Detaille Island
Detaille Island, Antarctica
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 Detaille Island
Location in Antarctic Peninsula
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 66°52′S 66°47′W / 66.867°S 66.783°WCoordinates: 66°52′S 66°47′W / 66.867°S 66.783°W |
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None
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| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
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| Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
Detaille Island is a small island off the northern end of the Arrowsmith Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica. From 1956 to 1959 it was home to "Base W" of the British Antarctic Survey and closed after the end of the International Geophysical Year (IGY). It is now often visited by Antarctic cruise ships but is otherwise unoccupied.
Thanks to the men’s hasty departure and the necessity that they take little with them, Base W is an eerily preserved time capsule of 1950s Antarctic life. The base had been intended to host dog-sledging survey parties which would cross the sea ice to the nearby Antarctic Peninsula, but the ice was dangerously unstable. When Base W was vacated, heavy sea ice prevented resupply ship Biscoe from approaching closer than 50 kilometres (31 mi), despite the assistance of two U.S. icebreakers. So the men were forced to close up the base, load sledges with only their most valuable gear and use dog teams to reach the ship.
The base was established in 1956 as a British research station primarily for survey, geology and meteorology and to contribute to the IGY in 1957. It consists of a hut and associated structures and outbuildings, including a small emergency storage building, bitch and pup pens, anemometer tower, and two tubular steel radio masts. As a relatively unaltered research station of the late 1950s, it provides a reminder of the science and living conditions that existed when the Antarctic Treaty was first signed in 1959.
In 2009, the base was designated a Historic Site and Monument (HSM 83), following a proposal by the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.
Artefacts include a Hoover washing machine with instruction manuals, jackets and longjohns, a calendar from December 1957, survey books, astronomical observation logs, radio communication equipment, numerous books, dozens of paint-size cans of Scotch oats, bottles of Heinz mayonnaise, and empty bottles of gin and whisky.
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