This under-documented expedition was a pivotal moment in the annals of
polar exploration and was the starting point, in historical terms, of
revealing the great unknown continent of Antarctica. It was the first
time in nearly 70 years since Captain James Cook had circumnavigated
Antarctica, that a Royal Naval voyage of discovery had ventured so far
South. They set a new 'furthest south' record in the process beating the
one set up by James Weddell in a whaling ship in 1823.The expedition set
sail from Greenwich in 1839. It consisted of two wooden sailing ships
commanded by Captain James Clark Ross and Commander Francis Crozier. The
ships were manned exclusively by Royal Naval personnel and each ship had
a complement of 64 men and officers. Their primary task was of a
scientific nature to study the Earth's magnetic field and build up a set
of results that could provide a greater understanding of the effects of
magnetism on compasses and their use in navigating the world's oceans.
This voyage had a set of planned targets and all were accomplished. In
the process a vast amount of scientific information was collected.Many
exotic places were visited during the voyage amongst them Madeira, St.
Helena, Cape Town, Kerguelen island, New Zealand, Australia and the
Falkland Islands but the pinnacle was the discovery of the Ross Sea, the
Ross Ice Shelf and the mighty volcanoes of Erebus and Terror (named
after the two ships). The crews experienced the dangers of navigating in
ice-strewn waters and narrowly escaping being crushed by icebergs.
Illness was kept at bay although several lives were lost due to
accidents.It would be another 60 years before the scenes of their
greatest discoveries were visited again and then the Golden Age of
Discovery was ushered in with the likes of Scott, Shackleton and
Amundsen.
