(George W. De Long (1844-81) was a US Navy officer who set...)
George W. De Long (1844-81) was a US Navy officer who set out to find a new route to the North Pole via the Bering Strait. During his voyage, which left San Francisco in 1879, he claimed the De Long Islands for the USA. But when his vessel, the Jeannette, sank, he and his crew abandoned ship, and he eventually died of starvation in Siberia. His doomed expedition is documented in these two volumes, compiled by his wife Emma from his journals and the testimony of the mission's survivors. First published in 1883, Volume 1 begins by sketching De Long's early years and his preparations for the expedition. The remaining chapters record the crew's experiences in the treacherous Arctic, and their brave but vain attempts to save the Jeannette. Providing a vivid account of nineteenth-century polar exploration, it remains of great interest to scholars of geography and maritime studies.
https://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Jeannette-Lieutenant-Commander-Expedition-Exploration/dp/1108050174?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1108050174
George Washington De Long was born on August 22, 1844 in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of Levi and Catherine Greames De Long. His parents moved to Brooklyn when the boy was four years old and there he spent his boyhood, which, because of parental fear of the dangers of the outside world, was one of great seclusion.
De Long attended the public schools of Brooklyn and “was a hard student, thorough in his application to books, and faithful to his school work”. His ambition was kindled by reading some tales of exploits in the War of 1812, and he resolved to become a naval officer. When he was selected for an appointment to the Naval Academy in 1857, however, his parents refused their permission as they were desirous of having him enter a profession. He finally yielded to his parents’ wishes and began the study of law in the office of John Oakey. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Oakey entered the service and De Long begged hard to accompany him but without success. Having been denied a place in the army, the young man again turned his thoughts toward the Naval Academy. After considerable persuasion, he secured the consent of his parents and by sheer determination won an appointment. He applied himself vigorously to his work and was graduated with distinction in 1865.
De Long's first sea duty was a three-year cruise on the Canandaigua to the western shores of Europe and Africa and in the Mediterranean.
Then followed assignments to several vessels, a period at Washington for signal practise, and work in the equipment division in New York.
In 1869 he was commissioned a lieutenant and in 1879 a lieutenant-commander.
In 1873, De Long was assigned to the Juniata which was soon afterward sent to the Arctic in search of the missing steamer Polaris.
The adventures of this trip fired his enthusiasm for further Arctic research; and upon his return to New York, he interested James Gordon Bennett in the project.
After several years of planning, they secured the Arctic steamer Pandora, rechristened her the Jeannette, and fitted her out for the dash through Bering Strait to the Pole. With a crew of thirty-three officers and men, the Jeannette sailed from San Francisco, July 8, 1879. On September 5, while about twenty-five miles east of Herald Island, the vessel was caught in an ice pack and drifted to the northwest for over twenty-one months, finally reaching latitude 770 15' north and longitude 135° east, where on June 12, 1881, she was crushed by the heavy ice floes and sank at four in the morning of the next day. De Long was prepared for this emergency, however, and abandoned the ship in an orderly fashion, salvaging most of the provisions and equipment. The retreat southward toward the Siberian coast commenced on June 18 and for over two months De Long and his men, hampered by their provisions and boats, fought their way over a frozen sea. At last open water was reached and the party embarked in three boats for the Lena Delta.
During a heavy gale on September 12, the boats became separated; and while the two commanded respectively by De Long and Engineer Melville managed to weather the storm, Lieutenant Chipp’s craft was never heard from again.
The two surviving boats reached widely separated portions of the delta; Melville’s party landed in one of the eastern outlets and was rescued by natives; while De Long’s group reached a northern arm of the river and landed in an uninhabited country. With only a few days’ provisions, De Long, ever hopeful of rescue, led his men southward, until thoroughly exhausted they could go no farther.
Two of the strongest— Nindemann and Noros—were sent ahead to bring assistance but without avail. Finally toward the end of October, the entire command succumbed one by one to starvation and exposure. Their bodies were found the next spring by Melville and were subsequently brought to New York and buried with honors.
Melville also recovered the records of the expedition including De Long’s journal, which was later published by his widow under the title, The Voyage of the Jeannette.
George Washington De Long ed the ill-fated Jeannette Expedition in search of the Open Polar Sea. This voyage established the existence of a northwestward polar drift and at the same time changed the map of the Arctic by delimiting the size of Wrangel Island and by discovering the small group of islands now named for its courageous commander.
(George W. De Long (1844-81) was a US Navy officer who set...)
On March 1, 1871 De Long married Emma J. Wotton. One daughter was born to this union.
