Arctic Voyage Research Articles

Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857)

The first American arctic explorer of note, Elisha Kent Kane was a man of broad interests and varied talents. Although he died when he was only 37 years old, he distinguished himself as a career naval officer, medical doctor, scientist, author, and artist, and his death inspired a funeral procession by train from New Orleans to the home of his birth in Philadelphia. ... Well-travelled prior to his mid-century arctic voyages, Kane had journeyed through South America, Africa, Europe, and the Far East. Small of stature and physically frail as a result of a rheumatic heart, the naval doctor nevertheless sought challenges of physical endurance, which led to his volunteering for the arduous U.S. Polar Expedition in 1850 as ship's surgeon and again in 1853 as leader. ... the serious search for a Northwest Passage had been a predominantly British enterprise. Not until President Zachary Taylor and Henry Grinnell, the wealthy New York shipbuilder, responded to Jane Franklin's appeal for aid in finding her missing husband and his crew did the United States officially enter into the exploration of the Arctic. ... Motivated by humanitarian interests, Congress and co-sponsored two searches. Politically, the undertaking allowed the United States to participate with Britain in exploration within the territory of North America. There was a further justification as well. U.S. Navy oceanographers were intrigued with the theory of an Open Polar Sea .... The first voyage gave no evidence of an Open Polar Sea; Kane, undaunted, sought command of another. ... The first voyage had attempted a passage through Lancaster Sound and north into Wellington Channel. The second, under Kane's leadership and including only one ship, sailed due north up the west coast of Greenland to latitude 78°N, where the Advance was icebound and never released. ... By the spring of 1855, after three summers and two winters that proved far harsher and more impoverished than the men's most pessimistic fears, Kane and his crew faced imminent starvation. Consequent unrest and disloyalty, coupled with the belief that they had met their scientific objective of sighting the Open Polar Sea, led Kane to abandon the search for Franklin; he began planning the dangerous escape by small boat and sled. Brilliant organization and meticulous rationing of their remaining supplies proved Kane a leader of great resource, and he led his men to safety and rescue at Upernavik 1300 miles to the south. Kane returned a hero and was soon preparing his second popular account of the Arctic. More ambitious than the first, Arctic Explorations: The Second Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55 was extremely successful .... Kane never found Franklin or the Open Polar Sea, but the expeditions had made important advances. The first voyage discovered Grinnell Land (Grinnell Peninsula) in Wellington Channel, and the second had mapped the narrow passage between Ellesmere Island and the west coast of Greenland to 78°N. ... In spite of his small stature and gentle demenour, Kane stands out in this period of arctic history for this idealism and daring. ... Kane's frail health adds still another dimension to his accomplishments, which he described with considerable aesthetic skill in his journals.

Greenland Whaling - William Scoresby jr The 1806 log book concerning the Arctic voyage of Captain William Scoresby. Whitby, Caedmon, 1981, 41 p, £12.50 - William Scoresby jr Journal of a voyage to the northern whale-fishery; including researches and discoveries on the eastern coast of West Greenland, made in the summer of 1822, in the ship Baffin of Liverpool, Whitby,

Greenland Whaling - William Scoresby jr The 1806 log book concerning the Arctic voyage of Captain William Scoresby. Whitby, Caedmon, 1981, 41 p, £12.50 - William Scoresby jr Journal of a voyage to the northern whale-fishery; including researches and discoveries on the eastern coast of West Greenland, made in the summer of 1822, in the ship Baffin of Liverpool, Whitby,

The 1806 Log Book Concerning the Arctic Voyage of Captain William Scoresby, kept by William Scoresby, Jr.

The 1806 Log Book Concerning the Arctic Voyage of Captain William Scoresby, kept by William Scoresby, Jr.

