Whales.

This is coolbert:

To war for whales. Antarctic style. Prince of Whales.

"It [whale oil] was incredibly durable, worked in a very wide range of temperatures, could go on thin, had a tendency to stay clean, didn't absorb water, and had a strong tendency to stay adhered to metallic surfaces it was placed on. It has reached a near mythical status in some circles today [2020]"

1. The German [Nazi] Antarctic Expedition 1937.

Whale oil as suggested necessary for the production of margarine. But whale oil even more valuable as a lubricant for fine machinery and military weapons. Indeed, whale oil that most perfect and valuable lubricant for weapons in a cold weather warfare environment. Will not congeal, gel, excellent lubrication even under the most extreme of cold weather without peer, even perhaps beyond that of modern synthetics. A German [Nazi] military base Antarctica enabling the German whaling fleet to operate with impunity all the while denying the allies an important resource vital to the war effort.

 2. "Gun Lubricant History: Sperm Whale Oil"

THE CHINESE COMMUNIST ARMY IN KOREA USING WHALE OIL TO LUBRICATE THEIR SMALL-ARMS WEAPONS AS REPUTED. WHALE OIL HAVING AN OVERPOWERING AND OFFENSIVE ODOR DETECTABLE AT A DISTANCE. OFTEN SIGNALLING A FORTHCOMING CHINESE GROUND ATTACK.

3. Consider also the voyages of the Confederate surface raider CSS Shenandoah during the American Civil War. 

"During a period of ​12 1⁄2 months from 1864 to 1865, the ship undertook commerce raiding around the world in an effort to disrupt the US economy, resulting in the capture and sinking or bonding of thirty-eight merchant vessels, mostly New Bedford [MA] whale ships"

Primary mission of the Shenandoah to capture valuable stores of valuable whale oil when possible at the same time denying the same cargo to the Union forces. Whale oil a very valuable commodity.

New Bedford [MA] the whaling industry never recovered in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Conventional refining of petroleum product replacing the demand for whale oil.

coolbert.