Stromness, South Georgia

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Place

Stromness, South Georgia

Ruins of the whaling station at Leith

Stromness is an abandoned whaling station on the northern coast of South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic. It was the destination of Sir Ernest Shackleton's rescue journey in 1916. It is the central of three harbours in the west side of Stromness Bay, South Georgia.

The name "Fridtjof Nansen" or Nansen appeared for this harbour on some early charts, but since about 1920, the name Stromness has been consistently used. Its name, Stromness, derives from the similarly named town in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

## History

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In 1907, a "floating factory" was erected in Stromness Harbour; a land station was built in 1912. From 1912 until 1931, Stromness operated as a whaling station, the first manager of which was Thoralf Sørlle,[1] who was manager every season (except 1917/18 and 1918/19) through to its closure as a whaling station in 1931. It was then converted into a ship repair yard with a machine shop and a foundry. It remained operational until 1961, when the site was abandoned.

In 1916, Ernest Shackleton and a small crew landed on the unpopulated southern coast of South Georgia at King Haakon Bay after an arduous sea voyage from Elephant Island in the 22-foot (6.7 m) lifeboat, James Caird. Shackleton, along with Tom Crean and Frank Worsley, then trekked across South Georgia's mountainous and glaciated interior in an effort to reach help on the populated northern shore of the island.[2]

After 36 hours of crossing the interior, they arrived at Stromness and asked to see the manager and were taken to his dwelling. At each of the whaling stations on the island the managers dwelling is called the "Villa" because it represents relative luxury compared to its surroundings. All men were later rescued from Elephant Island.[3]

In the decades following its closure, Stromness has been subject to damage from the elements and many of its buildings have been reduced to ruins. However, recent proposals have been made to restore the "Villa" and clean up debris from the rest of the site in order to make it safe for visitors. Outside of Stromness is a small whalers' cemetery with 14 grave markers.[4]

## See also

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* Stromness Bay
* Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition – 1914–17 British Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton

## References

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1. ^ https://www.falklandsbiographies.org/biographies/sorlle_thoralf
2. ^ "Shetland Museum and Archives::Stromness, South Georgia". photos.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2024. "This was where Sir Ernest Shackleton eventually found help after his ship 'Endurance' was crushed in the ice in October 1915. He led his party some 180 miles to the safety of Elephant Island, and from there made an 800 mile long voyage in a lifeboat with five companions to South Georgia. The men then had to cross from one side of the island to the other, across the mountain range before finally walking into Stromness on May 20th 1916."
3. ^ "Shackleton's fierce fight with elements". The Saskatoon Phoenix. 2 June 1916. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
4. ^ "Stromness Cemetery – South Georgia's Cemeteries". South Georgia Museum. Retrieved 10 November 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Events|

* Drift of the Aurora
* Voyage of the James Caird
* Rescue by the Yelcho
* Luis Pardo

Locations|

* Caird Coast
* Cave Cove
* Elephant Island
* Fortuna Glacier
* King Haakon Bay
* McDonald Ice Rumples
* Mount Worsley
* Peggotty Bluff
* Stromness
* Stromness Bay

Personnel|

| Aurora|

* Atkin
* d'Anglade
* Donnelly
* Downing
* Glidden
* Grady
* Hooke
* Kavanagh
* Larkman
* Maugher
* Mugridge
* Ninnis
* Paton
* Shaw
* Stenhouse
* Thompson
* Warren
* Wise

Shore party: Cope
* Gaze
* Hayward
* Jack
* Joyce
* Mackintosh
* Richards
* Spencer-Smith
* Stevens
* Wild

|

Endurance|

* Bakewell
* Blackborow
* Cheetham
* Clark
* Crean
* Green
* Greenstreet
* Holness
* How
* Hudson
* Hurley
* Hussey
* James
* Kerr
* Macklin
* Marston
* McCarthy
* McIlroy
* McLeod
* McNish
* Mrs Chippy
* Orde-Lees
* Rickinson
* Shackleton
* Stephenson
* Vincent
* Wild
* Wordie
* Worsley

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Capital: King Edward Point

General|

* Coat of arms
* Commissioner
* Flag
* Foreign relations
* History
* Languages
* List of South Georgians
* Operation "Paraquet"
* Public holidays
* Toothfish Day
* South Georgia Museum
* .gs
* Sovereignty
* Invasion of South Georgia

Settlements / Whaling stations|

* Bird Island
* Grytviken
* Godthul
* Husvik
* King Edward Point
* Leith Harbour
* Ocean Harbour
* Prince Olav Harbour
* Stromness
* Corbeta Uruguay base

South Georgia islands|

* Annenkov Island
* Bird Island
* Black Rock
* Black Rocks
* Clerke Rocks
* Cooper Island
* Grass Island
* Grassholm
* Kupriyanov Islands
* Pickersgill Islands
* Prion Island
* Saddle Island
* Shag Rocks
* South Georgia
* Welcome Islands
* Willis Islands

South Sandwich Islands|

* Bristol
* Montagu
* Saunders

| Candlemas Islands|

* Candlemas
* Vindication

|

Traversay Islands|

* Leskov
* Visokoi
* Zavodovski

|

Southern Thule|

* Bellingshausen
* Cook
* Thule

|

Seamounts|

* Protector Shoal
* Kemp Caldera

Landmarks|

* Admiralty Peak
* Allardyce Range
* Barff Peninsula
* Fortuna Glacier
* Gold Harbour
* Larsen Harbour
* Mount Baume
* Mount Belinda
* Mount Cunningham
* Mount Paget
* Mount Roots
* Orca Peak
* Peggotty Bluff
* Salisbury Plain
* Salvesen Range
* Southern Thule
* Thatcher Peninsula
* Bay of Isles
* Stromness Bay
* Cumberland Bay
* Possession Bay
* Busen Point

This article incorporates public domain material from "Stromness, South Georgia". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.

54°09′36″S 36°42′42″W﻿ / ﻿54.16°S 36.7116°W﻿ / -54.16; -36.7116
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