This was the first of three expeditions by Parry for the purpose of
discovering a route from Greenland to the Bering Strait - the so called
'Northwest Passage' and he achieved a good part of this on the voyage in
1819-20. Travelling in the ships HMS Hecla and HMS Griper, Parry was
able to map large parts of the coastline on this, his most successful
expedition, gaining significant renown as a result. Apart from
contributing significantly to the route of the Northwest Passage, Parry
also advanced the experience and techniques of wintering in the arctic,
which had previously proved so extremely treacherous to Europeans.