USS Arneb

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USS Arneb, AKA-56  was a supply ship during the early Operation Deep Freeze years. I received a note from Tracey Schrader, whose father Carmine N Luongo, of North Bergen, NJ served aboard Arneb during Deep Freeze II and III. Tracey sent along 2 letters dated 1957-58 and a cover from Arneb. These letters were sent to her father's parents by the Arneb's CO. The other Arneb images were found on the Internet.

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Hello, my name is Tracey Schrader (Luongo), daughter of Carmine N Luongo. My father was apart of Deep Freeze for a few years. Here are a couple of letters that was written to my grandparents (his parents) about what was going on and what his role was in the operations. I hope you are able to use them in some way. My father died August 4, 1996, age 56. We went to Cape May, NJ to give him a military burial. We took a small vessel, the chaplain spoke some wonderful words and sent his ashes in to the Atlantic Ocean. I know if my father was standing next to me he would have said "When it's my time to go, I want you to do this same thing for me. I just want you to know that my father was very proud to be apart of the Navy experience, especially on the Arneb.  The good with the bad.  Thank you.

Respectfully,

Tracey L Schrader

April 3, 1957

April 14, 1958

Carmine Luongo aboard USS Arneb

USS Arneb (AKA-56). The picture was taken a day or two after she was holed. The crew repaired the hole after they tied the ship into the ice shelf, then shifted most of the cargo to create the list to bring the hole above water.                           

USS Arneb (AKA-56) bringing in supplies in summer (lots of cold beer), with Mt. Erebus in the  background, the only active Antarctic volcano.
http://sung3.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/~dargaud/Antarctica/McMurdoOld.html

The United States Support Force Antarctica-Task Force '43 sailed from Norfolk on November 14 en route for New Zealand under the command of Rear Admiral George Dukek aboard the flagship USS "Arneb" [AKA-56] arriving a few days after the Squadron had touched down at Wigram. Air Force Base in Christchurch. The entire article is at:    http://www.radiocom.net/vx6/noel2.htm

Recently, I found a cruise book from Operation Deep Freeze II (1956-57). In that book was a fascinating story about USS Arneb being trapped and damaged by encroaching ice. Here is the article and some pictures.