Rumors of secret Third Reich science experiments were common during WWII and after, involving everything from a clandestine space program to straight-up zombies. One of the enduring rumors was that the Germans were building a top-secret military base in Antarctica. Hitler’s successor, Karl Dönitz, even claimed as much during his testimony at the Nuremberg Trials. We now know the Nazis didn’t really have an Antarctic base, but like many urban legends, this one does seem to be partly based in truth.
Like many wars, a major source of conflict during WWII was the acquisition of natural resources. Beginning in 1936, Hitler ramped up the German economy so that it could provide enough materials to sustain the war effort. Animal fats were crucially important, since they could be used to make everything from foods like milk and cheese to products like soap and paint. Fearing that wartime might cause shortages, Hitler looked for ways to secure access to animal fats. At the time, whale oil was used to make margarine, but Germany had to buy its whale oil from Norway. So in 1936, Nazi Germany began planning to build its own whaling fleet.
In the summer of 1938, Captain Alfred Ritscher and an 82-man crew set sail for Antarctica. The expedition spent several months photographing and mapping the Antarctic coastline before returning home to Germany. The Nazis eventually abandoned the plan to develop a whaling industry, but the expedition still yielded useful information, increasing the known area of Antarctica by 16%. On the way home, they also discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge of underwater volcanoes that make up the boundary between two tectonic plates.
