Historical Photos

The Hero met impenetrable ice on 3 December 1977 at the entrance to Arthur Harbor on the first
trip of the season to Palmer Station. Here Captain Pieter Lenie views ice conditions for the one-mile
walk to the station (Photo by Miguel L. Brand-Wiener, Antarctic Journal, December 1977).

This page is a sampling of Hero photos by others...since the few photos I took have already been used. I've been asked to show more, and in particular to mention Captain Lenie, but the above photo is the only one I have at present. So if anyone has any more photos and/or stories to go with them, please send them along.

The original cachet (left), denoting Marine Acoustical Services, the first contractor to operate the vessel as well as the lab at Palmer.

At right, Hero cruises the Antarctic Peninsula in this undated photo by Bill Curtsinger (Antarctic Journal, March/April 1970). Bill has worked extensively in the Antarctic for National Geographic and other publications.

At left, Hero meets the other NSF Antarctic research ship, the USNS Eltanin, for the first time--at the pier in Punta Arenas, April 1970 (Antarctic Journal, January/February 1971, photo from La Prensa).

At left, a patch from the early years of the H&N
contract, which began in 1973-74. I don't know
how long the subcontract with GOI lasted.

At right, the Hero during the 1972-73 season; this photo (photographer not identified) appeared in the DF-73 U. S. Navy cruisebook.

Two photographs from 1976-77 from Team Palmer 77 medic Gary Cullen. At left, Hero is parked at the pier in front of Palmer Station; at right she is in the harbor next to the Coast Guard icebreaker Burton Island.

These two are from Allen Cull, who wintered at Palmer in 1979. At left is Hero in her natural element near Palmer Station during the 1978-79 summer. At right she is tied up to the British vessel Bransfield early in the 1979-80 summer. Allen Cull has an excellent collection of photos and Palmer sitreps, start here to check them out.

Another undated photo of Hero in Antarctic Peninsula waters,
by Bill Curtsinger. (Antarctic Journal, September, 1979).

Above, the Hero docked at Palmer Station on a January evening in 1980. With a bunch of loose ice. This photo was taken by
Maggie Amsler on her first visit to Palmer Station. She most recently visited Palmer Station in the fall and early winter of 2007.

Another view of Hero in her element. This undated shot was originally on Bill Wechter's site, and was later found on this page on the Bosuns Watch web site (archive). This British site by Jim Porter was devoted to trawlers and commercial fishing; the Hero page featured more fine historical photos.