British Arctic Expedition

Short description: British research expedition to the Arctic undertaken between 1875 and 1876

HMS Alert in pack ice

The British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876, led by Sir George Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound on the west coast of Greenland.

Although the expedition failed to reach the North Pole, the coasts of Greenland and Ellesmere Island were extensively explored and large amounts of scientific data were collected.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Aftermath
* 3 Sledge flags
* 4 See also
* 5 Citations
* 6 Bibliography

## History

Two ships, HMS Alert and HMS Discovery - captained by Henry Frederick Stephenson - sailed from Portsmouth on 29 May 1875.

On this expedition, Nares became the first explorer to take his ships all the way north through the channel between Greenland and Ellesmere Island - now named Nares Strait in his honour - to the Lincoln Sea. Up to this time, it had been a popular theory that this route would lead to the supposed Open Polar Sea, an ice-free region surrounding the pole, but Nares found only a wasteland of ice.

A sledging party under Commander Albert Hastings Markham set a new record, Farthest North of 83° 20′ 26″ N. Meanwhile, senior lieutenant Lewis Beaumont led a dog sled party from Discovery Harbour heading eastward in April 1876 to explore the northwestern shores of Greenland, reaching Sherard Osborn Fjord before turning back on 22 May.[1]

Overall the expedition was a near-disaster. The men suffered badly from scurvy and were hampered by inappropriate clothing and equipment. Realising that his men could not survive another winter in the ice, Nares hastily retreated southward with both his ships in the summer of 1876. However, naval personnel and topographers, among them Thomas Mitchell, did succeed in documenting, by photograph, Inuit and the landscapes of what would become Canada's Northwest Territories and, later, Nunavut.

The expedition included future Admiral of the Fleet William May. Petty Officer Adam Ayles, after whom both the Ayles Ice Shelf and Mount Ayles are named. Other features named after the expedition include the Markham Ice Shelf, Nares Strait, Repulse Harbour and Alert, the most northerly permanently inhabited place on Earth. Pelham Aldrich was a lieutenant on the expedition and commanded the Western Sledge Party to Ellesmere Island, where Cape Aldrich was named in his honour.

## Aftermath

After the expedition returned to Britain, both Nares and the Admiralty faced criticism for the expedition's return after less than one year in the Arctic and for the outbreak of scurvy.[2] Much of the criticism focused on the fact that the expedition's officers had continued to issue a rum ration on sledging journeys. An Admiralty report concluded that this decision had been unwise and had contributed to the scurvy outbreak.[3]

## Sledge flags

* Albert Hastings Markham[4]

* Alfred Arthur Chase Parr[5]

* Reginald Baldwin Fulford[6]

## See also

* Cartographic expeditions to Greenland
* List of Arctic expeditions

## Citations

1. ↑ Lewis Beaumont collection
2. ↑ Armston-Sheret, Edward (2019-09-01). ""A Good Advertisement for Teetotalers": Polar Explorers and Debates over the Health Effects of Alcohol, 1875–1904". The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 33 (2): 257–285. doi:10.1086/705337. ISSN 1930-8418.
3. ↑ Armston-Sheret, Edward (2019-09-01). ""A Good Advertisement for Teetotalers": Polar Explorers and Debates over the Health Effects of Alcohol, 1875–1904". The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs 33 (2): 257–285. doi:10.1086/705337. ISSN 1930-8418.
4. ↑ Barbara Tomlinson. "Chivalry at the Poles: British Sledge Flags" (PDF file). Flag Institute.
5. ↑ "Sledge flag used on Nares' Arctic expedition 1875. It belonged to Lieutenant Alfred Arthur Chase Parr of HMS 'Alert' and was flown by HM sledge 'Victoria'.". Royal Museums Greenwich. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-1126.
6. ↑ "Arctic Sledge Flag.- Fulford (Reginald Baldwin) Sledge flag... HMS Discovery, 1875". Forum Auctions. https://www.forumauctions.co.uk/50/Arctic-Sledge-Flag.-Fulford-Reginald-Baldwin-Sledge-flag...-HMS-Discovery-1875/13163-6_1/1?view=lot_detail&auction_no=1002.

## Bibliography

* George Nares: Narrative of a voyage to the Polar Sea during 1875–76 in H.M. ships 'Alert' and 'Discovery, two volumes, London 1878; online book Volume 1 & Volume 2
* John Edwards Caswell. The RGS and the British Arctic Expedition, 1875–76. The Geographical Journal 143(2) (Jul., 1977), pp. 200–210.

