Operation Tabarin Operation Tabarin was a World War II military undertaking by the Admiralty and the Colonial Office in 1943 to establish a permanent British presence in the Antarctic . The bases built were the first ever to be constructed in Antarctica . Reasons for the expedition . There have been several reasons cited for " Tabarin " . Prior to the start of the war , German aircraft had dropped markers with swastikas across Queen Maud Land in an attempt to create a territorial claim , see New Swabia . In 1943 , British personnel from HMS " Carnarvon Castle " removed Argentine flags from Deception Island . There were also concerns within the Foreign Office about the direction of United States post - war activity in the region . So the chief reason was to establish solid British claims to various uninhabited islands and parts of Antarctica , reinforced by Argentine sympathies toward Germany . A suitable cover story was the need to deny use of the area to the enemy . The " Kriegsmarine " was known to use remote islands as rendezvous points and as shelters for commerce raiders , U - boat s and supply ships . Also , in 1941 , there existed a fear that Japan might attempt to seize the Falkland Islands , either as a base or to hand them over to Argentina , thus gaining political advantage for the Axis and denying their use to Britain . Deception Island , in the British South Shetland Islands , possessed a sheltered anchorage with an old Norwegian whaling station . In 1941 , the British ( aboard HMS " Queen of Bermuda " ) had taken the precaution of destroying coal dumps and oil tanks there , to prevent their possible use by the Germans . It has also been suggested that the operation may have partially been a disinformation exercise , nominally to detect suspected German naval replenishment activity - information which was , in fact , being obtained from the cracking of the Enigma machine . The expedition . Led by Lieutenant James Marr , the 14 - strong team left the Falkland Islands in two ships , HMS " William Scoresby " ( a minesweeping trawler ) and " Fitzroy " , on Saturday January 29 , 1944 . Marr had accompanied the British explorer Ernest Shackleton on his Antarctic expeditions in the 1920s . Bases were established during February near the abandoned Norwegian whaling station on Deception Island , where the Union Flag was hoisted in place of Argentine flags , and at Port Lockroy ( on February 11 ) on the coast of Graham Land . A further base was founded at Hope Bay on February 13 , 1945 , after a failed attempt to unload stores on February 7 , 1944 . British territorial claims were further enhanced by the issuing of postage stamps . Reaction . The decision to launch " Tabarin " was not , apparently , a political decision . Winston Churchill was out of the country and a memo from him , following news of the bases in the press , also indicates that he was apparently unaware of the decision . In it , he expresses concern that the move may harm relations with the United States during the preparations for Operation Overlord , the coming invasion of Normandy in June 1944 . A reply from the Foreign Office indicated that the operation was launched not because the US had failed to recognise British claims to the territory , but to reassert British territorial claims against Argentine and Chilean incursion . Post - war developments . Following the end of the war in 1945 , the bases were handed over to civilian members of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey ( FIDS ) , subsequently renamed the British Antarctic Survey ( BAS ) in 1962 . The ownership of the region is in abeyance . British , Argentine , and Chilean claims to the islands have been put to one side to allow scientific research to continue . The United States and Russia have reserved their right to make territorial claims .