USS Rodgers ( 1879 ) USS " Rodgers " was a steamship in the United States Navy acquired to search for " Jeannette " in 1881 . On 3 March 1881 , Congress , besieged by constituents as well as government agencies , appropriated $ 175 , 000 " to enable the Secretary of the Navy to charter , or purchase , equip , and supply a vessel for the prosecution of a search for the steamer ' Jeanette ' and such other vessels as might be found to need assistance during said cruise ; provided that the vessel be wholly manned by volunteers from the Navy . " The " other vessels " of most immediate concern were two whalers , " Vigilant " and " Mount Wollaston " missing in the Arctic Ocean since 1879 . The vessel purchased was the whaler " Mary and Helen " , specifically built for Arctic navigation by Goss , Sawyer , and Packard of Bath , Maine . Launched on 17 July 1879 , she was the first steam whaler built as such for American registry and during her first , and only , season not only justified the faith of her owner , Capt . William Lewis of New Bedford , Massachusetts , but revolutionized the American whaling industry . Acquired by the Navy at San Francisco , the whaler " Mary and Helen " was renamed " Rodgers " and commissioned on 30 May 1881 , Lieutenant Robert M . Berry in command . She sailed north on 16 June . She arrived at Petropavlovsk - Kamchatsky , Russia , 33 days later , where the captain of the Russian corvette " Streloch " offered " any needed assistance " on behalf of his government . Continuing on , " Rodgers " took on two Chukchi s as hunters and dog drivers at St . Lawrence Bay and on 20 August entered the Arctic Ocean . At Herald Island , Lt . Berry found that the crew of " Corwin " on her second search for " Jeanette " , had already covered the island , unsuccessfully . Wrangell Land was next . As they looked for clues of the missing ship , the crew of " Rodgers " surveyed the area and proved that Wrangel Isand was an island and not the southern edge of a polar land mass . " Rodgers " departed the island 13 September and moved north and west until stopped by pack ice on the 18th . Returning to Wrangell , she continued the search on another course until the 27th . Again blocked by ice , she turned south for winter quarters . The first week in October she left a party , under Master Charles F . Putnam , on Tiapka Island off Cape Serdze with provisions , supplies , and fuel for a year ; and a boat , dogs , and sleds to explore the coast westward in search of the crews of " Jeanette " and the missing whalers . On 8 October , " Rodgers " steamed for St . Lawrence Bay , where bad weather prevented the transfer of a large part of her provisions and supplies to the shore . On 30 November fire broke out in the still tightly - packed hold . Through the day , stores were removed to ease the firefighting efforts , but at midnight , the fires still raged and the former whaler was abandoned . " Rodgers " then drifted up the bay , her rigging and sails ablaze . Early the next day her magazine exploded . A temporary shore camp sheltered the crew until the next day when they moved to the village of Noomamoo , away . Later divided into four parties , most of the crew wintered there and in three nearby villages . As the crew adjusted to life ashore , Lieutenant Berry set out to inform Putnam ' s camp of the fire . Meanwhile , Master Putnam had learned of the disaster and had started for the Bay with supplies for the relief of survivors . Putnam reached St . Lawrence Bay , but on returning to his camp lost his way in a blizzard and drifted out to sea on an ice floe . An unsuccessful , month - long search for him was conducted along the coast . On 8 February 1882 a party under Lieutenant Berry , who had not yet learned of Putnam ' s loss , set out on another search along the coast for " Jeanette " crew . On 24 March they arrived at the Russian post at Nishne ( presumably Nizhnekolymsk ) and learned of the landing of part of " Jeanette " crew at the mouth of the Lena River the previous September . Berry and his party returned home from Nishne . The remaining members of the crew departed St . Lawrence Bay in May on board the New Bedford whaler " North Star " and were subsequently transferred to the revenue cutter " Corwin " . They returned to San Francisco by way of Sitka , Alaska . During the stop at Sitka , the two surgeons of the " Rodgers " were kept busy dealing with local epidemics of measles and scarlet fever . On 12 March 1883 , Congress appropriated $ 3 , 000 to " suitably reward the natives at and about St . Lawrence Bay who housed , fed , and extended other kindness to the officers and men of USS " Rodgers " . "