Operation Nanook (1946)

For other uses, see Operation Nanook (disambiguation). The station was kept in operation until 1951 when Thule
Operation Nanook was an Arctic expedition under- Air Base was built in the valley; the weather station was
then moved to the Greenlandish settlement at North Star
Bay, and renamed Dundas, until the population was
moved to Qaanaaq further north in 1953.

2 References
[1] Operation Nanook: Baby its cold outside!!". Ships Log:
USS Atule. Retrieved 2010-09-22. On 4 July 1946, Atule headed for the frozen north as a member of Operation Nanook. The purpose of this mission was to assist
in the establishment of advanced weather stations in the
Arctic regions and to aid in the planning and execution
of more extensive naval operations in polar and sub-polar
regions. In company with Norton Sound (AV-11), Whitewood (AN-63), Alcona (AK-157), Beltrami (AK-162),
and USCG Northwind (WAG-282), Atule was to transport supplies and passengers, conduct reconnaissance of
proposed weather station sites, train personnel, and collect data on Arctic conditions. mirror

USS Atule during Operation Nanook (1946).

taken by the United States Navy in 1946. It consisted

of USS Norton Sound (AV-11), USS Atule (SS-403),
USCGC Northwind (WAG-282), USS Alcona (AK-157),
USS Beltrami (AK-162), and USS Whitewood (AN63).[1] The mission is mostly documented as cartographic
in nature.

From 22 July to 5 August 1946, all activities in Operation

Nanook centered on Thule; Norton Sound remained at an- 2. THULEAB.DK, The Ultimate Guide to Thule Air
chor there, in North Star Bay, servicing her two PBM's. Base. http://www.thuleab.dk/
Meanwhile, Whitewood and Atule operated from North
Star Bay as they conducted exercises and tests in the
Smith Sound-Kane Basin area. On 5 August 1946, Nor- 3 Further reading
ton Sound and Whitewood headed for Dundas Harbour,
Nunavut and Devon Island, in order to attempt air and
Campbell, Joel B. Report of Arctic Magnetic Obsurface operations there. Unfortunately, the ships found
servations, 1946. Washington, D.C.: Dept. of
the harbor iced over, with a belt of pack ice extending out
Commerce, U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, 1946.
three miles down the coast. The Northwind broke ice in
OCLC 173641338
support of Operation Nanook.
Heide, J. C. Hydrographic Report: Operation
Nanook 1946. [Washington]: U.S. Navy, Hydrographic Oce, 1946. OCLC 9628322

The mission

Hunt, Ralph W. Report of Operation Nanook. Fort

Belvoir, Va: Arctic Research Section, the Engineer
School, 1946. OCLC 5948283

The mission was to erect a radio and weather station in

Thule. It was built from wooden barracks on the Pittuk, a
Greenlandish word for the place where we tie the dogs,
in a large glacier valley about two miles from the trade
station North Star Bay, which the Polar explorer Knud
Rasmussen built.

Operation Nanook 52. Coast Guard Academy

Alumni Association The Bulletin (Nov 1952), pages
174-177.

The station was to be operated as joint Danish/American

operation, under the Danish colours and Danish supervision by a crew of twenty men, ten from each nation.
Regular weather observations were maintained as Synopsies, Pibal and Radiosonde.
1

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