ordered to go to Port Burwell aboard tered transport Fairfax, carrying constructhe Morrissey and meet the trawler Polaris, tion workers and equipment, was to leave not be relied upon. His recommendation to the H ydro- on which they wo uld go to Frobisher Bay. Halifax earlier than had been initially sched12
SEA HISTORY 101 , SUMMER 2002