Arctic voyage: Swedes set out

Arctic voyage: Swedes set out

Discovery of the Northeast Passage: the voyage of the VEGA, 1878?1879

On the evening of September 2, 1879, a small, black vessel, flying the Swedish flag, anchored in the harbor of Yokohama, Japan. Two men were taken ashore by the small barkass of the vessel, they went straight to the telegraph station, anxious to send a telegram to Europe. clerk told them that, because of floods in Siberia, the telegram would have to be sent via India, and the two men did not have enough cash to pay the high cost of the message. A European standing in the telegraph office then introduced himself as the Russian consul in Yokohama, and the two men in turn introduced themselves: Adolf Erik Nordenskiold was the leader of the Swedish expedition aboard the vessel, Vega, Louis Palander, a Swedish naval officer, was the vessel's skipper. Russian diplomat, delighted to meet these two distinguished travellers, offered to advance the cost of the wire, and the message was sent to Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway, in Stockholm: The Swedish expedition sends greetings to their high patron. Program fulfilled. Northeast Passage executed. An ocean opened to navigation without loss of a single man, without illness, and without damage to the vessel. One of the last great sea voyages of all time thus came to a successful conclusion. A small, steam-driven vessel, manned by thirty men, accomplished a feat that Europeans have attempted many times during the previous three centuries, a sea voyage from Europe past the shores of Siberia to Bering Strait and the Pacific. Few people outside Sweden paid much attention to the departure of for its epochal voyage, in July, 1878. Its return from Japan, sailing around much of the Old World through the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic was reported by the world's press in detail. Vega's arrival in Stockholm, on April 24, 1880, is still celebrated by a formal lecture and dinner, and by the day called Vega Day in the Swedish calendar. practical results of the voyage at the time were few, occasional sailings from Europe to the Arctic harbors and river mouths of Siberia. But its long-range implications are very much evident to-day, when the Northern Seaway of the Soviet Union, from Europe via Siberia to the Pacific, isa going c ncern. Reading the report on the voyage one is struck by the lack of high adventure, by the comfort the men aboard enjoyed during a long Siberian winter when the ship was frozen in, by the perfectly routine occupations of scientists, officers, and crew pursued during extreme climatic conditions. expedition remains one of the most successful Arctic voyages of all time, and one of the first voyages when scientific concerns had a higher priority than the excitement of being first. credit for this must go to the organizer, Adolf Nordenskiold, who summed it up in this way, some years after his return: am not a hero. I was not interested in reaching the North Pole. I was merely concerned with finding the way to the Orient, getting my men and myself over there and back home. I am only a practical geographer. Adolf Nordenskiold, the man who organized and commanded the remarkable expedition to the Northeast Pa sage, was a native of Finland. When he was born, in 1832, Finland was part of the Russian Empire, though it retained many of the traditions of Swedish rule that ended in 1809. Nordenskiolds, like the majority of the intellectual, commercial and political leaders of Finland came originally from Sweden, and though they had lived in Finland for well over a century, they had retained ties with the country of their forebears. family was distinguished by members who made their name in the arts and sciences: Adolf Nordenskiold's father

The Arctic Adventures of the <i>Thetis</i>

The Thetis , one of most famous Arctic ships was built as a whaler in Scotland in 1881, and served with distinction in the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard on many an Arctic voyage, before ending her days as a Canadian sealer in 1950. Her sixty-nine years of travels took her from the polar wastes of Greenland to the lush tropics of Hawaii, and from the barren tundra of Siberia back to the frigid waters of Newfoundland. ... The launching of the Thetis coincided with a flurry of international interest in the Arctic. On 3 March 1881, the United States contributed to it by mounting an expedition to Lady Franklin Bay on the northeastern coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its ostensible purpose was to participate in the International Polar Year, but its leader ... harboured secret longings to be the one to push the farthest north .... Both of these goals were realized, but mishaps plagued this American expedition. The worst of them, since it doomed the members to deprivation and eventual starvation, was the sinking of the relief ship, the steam whaler Proteus on 23 July 1883, and the sailing away of her escort, the U.S.S. Yantic , without caching any provisions. ...

Journal of a whaling voyage from Dundee to Davis Strait, 1894

This account of an Arctic whaling voyage made in 1894 was discovered among the papers of the late W. S. Bruce, in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. Bruce and the author, a sailor named Redgrave, had sailed together in the Balaena during the cruise of the Dundee whalers to the Antarctic in 1892–93. Redgrave probably wrote the account at Brace's request.

