List of Antarctic exploration ships from the Heroic Age, 1897–1922

This list includes all the main Antarctic exploration ships that were employed in the seventeen expeditions that took place in the era between 1897 and 1922, known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. A subsidiary list gives details of support and relief vessels that played significant roles in the expeditions they were commissioned to support.

The tables do not include the regular whaling voyages that took place during this period, or expeditions such as that of Carl Chun in 1898–1899 in the German vessel Valdiva, which did not penetrate the Antarctic circle. The abortive Cope Expedition of 1920–1922, which collapsed through lack of funding without finding an expedition ship, is likewise excluded, though two men were landed from a Norwegian whaler and spent a year on the Antarctic peninsula.

Of the ships listed, three survived into the 21st century and are serving as museums: Discovery in Dundee, Fram in Oslo, and Uruguay in Buenos Aires. Two ships – Antarctic and Endurance – were lost in the course of their expeditions; two more – Gauss and Yelcho – were scrapped when their useful lives were over. The fate of the Japanese Kainan Maru is unknown. The others, twelve ships in all, continued their maritime duties and were wrecked or sunk in the years between 1907 and 1962.

Table 1: Expedition ships

Table 2: Support and relief ships

See also

• Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

Books, journals and newspapers

• "The Polar Ship Belgica". Polar Record. 41. Cambridge University Press: 205–214. 2005.
• Benson, Keith R.; Rehbock, Philip F. (2002). Oceanographic History: The Pacific and Beyond. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-98239-X.
• Bryan, Rorke (2011). Ordeal by Ice: Ships of the Antarctic. New York: Sheridan House. ISBN 978-1-57409-312-4.
• Dodd, David (June 2017). "The final voyage of SY Aurora". Australian Antarctic Magazine (32). Retrieved 2019-09-04.
• Donaghy, Aaron (2014). The British Government and the Falkland Islands, 1974-79. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-322-10688-5.
• Erskin, Angus B.; Kjær, Kjell-G. (2005). "The Polar Ship Scotia". Polar Record. 41 (2). Cambridge University Press: 131–140. Bibcode:2005PoRec..41..131E. doi:10.1017/S0032247405004237. S2CID 129860880.
• Lloyds Registry: Steamships and motor-ships, DIR–DJA (PDF). Lloyd's of London. 1934–1935. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
• Riffenburgh, Beau (2005). Nimrod: Ernest Shackleton and the Extraordinary Story of the 1907–09 British Antarctic Expedition. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-7253-4.
• Riffenburgh, Beau (2007). Encyclopedia of the Arctic, Vol. 1. New York and Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97024-2.
• Savours, Ann (2001). The Voyages of the Discovery. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-861-78149-9.
• Schäufflen, Otmar (2002). Great Sailing Ships of the World. New York: Hearst Books. ISBN 1-58816-384-9.
• Shackleton, Ernest (2007). The Heart of the Antarctic. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 978-1-840-22616-4.
• Smith, Michael (2019). Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer. London: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1-780-74707-1.
• Stewart, John (1990). Antarctica: an Encyclopedia. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-899-50470-4.
• Turney, Chris (2012). 1912: The Year the World Discovered Antarctica. London: The Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-84792-174-1.
• "Wreck of Captain Scott's ship discovered off Greenland". The Daily Telegraph. 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Online

Belgica

• "Belgica – Ships of the Polar Explorers". Cool Antarctica. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
• "Belgica: whaler and research ship". University of Southampton. Retrieved 2019-09-02.

Southern Cross

• "The 1914 Sealing Disaster". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved 2019-09-02.

Gauss

• Finnie, Richard S. "Arctic Profiles: Joseph Elzéar Bernier (1852–1934)" (PDF). University of Calgary. Retrieved 2019-09-03.

Antarctic

• "Otto Nordenskjöld, Antarctic (ship): Swedish Antarctic Expedition 1901–1904". Cool Antarctica. Retrieved 2019-09-03.

Scotia

• "1900 Seil/DS HEKLA (048190001)" (in Norwegian). Lardex. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2019-10-13.

Pourquoi-pas?

• "Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Auguste Charcot". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-09-03.

Kainan Maru

• Florek, Stan (2013-03-22). "Our Global Neighbours". Australian Museum. Retrieved 2019-09-03.

Fram

• "The Polar Ship Fram". The Fram Museum. 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Terra Nova

• "Captain Scott's ship the Terra Nova". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
• "Scott's wrecked ship Terra Nova found off Greenland". BBC. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
• "SS Terra Nova found". Schmidt Ocean Institute. 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Aurora

• "A Poignant Reminder from the Plucky Little Ship Aurora". Australian National Maritime Museum. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Quest

• "Ships, Quest collection: Administrative/biographical history". Jisc Archives hub. Retrieved 2019-09-04.

Morning

• "Antarctic Relief Expeditions 1902–04". Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. 2019-08-12. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
• "Photograph of auxiliary barque SY Morning near Dundee Wharf". Australian National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 2019-09-05.

Uruguay

• "Antarctic Explorers: Otto Nordenskjöld (1869–1928)". South-Pole.com. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
• "A.R.A. Uruguay Museum Ship". Buenos Aires Ciudad. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2019-09-05.

Koonya

• "THE KOONYA'S WRECK". Mercury. 1919-06-28. Retrieved 2022-03-11.

Yelcho

• "Scottish Built Ships: The History of Shipbuilding in Scotland". The Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
• "Shackleton News Archive". The James Caird Society. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2019-09-06.

Other ships

• "Carl Chun Collection". Archive Hub. Archived from the original on 2012-05-27. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
• "John Lachlan Cope's Expedition to Graham Land 1920–22". Scott Polar Research Institute. Retrieved 2008-12-11.