* v
* t
* e

Polar exploration

Arctic

* Ocean
* History
* Expeditions
* Research stations

Farthest North
North Pole|

* Clark Carter
* Barentsz
* Hudson
* Marmaduke
* Carolus
* Parry
* North Magnetic Pole
* J. Ross
* J. C. Ross
* Abernethy
* Kane
* Hayes
* Polaris expedition
* Polaris
* C. F. Hall
* Bessels
* British Arctic Expedition
* HMS Alert
* Nares
* HMS Discovery
* Stephenson
* Markham
* Lady Franklin Bay Expedition
* Greely
* Lockwood
* Brainard
* Nansen's Fram expedition
* Fram
* Nansen
* Johansen
* Sverdrup
* Jason
* Amedeo
* Andrée's Balloon Expedition
* S. A. Andrée
* F. Cook
* Peary
* SS Roosevelt
* Sedov
* Byrd
* Norge
* Amundsen
* Nobile
* Wisting
* Riiser-Larsen
* Ellsworth
* Airship Italia
* Nautilus
* Wilkins
* ANT-25
* Chkalov
* Baydukov
* Belyakov
* Drifting ice stations
* NP-1
* Papanin
* Shirshov
* E. Fyodorov
* Krenkel
* NP-36
* NP-37
* Sedov
* Badygin
* Wiese
* Engineering:USS Nautilus
* Engineering:USS Skate
* Plaisted
* Herbert
* NS Arktika
* Barneo
* Arktika 2007
* Mir submersibles
* Sagalevich
* Chilingarov

Iceland
Greenland|

* Pytheas
* Brendan
* Papar
* Vikings
* Naddodd
* Garðar
* Ingólfr
* Norse colonization of the Americas
* Gunnbjörn
* Snæbjörn galti
* Erik the Red
* Christian IV's expeditions
* J. Hall
* Cunningham
* Lindenov
* C. Richardson
* Danish colonization
* Egede
* Scoresby
* Jason
* Nansen
* Sverdrup
* Peary
* Rasmussen

Northwest Passage
Northern Canada|

* Cabot
* G. Corte-Real
* M. Corte-Real
* Frobisher
* Gilbert
* Davis
* Hudson
* Discovery
* Bylot
* Baffin
* Munk
* I. Fyodorov
* Gvozdev
* HMS Resolution
* J. Cook
* HMS Discovery
* Clerke
* Mackenzie
* Kotzebue
* J. Ross
* HMS Griper
* Parry
* HMS Hecla
* Lyon
* HMS Fury
* Hoppner
* Crozier
* J. C. Ross
* Coppermine Expedition
* Franklin
* Back
* Dease
* Simpson
* HMS Blossom
* Beechey
* Franklin's lost expedition
* HMS Erebus
* HMS Terror
* Collinson
* Rae–Richardson Expedition
* Rae
* J. Richardson
* Austin
* McClure Expedition
* HMS Investigator
* McClure
* HMS Resolute
* Kellett
* Belcher
* Kennedy
* Bellot
* Isabel
* Inglefield
* 2nd Grinnell Expedition
* Engineering:USS Advance
* Kane
* Fox
* McClintock
* HMS Pandora
* Young
* Fram
* Sverdrup
* Gjøa
* Amundsen
* Rasmussen
* Karluk
* Stefansson
* Bartlett
* St. Roch
* H. Larsen
* Cowper

North East Passage
Russian Arctic|

* Pomors
* Koch boats
* Willoughby
* Chancellor
* Barentsz
* Mangazeya
* Hudson
* Poole
* Siberian Cossacks
* Perfilyev
* Stadukhin
* Dezhnev
* Popov
* Ivanov
* Vagin
* Permyakov
* Great Northern Expedition
* Bering
* Chirikov
* Malygin
* Ovtsyn
* Minin
* V. Pronchishchev
* M. Pronchishcheva
* Chelyuskin
* Kh. Laptev
* D. Laptev
* Chichagov
* Lyakhov
* Billings
* Sannikov
* Gedenschtrom
* Wrangel
* Matyushkin
* Anjou
* Litke
* Lavrov
* Pakhtusov
* Tsivolko
* Middendorff
* Austro-Hungarian Expedition
* Weyprecht
* Payer
* Vega Expedition
* A. E. Nordenskiöld
* Palander
* Jeannette Expedition
* Engineering:USS Jeannette
* De Long
* Melville
* Yermak
* Makarov
* Zarya
* Toll
* Kolomeitsev
* Matisen
* Kolchak
* Sedov
* Rusanov
* Kuchin
* Brusilov Expedition
* Sv. Anna
* Brusilov
* Albanov
* Konrad
* Wiese
* Nagórski
* Taymyr / Vaygach
* Vilkitsky
* Maud
* Amundsen
* AARI
* Samoylovich
* Begichev
* Urvantsev
* Sadko
* Ushakov
* Glavsevmorput
* Schmidt
* Aviaarktika
* Shevelev
* A. Sibiryakov
* Voronin
* Chelyuskin
* Krassin
* Gakkel
* Nuclear-powered icebreakers
* Lenin
* Arktika-class icebreaker