Explorations on the East Coast of Hudson Bay

When we consider the primitive methods of map making and navigation available to Henry Hudson, and the difficulties of an arctic voyage in unknown waters his map2 of the east coast of Hudson Bay is remarkably clear. Hudson's journal unaccountably ends when he reached lat. 6i? 20' in 1610, over ten months before his death. Although an account of the voyage was written by one of the mutineers, Abacuk Prickett, the geographical details in this are so vague as to make interpretation little better than guesswork. On the southward voyage Hudson closely followed much of the east coast of the bay, perhaps often keeping within the islands that line the shore. homeward voyage may have been made farther out to sea, at least until Hudson was east adrift. In 1631, Luke Foxe, on his northward voyage from Vltimum Vale (Cape Henrietta Maria) when near lat. 570 40', says: Towards night, I layed to the West in maine course, for feare I might hazard my selfe in the night amongst those Hands which Mr. Hudson (for good reason) calls by the name of Lancaster's Iles.,, 3 There is no other record of Hudson having named islands in this region, though four islands are shown on his chart. A little farther north, near lat. 580 5', Foxe himself saw an island of which he says: Wee came by a small Hand at clocke one, the highest I haue seene since I came from Brooke Cobham 4; the deepe 70 fathome. I named the Ile Sleepe.5 From this presumably originated the name which has at times been used to designate all the islands north of, and perhaps sometimes including, the Belcher Islands up to lat. 6o?, the terms North, South, West, and being variously used to distinguish the different groups. Now the name is recognized for only the one group. In the future it may be convenient to call this group Lancaster Islands. name Sleeper Islands, or The Sleepers, could then be used for the islands between and including the Lancaster and Ottawa islands. In this paper I have felt the need for such an inclusive name.

North of North Cape: The Arctic Voyages of the "Norkap II"

North of North Cape: The Arctic Voyages of the "Norkap II"

The Story of Arctic Voyages and Exploration. John Mathieson

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsThe Story of Arctic Voyages and Exploration. John Mathieson W. H. HobbsW. H. Hobbs Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 44, Number 1Jan. - Feb., 1936 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/624401 PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The story of Arctic Voyages and exploration

The story of Arctic Voyages and exploration

Capt. Otto Sverdrup

OTTO SVERDRUP'S name, like those of his fellow-countrymen, Nansen and Amundsen, ranks high in the story of polar exploration. Tn a long course of arctic voyages, he had become the most experienced ice-master of his time, and his knowledge was sought by many expeditions.

Seven Log-Books concerning the Arctic Voyages of Captain William Scoresby, Senior, of Whitby, England

Seven Log-Books concerning the Arctic Voyages of Captain William Scoresby, Senior, of Whitby, England

IV.—The Temperatures, Specific Gravities, and Salinities of the Weddell Sea and of the North and South Atlantic Ocean

After my return from my first voyage, namely, the Scottish Antarctic Expedition of 1892–93, for which I was chosen as naturalist, I had the advantage of coming closely in touch with Mr J. Y. Buchanan, who then trained me in his Edinburgh laboratory in the use of his hydrometer. During the past twenty years I have been in constant touch with him regarding problems relating to the physics of the ocean. As a consequence, before my departure for a voyage to, and wintering in, Franz Josef Land during 1896–97, I was well trained in the use of his hydrometer, and obtained during that expedition observations of considerable interest. I also carried out all the hydrometer work on board the Prince of Monaco's yacht Princess Alice during his Arctic voyage of 1898, under the direction of Mr J. Y. Buchanan, who was also on board during that cruise, and also during the Prince of Monaco's second Arctic cruise during 1899, when I was solely responsible for that work. Consequently, I was thoroughly familiar with hydrometer work when I set sail in the Scotia.

Some notes on the Baltic and Arctic Voyages of the “Ermack” in 1899

(1901). Some notes on the Baltic and Arctic Voyages of the “Ermack” in 1899. Scottish Geographical Magazine: Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 175-185.

On Frozen Fish

MR. F. H. P. COSTE (ante, p. 516) supplies the reference to the statement I had in memory as to “one of the Arctic voyages” (ante, p. 440), and my necessarily imperfect quotation does not materially differ from the actual statement.

