page_title: Thomas Abernethy (explorer)
section_title: Ross Sea, 1839–1841
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Abernethy (explorer) / Antarctica with James Ross, 1839–1843 / Ross Sea, 1839–1841
caption_attribution_description: English: Image in Ross's book of what is now the Ross Ice Shelf
context_page_description: Thomas Abernethy was a Scottish seafarer, gunner in the Royal Navy, and polar explorer. Because he was neither an officer nor a gentleman, he was little mentioned in the books written by the leaders of the expeditions he went on, but was praised in what was written. In 1857, he was awarded the Arctic Medal for his service as an able seaman on the 1824–25 voyage of HMS Hecla, the first of his five expeditions for which participants were eligible for the award. He was in parties that, for their time, reached the furthest north, the furthest south, and the nearest to the South Magnetic Pole. In 1831, along with James Clark Ross's team of six, Abernethy was in the first party ever to reach the North Magnetic Pole.
context_section_description: With James Ross in command of the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, three-mast barques, Abernethy set off on a scientific expedition to Antarctica in 1839, supported by the Royal Society. Joseph Hooker, later Sir Joseph but then a young naturalist, took part but because it was a naval expedition he had to be appointed as assistant surgeon. Throughout the expedition a major aim was to take magnetic readings at various ports of call starting with Madeira, Tenerife, Cape Verde, Trinidad, St Helena, Cape Town, and the Crozet and Kerguelen islands. In a storm the boatswain was swept off Erebus so two boats were launched to rescue him, unsuccessfully. Abernethy was in command of one boat but, just as it got back to Erebus, the other boat  was hit by a wave and all four crew were washed overboard. Abernethy cast off again and was able to rescue them.
  When they reached Hobart they learned that the Wilkes expedition and D'Urville expedition had  already sighted Antarctica so Ross decided to explore a different unknown region. McCormick (from Parry's north polar days) who was ships' surgeon and Abernethy became close associates – and in New Zealand the pair collected natural history specimens.  Ross chose 170°E as the longitude to follow south and this turned out to be the future usual route for Antarctic voyages. The ships headed into what became known as the Ross Sea reaching pack ice at 66°55'S in January 1840 – they then forced their way into the pack ice, the first time this had been attempted. Amundsen wrote "Few people of the present day are capable of rightly appreciating this heroic deed, this brilliant proof of human courage and energy ... These men were heroes ...", and Scott wrote "... all must concede that it deserves to rank among the most brilliant and famous [Antarctic expeditions] that have been made. ... few things could have looked more hopeless than an attack upon the great ice-bound region"  They then emerged into open sea at 69°15'S and, sailing further south hoping to reach the South Magnetic Pole, they spotted land and mountains which they named Victoria Land and the Admiralty Range, and cleared Cape Adare. With Abernethy as coxswain their first boat reached a coastal island, Possession Island, but they did not reach the Antarctic mainland. Onward, they crossed the latitude of Weddel's record of furthest south and landed on Franklin Island.
  Soon, in the distance, they spotted what McCormick described as "a stupendous volcanic mountain in a high state of activity" and, getting closer, "a dense column of black smoke, intermingled with flashes of red flame". Hooker wrote of "a sight so surpassing everything that can be imagined". Ross named it Mount Erebus, after his ship and the nearby mountain became Mount Terror.
  Sailing east they reached a 200-foot ice cliff which they called the Great Southern Barrier, now the Ross Ice Shelf, and followed it so reaching 78°4'S. By depth sounding adjacent to the ice they determined the ice was floating and was therefore 1000 feet thick. At a low point in the ice cliffs they could see from the masthead "an enormous plain of frosted silver" and they were certain there was no open sea further south. After following the barrier for over 250 miles and with the Antarctic winter approaching they returned to the west but, near Mount Erebus, could not get ashore. They were 160 miles from the south magnetic pole – 700 miles nearer than anyone had been before. After passing Cape Adare, they again succeeded in breaking through the pack ice and reached Tasmania on 6 April 1841 to be greeted by John Franklin and crowds of well-wishers. As it happens Erebus and Terror were the last vessels to navigate the Ross Sea using only sail.
caption: Great Southern Barrier
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