RNZN News – Souvenired salt to makes its way back to ice after 60 years

A jar of salt souvenired from Shackleton’s Hut 60 years ago by a retired Timaru navy engineer is to be returned to the ice.

Retired Royal New Zealand Navy mechanical engineer Mervyn Tyree, 81, was in Devonport, Auckland, on Wednesday to personally present the container to the Royal New Zealand Navy at the commissioning of its new vessel – the 173 metre-long HMNZS Aotearoa.

Tyree said it was the right time for the container to be returned as he was assured by Aotearoa Commanding officer Captain Simon Rooke it would be delivered back to the Antarctic hut some time in 2021.

Tyree was a mechanical engineer aboard the HMNZS Endeavour when he souvenired it from Shackleton’s Hut in early 1960.

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It is Marmozet brand and its label says it is ‘’specially prepared for export, double refined table salt, made by Griffiths, McAlister & Co in Liverpool’’.

It was Christmas 1959 and Tyree, along with 37 crew and officers, were taking supplies to Scott Base and assisting scientists on cultural tours when he made the discovery.

“In January 1960, we were coming back to McMurdo Sound in Antarctica,’’ he said.

“We stopped at Cape Royds and I went ashore to Shackleton’s Hut.

“We had stopped at Cape Royds to lay a sediment trap, and as I walked up towards the hut it was laying on the ground,” he said.

Tyree said in those days there were no conservation orders on the huts.

“I just souvenired it, there was heaps of other stuff around.

“We were all pirates in those days,” he joked.

Tyree said he told RNZN Rear Admiral David Proctor his story and his wish to return it to the Antarctica just prior to the commissioning of the Aotearoa.

“I mean, what am I going to do with it, why give it to a museum.

“What if I snuff it tomorrow?”

Tyree said he had taken a tour of the new purpose-built, $500 million support vessel on Wednesday, including the engine room.

“It’s good to see the navy has got something new.

“I feel knackered now, my feet are killing me,” he said after the ceremony.

A New Zealand Defence Force spokesperson said the ship’s company is looking forward to returning the jar of salt to its rightful home in Antarctica when it sails there in 2021.

“The Royal New Zealand Navy has a strong association with the southern continent and is pleased to be involved in this part of the story.”

The Aotearoa will be used to help the navy with monitoring efforts in the Southern Ocean.

It’s capable of withstanding tough winter conditions, which means it can be used for operations in Antarctica, including resupplying McMurdo Station and Scott Base.

The ship’s environmentally friendly design incorporates a new wave-piercing hull form that reduces resistance and lowers fuel consumption, while a combination of diesel and electric power produces lower carbon emissions that older ships.