Category: general-history

Camp Century was a United States military installation buried under the northwestern tip of the Greenland ice sheet. It was active from 1959 and quickly dismantled in 1967. In 1960, Camp Century received it’s electrical and heat energy from a Portable Medium-sized nuclear reactor, starting operations on October 3, 1960. It ceased operations the next year when Camp Century shifted operations to summer only. Camp Century was used for a wide array of experiments, from using the ice for fuel storage to determining if it was feasible to have a city under the ice. When Camp Century was abandoned, the Army left behind equipment, petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), and other materials.

In the summer of 2017, scientists at the Geology Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), lead by Project Manager William Colgen, headed up a project to understand the climate and snow cover at Camp Century (http://campcenturyclimate.dk/ccc). The nuclear material, POL, and other leftovers from Camp Century has scientists wanting to understand more of how glacial and water flows under the ice might transport these toxic materials. The report conclusion was the snow will continue to accumulate on top of Camp Century and meltwater will not reach the toxic debris field – by the year 2100, it will be buried under 190 feet to 209 feet of ice and snow. Read more about the project and data at http://campcenturyclimate.dk/ccc.

Research links from the project include:

Ice-penetrating radar survey of the subsurface debris field at Camp Century, Greenland – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165232X18304671?via%3Dihub

https://dataverse01.geus.dk/dataverse/campcenturyclimate

Firn Evolution at Camp Century, Greenland: 1966–2100 – https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.578978/full

Initial field activities of the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Programme in Greenland – https://geusbulletin.org/index.php/geusb/article/view/4347

New programme for climate monitoring at Camp Century, Greenland – https://geusbulletin.org/index.php/geusb/article/view/4415

The Russian humor/satirical magazine “Crocodile” began publishing in 1922. During the United States Greenland build-up, the Soviets were watching us closely. Their Moscow Millie radio propaganda broadcasts knew intimate details about the service members that were at the base. For example, the broadcast would call out service members by name and state the hut number where they bunked. Investigators into information leakage at Thule Air Base never revealed their findings. It was assumed that the more than 8,000 individual contractors that helped build the base were leaking information to the Soviets.

In the magazine below, the Soviet magazine “Crocodile” depicts the January 21, 1968 crash of an American nuclear B-52 bomber. The crash was caused by a a crew member placing seat cushions in a heater vent, which later caused a fire onboard. The smoke became so thick that the pilot lost visibility and it crashed. Unknown to the Dutch, the United States had been conducting flyovers with nuclear bombs. The B-52 bomber crashed on the northwest corner of Greenland – Wolstenholme Fjord. 6 of the 7 crew escaped by parachute before impact and the subsequent fire. The fire broke up the hydrogen bomb’s fissionable nuclear material and leaked radiation into the fjord, contaminating the surrounding waters. Russian translation are in the captions. Thank you for the translation Irina. “Crocodile” ceased publication in 2008.

Jens Zinglersen and Jim Calhoun are the only two living members of the United States Air Force EOD SAC team that had the responsibility to find and recover, whatever that was left of the 4 hydrogen bombs. The B-52 crashed with 4-MK28 hydrogen bombs 11 kilometers west of Thule Air Base. The rescue and recovery took 9 months. Jim Calhoun retired as a Chief Master Sergeant after 20 years of service.

The Prince depicted above is the Soviets depiction of “HAMLET.”