On the Properties of Water and Ice 1

DR. PETTERSON'S memoir is a most valuable contribution to our knowledge of the natural history of the waters of the globe. Every reader of Arctic voyages must be familiar with the variety of names attached to the different kinds of ice met with in these regions, such as “pack-ice,” “bay-ice,” “brash-ice,” and the like. To one who has never seen them, the names convey very little information either of their appearance or of their mode of formation. Dr. Petterson's paper explains in a satisfactory and very remarkable manner the nature of the difference between the different kinds of ice.

The Dutch Arctic Voyages (1878, 1879, 1880, 1881) and the Probable Position of Mr. Leigh Smith

The Dutch Arctic Voyages (1878, 1879, 1880, 1881) and the Probable Position of Mr. Leigh Smith

Arctic Success and Disaster

THIS has been a stirring Arctic week. First we have the publication of one of the most remarkable narratives of one of the most successful Arctic voyages ever made, to which we refer in detail on another page. On Tuesday an influential deputation waited on the Earl of Northbrook, to urge upon Government the necessity of sending out an expedition to succour Mr. Leigh Smith in the Eira. And, also, on the same day, the wires which about two years ago transmitted the welcome news of the safety of Nordenskjöld's expedition in the Vega, and the successful navigation of the North-east Passage, bore to Europe the sad news of disaster to the Jeannette. Sad though the news be, it is not nearly so bad as was to be feared, for we doubt if many besides Mr. Gordon Bennett had any faith in the survival of the expedition, and the search parties that were to be sent out next spring were generally looked on as forlorn hopes. From the news which has been transmitted from Yakutsk to St. Petersburg, and thence to London and Paris, it is not quite easy to make out the details. The following extract is from the telegram of the St. Petersburg New York Herald correspondent to the Paris office of that paper; he quotes from a telegram to General Ignatieff, dated Irkutsk, December 19:—

XXI. Tables of temperatures of the sea at different depths beneath the surface, reduced and collated from the various observations made between the years 1749 and 1868, discussed. With map and sections

This communication, the result of an inquiry having originally reference to the bearing of the subject on certain geological questions, was commenced more than twenty years ago, but abandoned for a time, partly owing to the pressure of other engagements, and partly waiting more accurate information of the range of life at depths. The great impulse given to these questions by the more recent expeditions of the 'Lightning’ and 'Porcupine,’ culminating in that of the ‘Challenger,’ has not only again directed attention to the subject of deep-sea temperatures, but has led to such improved methods of observation, that it may now seem late to bring forward the less accurate experiments of former observers. It might therefore seem almost a work of supererogation, now that the subject in connexion with these later voyages has been so ably and zealously taken up by my friend Dr. Carpenter, to introduce these more variable older elements into the discussion. Still the older observations, though restricted to comparatively limited depths, have a wide range; and in the case of the Arctic voyages they were obtained under conditions of so much difficulty and danger, that it may be long before similar experiments are repeated; while many of the original opinions evidently deserve great consideration. It was, moreover, always my intention to complete the task I had begun when time and opportunity offered; and as Dr. Carpenter’s work commences with the observations made by him on board the ‘Lightning’ in 1868, it may not be out of place to have a record of all that was done in temperature-soundings up to that time, even as supplementary to the more exact work of later voyages. I may also notice that, notwithstanding the superiority of the more recent observations and the inaccuracy of many of the older ones, there are a certain number of the latter which were made with great care, and which may vie with recent experiments in exactness; while with respect to the others, the errors are such as may in most cases be computed and allowed for; or merely taking the old observations as they are, the comparative temperatures recorded at corresponding depths with the same or similar instruments have their own special value. The older observations are also so scattered through various narratives of voyages and in scientific periodicals, that no one can, without much difficulty of search, form an idea of their number and interest, or of the progress which the subject had made at the hands of the eminent men who had from time to time engaged in the inquiry on the Continent. I purpose, therefore, to show the state of the question at the time of the ‘Lightning’ expedition. For all that has been done since, I would refer to the exhaustive papers of Dr. Carpenter).