Antarctic

* Continent
* History
* Expeditions

Southern Ocean|

* Roché
* Bouvet
* Kerguelen
* HMS Resolution
* J. Cook
* HMS Adventure
* Furneaux
* Smith
* San Telmo
* Vostok
* Bellingshausen
* Mirny
* Lazarev
* Bransfield
* Palmer
* Davis
* Weddell
* Morrell
* Astrolabe
* Dumont d'Urville
* United States Exploring Expedition
* Engineering:USS Vincennes
* Wilkes
* Engineering:USS Porpoise
* Ringgold
* Ross expedition
* HMS Erebus (J. C. Ross
* Abernethy)
* HMS Terror (Crozier)
* Cooper
* Challenger expedition
* HMS Challenger
* Nares
* Murray
* Jason
* C. A. Larsen

"Heroic Age"|

* Belgian Antarctic Expedition
* Belgica
* de Gerlache
* Lecointe
* Amundsen
* Cook
* Arctowski
* Racoviță
* Dobrowolski
* Southern Cross
* Southern Cross
* Borchgrevink
* Discovery
* Discovery
* Discovery Hut
* Gauss
* Gauss
* Drygalski
* Swedish Antarctic Expedition
* Antarctic
* O. Nordenskjöld
* C. A. Larsen
* Scottish Antarctic Expedition
* Bruce
* Scotia
* Orcadas Base
* Nimrod Expedition
* Nimrod
* French Antarctic Expeditions
* Pourquoi-Pas
* Charcot
* Japanese Antarctic Expedition
* Shirase
* Amundsen's South Pole expedition
* Fram
* Amundsen
* Framheim
* Polheim
* Terra Nova
* Terra Nova
* Scott
* Wilson
* E. R. Evans
* Crean
* Lashly
* Filchner
* Australasian Antarctic Expedition
* SY Aurora
* Mawson
* Far Eastern Party
* Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
* Endurance
* Ernest Shackleton
* Wild
* James Caird
* Ross Sea party
* Mackintosh
* Shackleton–Rowett Expedition
* Quest

IPY * IGY
Modern research|

* Christensen
* Byrd
* BANZARE
* BGLE
* Rymill
* New Swabia
* Ritscher
* Operation Tabarin
* Marr
* Operation Highjump
* Captain Arturo Prat Base
* British Antarctic Survey
* Operation Windmill
* Ketchum
* Ronne Expedition
* F. Ronne
* E. Ronne
* Schlossbach
* Operation Deep Freeze
* McMurdo Station
* Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
* Hillary
* V. Fuchs
* Soviet Antarctic Expeditions
* 1st
* Somov
* Klenova
* Mirny
* 2nd
* Tryoshnikov
* 3rd
* Tolstikov
* Antarctic Treaty System
* Transglobe Expedition
* Fiennes
* Burton
* Lake Vostok
* Kapitsa

Farthest South
South Pole|

* HMS Resolution
* J. Cook
* HMS Adventure
* Furneaux
* Weddell
* HMS Erebus
* J. C. Ross
* HMS Terror
* Crozier
* Southern Cross
* Borchgrevink
* Discovery
* Barne
* Nimrod
* Shackleton
* Wild
* Marshall
* Adams
* South Magnetic Pole
* Mawson
* David
* Mackay
* Amundsen's South Pole expedition
* Fram
* Amundsen
* Bjaaland
* Helmer
* Hassel
* Wisting
* Polheim
* Terra Nova
* Scott
* E. Evans
* Oates
* Wilson
* Bowers
* Byrd
* Balchen
* McKinley
* Dufek
* Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station
* Hillary
* V. Fuchs
* Pole of Cold
* Vostok Station
* Pole of inaccessibility
* Pole of Inaccessibility Station
* Tolstikov
* Crary
* A. Fuchs
* Messner

Template:Royal Navy Arctic exploration

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