South Pole - Ships

List of ships available during **South Pole** event in 2019 (Jan 15th - Feb 26th).

## Flora

Flora was a 44-gun frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy, launched in 1818. She served in the Black Sea Fleet.

## Minerva

Minerva was a 44-gun frigate of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia, launched in 1811. She was put out of service in 1825.

## Mirny

Mirny was a 20-gun sloop-of-war of the Imperial Russian Navy, launched in 1819 under the name Ladoga. Together with the ship Vostok, she took part on the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1819-1821, during which Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discovered the continent of Antarctica.

## Williams

Williams was a British merchant ship owned by the captain William Smith. In 1819 she discovered islands that came to be known as the South Shetland Islands.

## Beaufoy

Beaufoy was a ship built by the British sailor James Weddell in 1819. Weddell used her for his sealing voyages to the Antarctic. In 1823 he reached the southernmost point reached by any ship up to that time near the South Orkney Islands.

## Jane

Jane was a former American ship, captured by the Royal Navy in 1812 and refitted for sealing. The ship was used by the British sailor James Weddell for his sealing voyages to the Antarctic. In 1823 he reached the southernmost point reached by any ship up to that time near the South Orkney Islands.

## Cecilia

Cecilia was an American sealing ship captained by the sealer John Davis. He may have been the first person to set foot on Antarctica when he landed in Hughes Bay, looking for seals on 7 February 1821.

## Hero

Hero was a small sloop. In 1820 she was captained by Nathaniel Palmer who discovered the Deception Island and first sighted the mountains of the Antarctic coastline.

## USS Vincennes

USS Vincennes was a sloop of war in the United States Navy, launched in 1826. In 1826 - 1830 Vincennes circumnavigated the Earth. She sailed around the globe again in 1833 - 1836. She took part in the expedition of Charles Wilkes surveying the South Sea and the Antarctic in 1838. During the Civil War, Vincennes served in the Gulf Blockading Squadron. She was sold in 1867.

## Tula

Tula was a sealing brig used on the Southern Ocean Expedition in 1830-1833. The mission was to find new sealing grounds near the Antarctic circle. The captain of the ship, an English sailor, John Biscoe, discovered and named several parts of the continent and some islands. He was also the third man to circumnavigate Antarctica.

## Sabrina

Sabrina was the second ship on the expedition of John Balleny to the Southern Ocean in 1838. Balleny sailed into the Southern Ocean along a corridor which was later used by the Antarctic explorers such as Scott and Amundsen. He also discovered the Balleny Islands.

## USS Relief

USS Relief was a supply ship in the United States Navy, launched in 1836. In 1838 Relief joined the United States South Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition. After the expedition, Relief was stationed on the west coast of Southern America and later in the Gulf of Mexico. During the Civil War, she served as a supply ship for the blockading squadron. She was sold in 1883.

## Eliza Scott

Eliza Scott was a whaling schooner used by the English captain, John Balleny on his expedition to the Antarctic in 1838-1839. Balleny sailed into the Southern Ocean along a corridor which was later used by the Antarctic explorers such as Scott and Amundsen. He also discovered the Balleny Islands.

## HMS Challenger

HMS Challenger was a steam corvette of the Royal Navy, launched in 1858. She took part in operations against Mexico, including the occupation of Veracruz in 1862. She was the flagship of the Australia Station between 1866 and 1870. In 1873-1876 she completed the Challenger Expedition, the first global marine research expedition. Towards the end of her career, she served as a Coast Guard and a training ship. She was broken up in 1921.

## Nimrod

Nimrod was whaling and sealing schooner built in 1867 in Dundee, Scotland. She was used by Ernest Shackleton in his 1908 Antarctic Expedition for the South Pole. Nimrod was sold after the expedition. On 31 January 1919 Nimrod ran aground on the Barber Sands off the Norfolk and sunk.

## SY Morning

Morning was a Norwegian whaling ship, built in 1871. She was purchased in 1901 to be used as a relief vessel to Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition (1901-1904). She made two voyages to the Antarctic to resupply the expedition.

## Scotia

Scotia was a barque built in 1872 as the Norwegian whaler Hekla. She was purchased in 1902 by William Spiers Bruce for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. After the expedition, she served as a sealer, patrol vessel, and a collier. She was destroyed by fire in January 1916.

## Bear of Oakland

Bear was a steam sealer built in Scotland in 1874. Bear was purchased by the US government in 1884. She took part in the search for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition and found the seven survivors. Afterwards, she served in the US Revenue Marine and US Coast Guard. In 1939-1941 Bear participated on the United States Antarctic Service Expedition. She was purchased by a private owner from Nova Scotia in 1948, renamed Arctic Bear and used for sealing. In 1963 Bear foundered while being towed to Philadelphia where she should have served as a floating restaurant.

## SY Aurora

SY Aurora was a steam yacht built in 1876 for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company. In 1910 she was purchased for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson. In 1914, Aurora helped set up supply depots for The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of Ernest Shackleton. And in 1917 Aurora rescued the Ross Sea Party near Cape Evans. She disappeared while en route to Iquique, Chile in 1917.

## USS Flying Fish

The schooner USS Flying Fish was the former New York City pilot boat Independence. She was purchased by the Navy in 1838. She joined the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-42. The expedition was bound for Tierra del Fuego, from where they made cruises toward the Antarctic Continent and later moved to the Pacific. While in Singapore, Flying Fish was deemed unfit for service and was sold before the squadron sailed for home in February 1842.

## HMS Amphion

Amphion was a second-class cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in 1883. During her career, she was stationed in the Pacific and in the Mediterranean. She was sold in 1906.

