Antarctic History

 

From Life member Kelsey Goodman, submitted 2023

An account of how the “U” came to be used on our barrels

(This version assumes that the reader is aware that 55-gallon fuel barrels have been used in the US Antarctic program to collect and hold urine.)

This is the story I was told regarding how the “U” came to be painted on fuel barrels when they we were “promoted” to the urine collection program. It was told to me in the summer of 1969 by a friend who, like me, had a high regard for a good story and was not especially picky about verifying its authenticity.

The Lore: As the story goes, Byrd Station sent a request to McMurdo for X number of barrels of fuel. As of that era the urine collection barrels were (hopefully) kept separate from other barrels, but were not conspicuously marked as to their purpose. Someone who set about filling Byrd Station’s order mistakenly dispatched X barrels of frozen urine rather than the fuel that was requested. After this mistake was discovered, it was decreed that once a barrel was designated for urine collection it was to have a “U” painted on it to ensure that this mistake didn’t repeat itself. Yellow was clearly an appropriate color for the “U”.

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From Life member Gordon Spencer, submitted 1/30/2023

1902 Map of Ross Island.  Ed note:  Original source of the picture  is unknown, but the map was likely prepared during the Discovery Expedition (1901-1904).

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From Life member Ben Koether, submitted 1/10/2023

January 9, 1909 Ernest Shackleton gets to 112 miles from the South Pole during the Nimrod Expedition.