Through the blizzard

Taken at Mawson Antarctica 58 years ago today, on 13 Feb 1966, an unforgettable day. During the previous night a blizzard brought winds gusting over 100 kt (185 km/hr) which broke the mooring cables of our ship, the "Nella Dan". Before the winds could blow it onto the rocks across the harbour, the captain ordered the engines to "half ahead" and drove her onto the rocks. As an ice-strengthened ship, the bows were able to take this and the engines kept her in place. This was taken on b/w film as I came off night shift, I also later took a coloured image when the wind and drifting snow eased. FOOTNOTE. The following day the ship backed off the rock bank undamaged.