## Samson

Samson was a steam whaler built in 1885 in Norway. Later she was stationed in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1916 she rescued Ernest Shackleton and his crew after the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

## William Scoresby

William Scoresby was British Royal Research Ship built for operations in Antarctic waters. She was launched in 1925. She completed seven voyages to the Antarctic and took part in the 2nd Wilkins-Hearst Antarctic Expedition in 1929-1930. In 1939 William Scoresby was requisitioned into the Royal Navy and converted into a minesweeper. She was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped in 1954.

## Pinguin

Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser, launched in 1936 as Kandelfels. At the outbreak of the World War II, she was renamed Pinguin and used as a commerce raider. Pinguin was sunk in the Indian Ocean in May 1941.

## Levant

Levant was the ship used by the American captain, Mercator Cooper, on his voyage in 1851 when he became the first man to land on the Antarctic Continent. At the end of the voyage, Levant was sold in China.

## USCGC Southwind

Southwind was an icebreaker of the United States Coast Guard, launched in 1943. Southwind was loaned to the Soviet Union in 1943 where she served in the merchant marine as Admiral Makarov. She was returned to the United States in 1949. She was transferred to the US Navy as USS Atka and was used to supply the stations in the polar regions. In 1966 she was transferred to the US Coast Guard under her original name USCGC Southwind. She was decommissioned in 1974 and sold for scrap in 1976.

## HMS Vulcan

HMS Vulcan was a British torpedo boat depot ship launched in 1889. In 1909 she was converted into a submarine tender. In 1931 she was converted into a training ship and renamed HMS Defiance III. She was scrapped in Belgium in 1955.

## Fram

Fram is a three-masted schooner build especially for the ice-filled waters near the polar regions. Initially, Fram was fitted with a steam engine which was in 1910 replaced with a diesel engine. She was built in 1892 for the Norwegian explorer, Fridtjof Nansen who was preparing for an expedition to the Arctic. Fram took part on Nansen's 1893-1896 Arctic Expedition, the Canadian Arctic islands expedition under Otto Sverdrup in 1898-1902, and the South Pole expedition of Roald Amundsen in 1910-1912. Fram is installed in the Fram Museum in Oslo since 1935.

## USCGC Eastwind

Eastwind was an icebreaker of the United States Coast Guard, launched in 1944. During the World War II, Eastwind served as a troop transport. After the war, she participated in various exploration activities in the Antarctic including the Operation Deep Freeze. Eastwind was sold for scrap in 1972.

## USS Pine Island

USS Pine Island was an American seaplane tender, launched in 1944. During the World War II, she was stationed in Okinawa and supported the occupation operations. She contributed to the aerial exploration of Antarctica during Operation High Jump in 1946. She was in active service during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Pine Island was decommissioned in 1967 and sold in 1972.

## MV Norsel

MV Norsel was a Norwegian sealing ship, launched in 1945 as Lyngdalsfjord for the German Kriegsmarine. The ship was completed in 1949 and renamed Norsel. She participated in several Antarctic voyages including the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition in 1949-52. She also served for sealing off Newfoundland and as a survey vessel. In 1992 Norsel was wrecked and damaged beyond repairs. Subsequently, she was sold for scrap.

## Gauss

Gauss was a polar exploration vessel built in Germany in 1901. She took part on the Gauss Expedition to the Antarctic in 1901-1903. In 1904 Gauss was purchased by Canadian Government and renamed CGS Arctic. She was used for the exploration of the Arctic. The ship’s fate is unclear.

## Kainan Maru

Kainan Maru was the ship used on the Japanese Antarctic Expedition of 1910-12. It was the first Japanese expedition to the continent and was led by the army lieutenant Nobu Shirase.

## Burton Island

Burton Island was a US Navy icebreaker, launched in 1946. She took part in the Operation High Jump to Antarctica and several voyages to the Arctic. In 1966 Burton Island was transferred to the US Coast Guard. Between 1967 to 1978, Burton Island went on eight different Deep Freeze Operations to the Antarctic. She was decommissioned in 1978 and sold for scrap in 1980.

## Toroa

Toroa was the second vessel (after Aurora) of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911-1914. The expedition was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson.

## USS Edisto

Edisto was an icebreaker of the United States Navy, launched in 1946. She participated in various expeditions to the Arctic and several of the Operations Deep Freeze to the Antarctic. In 1965, Edisto was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard. She was sold for scrap in 1977.

## Quest

Quest was built in Risør, Norway in 1917 as the wooden-hulled sealer Foca. She was purchased for the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition of 1921-1922 and renamed Quest. The mission to explore the Antarctic coastline of Enderby Land was obstructed by the death of the leader of the expedition, Ernest Shackleton. In 1930 Quest was used for the British Arctic Air Route Expedition from London to eastern Greenland. Quest served as a sealing vessel until 1962 when she sunk off the north coast of Labrador.

## CCGS Labrador

Labrador was an icebreaker of the Royal Canadian Navy, launched in 1951. She helped map the Canadian Arctic and was the first ship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage. In 1957 Labrador was transferred to the Department of Transport (predecessor of the Canadian Coast Guard). Labrador was broken up in 1989.

## Penola

Penola was a sailing ship with an auxiliary steam engine used in the British Graham Land Expedition to Antarctica in 1920-1922.

## USS Glacier

Glacier was an icebreaker of the United States Coast Guard, launched in 1955. She served in the first through fifteenth Operation Deep Freeze and was the first icebreaker to cross the frozen Bellingshausen Sea. Glacier was broken up in 2012.