Whaling factory, Grytviken, South Georgia
Date
18 December 1956
Creator
George Hemmen (1926, British) , Photographer
Object type
Material
Dimensions
width (negative (photographic film)): 35mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Landscape view of a whaling factory showing three men on a wooden flencing plan heaving a large piece of whale flesh into an opening in the floor. Heating pots below render the fat into oil. One man looks on holding a flensing knife.
The main party for the Royal Society International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition and the main party of the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition set sail for Antarctica on the MS Magga Dan from Butlers Wharf, London on the 15 November 1956. This photograph was taken at a whaling factory in Grytviken, the last port of call for the MS Magga Dan before plunging in to the ice.
The main party for the Royal Society International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition and the main party of the Commonwealth Trans Antarctic Expedition set sail for Antarctica on the MS Magga Dan from Butlers Wharf, London on the 15 November 1956. This photograph was taken at a whaling factory in Grytviken, the last port of call for the MS Magga Dan before plunging in to the ice.
Object history
From a set of photographic negatives taken by George Hemmen, former Expedition’s Officer for the Royal Society and who was originally appointed as Stores Officer by the Falkland Island Dependencies Survey (FIDS) to organise the International Geophysical Year Antarctic Expedition on behalf of the Royal Society.