Station “P”. Field camp at Hannah Point, Livingston Island

Station “P” was a British base camp at the head of Mateev Cove on the east side of Hannah Point, 62°39’16”South, 60°36’48” West on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica that supported survey, geology and biology field work, from 29 December 1957 until 15 March 1958. It was a temporary, mobile camp for use by field parties on Livingston Island. It has not been the practice to assign letters to field camps, so the letter “P” was used as the intention had been to erect a Hut. RRS Shackleton was holed when transporting the Hut, parts of which were used to repair the ship.

The Camp was occupied by a six-member team led by Hugh Simpson.

Hannah Point forms the east side of the entrance to Walker Bay and the west side of the entrance to South Bay. Surmounted by Ustra peak to the north, with Liverpool Beach extending between the peak and the tip of Hannah Point with an ice-free area ca. 122 hectares (300 acres).

Hannah Point (the Point) is a narrow peninsula undulating upward to knife-edged ridges and vertical cliff edges 30-50 metres above sea level. There is loose scree on higher slopes and ridges, evidence of rock falls, and a Jaspar mineral vein. Ash-covered slopes link the Point to the flat open beach area of Walker Bay. (Pic aside show Hannah Point landing beach)

(British mapping in 1821, 1962 and 1968, Argentine in 1959 and 1980, Chilean in 1971, Spanish in 1991, and Bulgarian in 2005 and 2009).

Station “P” or Fileld Camp do not exist anymore, actually the area has high concentration of diverse wildlife: nesting gentoo, chinstrap, and a small number of macaroni penguins; nesting southern giant petrels; southern elephant seals.