Interview of Clinton Davis by Dian O. Belanger

The Antarctic Deep Freeze oral history project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and supported by the Antarctic Deep Freeze Association. The original paper copies and unaltered tapes have been deposited in the library of the National Science Foundation.Clinton Davis was ordered to the new icebreaker Glacier a few weeks before its commissioning in May 1955, and he remained with the ship until 1963, its longest-serving crew member. He recalled the rolling ride in rough seas, the jolting percussion of icebreaking, the twenty-four-hour daylight, the heroes welcome in home-port Boston after the first season in Antarctica. On its maiden voyage, the Glacier towed YOG-34, an oiler intended for freezing in as a fuel farm. When lesser icebreakers failed, it broke a channel to permit building McMurdo at Hut Point. As a bosuns mate Davis had responsibility for the upkeep of the ship, exterior and interior. He acknowledged the racism of the time but rose above it with an easy-going nature while meaning what he said.National Science FoundationAntarctic Deep Freeze Associatio