Scottish National Antarctic Expedition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SNAE expedition ship Scotia, in the ice at Laurie Island, South Orkneys, 1903–04

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–04, was organized and led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University of Edinburgh. Bruce had spent most of the 1890s engaged on expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic regions, and by 1899 was Britain's most experienced polar scientist. In March of that year, he applied to join the National Antarctic expedition (later known as Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition). However, his proposal to extend that expedition's field of work into the Weddell Sea quadrant, using a second ship, was dismissed as "mischievous rivalry" by Royal Geographical Society (RGS) president Sir Clements Markham. The SNAE, therefore, went ahead as an independent, privately financed venture.

Although overshadowed in prestige terms by the Discovery Expedition, the SNAE completed a full programme of exploration and scientific work. Its achievements included the establishment of the first permanent meteorological station in Antarctic territory, and the discovery of new land to the east of the Weddell Sea. Its large collection of biological and geological specimens, together with those from Bruce's earlier travels, led to the establishment of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory in 1906. The expedition has been described as "by far the most cost-effective and carefully planned scientific expedition of the Heroic Age",^[1] although its homecoming in July 1904, in contrast to the reception afforded two months later to the returning Discovery, was muted. Bruce received no formal honour or recognition from the British Government, and the expedition's members were denied the prestigious Polar Medal despite vigorous lobbying.

Bruce's focus on serious scientific exploration was out of fashion with his times, and his expedition, unlike those of the great polar adventurers Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen, soon faded from public awareness. Its lasting memorial is the Orcadas weather station, set up in 1903 as "Omond House" on Laurie Island, South Orkneys, which has been in continuous operation ever since.

Scottish saltire, adapted as an expedition flag

[edit] Background to the expedition

William S. Bruce, SNAE expedition leader

During his student years, Bruce built up his knowledge of the natural sciences, and of oceanography, by studying at summer courses under distinguished tutors such as Patrick Geddes and John Arthur Thomson. He also spent time voluntarily working under Dr John Murray and helping to classify specimens collected during the Challenger Expedition.^[2] In 1892, Bruce gave up his medical studies altogether, and embarked on a voyage to the Antarctic in the whaler Balaena, as part of the 1892–93 Dundee Whaling Expedition.^[3] On his return, he began organizing an expedition of his own to South Georgia—"the taste I have had has made me ravenous"^[4]—but could not obtain funding. He then worked at a meteorological station at the Ben Nevis summit, before going to the Arctic with the 1896–97 Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition as a scientific assistant. He later made further trips northward, to Spitsbergen and to Novaya Zemlya, first on a private trip organised by Major Andrew Coats, later as a scientist on the Arctic survey vessel Princess Alice. This was sponsored by Prince Albert of Monaco, a renowned oceanographer who became a friend and supporter of Bruce.^[5]

After returning from the Arctic, in 1899, Bruce sent a lengthy letter applying for a scientific post on the National Antarctic Expedition (Discovery Expedition), which was then being organized by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London. This letter, which detailed his experience and relevant qualifications, was acknowledged but not properly answered until more than a year had passed. By then, Bruce's ideas had progressed away from his original expectation of a junior post on the scientific staff. He now proposed a second ship for the expedition, separately financed from Scotland, which would work in the Weddell Sea quadrant while the main ship was based in the Ross Sea. This proposal was denounced by the RGS as "mischievous" and, after some heated correspondence with Sir Clements Markham, Bruce resolved to proceed independently.^[6] Thus, the idea of a distinctive Scottish National Antarctic expedition was born. Bruce had received promises of finance from the wealthy Coats family,^[7] who were prepared to give their whole-hearted backing to his leadership of a Scottish expedition. However, he had also acquired the life-long enmity of Markham.^[1]

[edit] Preparations

W S Bruce's proposals for a Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine, June 1900

[edit] SY Scotia

In the autumn of 1901, Bruce purchased a Norwegian whaler, Hekla, at a cost of £2,620 (2008 equivalent approx. £130,000).^[8] During the following months, the ship was completely rebuilt as an Antarctic research vessel, with two laboratories, a dark room, and extensive specialist equipment. Two huge revolving cylinders, each carrying 6,000 fathoms (36,000 ft/11,000 m) of cable, were fitted to the deck to enable deep-sea trawling for marine specimens. Other equipment was installed for making depth soundings, for the collection of sea water and sea-bottom samples, and for meteorological and magnetic observations.^[9] The hull was massively reinforced to withstand the pressures of Antarctic ice, and the ship was re-rigged as a barque with auxiliary engines. The costs of this refit, amounting to £16,700 (2008 = £835,000), were met by the Coats family,^[10][11] who altogether provided some £30,000 of the total expedition costs of around £36,000.^[12] Renamed Scotia, the ship was ready for her sea trials in August 1902.

[edit] Personnel

Scientific staff: The expedition's scientific staff consisted of six persons, including Bruce. The zoologist was David Wilton who, like Bruce, had been a member of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. He had acquired skiing and sledging skills through living in northern Russia for several years. Robert Rudmose Brown, of University College, Dundee, and formerly an assistant to George Murray at the British Museum, was the party's botanist. Dr James Harvie Pirie, who had worked in the Challenger office under John Murray, was geologist, bacteriologist, and the expedition's medical officer. Robert Mossman directed meteorological and magnetic work, and Alastair Ross, a medical student, was taxidermist.^[13]

Ship's company: To captain Scotia Bruce appointed Thomas Robertson, an experienced Antarctic and Arctic sailor who had captained the whaling ship Active on the Dundee Whaling Expedition, 1892–93.^[14] All of the other 25 officers and men who embarked on the voyage were Scottish, half of them from Dundee. Many of them were used to sailing in icy waters on whaling voyages. The crew signed on for a three-year engagement; a number of them, however, left the expedition after the first Antarctic voyage, when Scotia returned to Buenos Aires for repairs and re-provisioning in January 1904.^[15]

[edit] Objectives

The objectives of the expedition were published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine and in the RGS Geographical Journal, in October 1902. These included establishing a wintering station "as near to the South Pole as is practicable", deep sea and other research in the Antarctic Ocean, and systematic observations and researches in meteorology, geology, biology, topography and terrestrial physics.^[16] The essentially Scottish character of the expedition was expressed in "The Scotsman" shortly before departure:^[17]

[edit] Expedition

[edit] First voyage 1902–03

Scotia left Troon, Scotland, on 2 November 1902. On her way southward she called at Kingstown,^[18] Funchal (Madeira) and the Cape Verde Isles, before an unsuccessful attempt was made to land at the tiny, isolated equatorial archipelago known as St Paul’s Rocks. Scotia reached Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, on 6 January 1903, where she re-provisioned for the Antarctic journey ahead.^[19]

On 26 January, Scotia set sail for Antarctic waters. Heavy pack ice was encountered on 3 February, 25 miles (40 km) north of the South Orkney Islands, forcing the ship to manoeuvre. Next day, Scotia was able to move southward again, to land a small party on Saddle Island, South Orkney Islands, where a large number of botanical and geological specimens were gathered.^[20] Ice conditions prevented any further voyaging south until 10 February, after which steady progress was made: "scudding along at seven knots under sail".^[20] On 17 February the position was 64°18’S, and five days later they passed 70°S, deep in the Weddell Sea. Shortly thereafter, with new ice forming and threatening to beset the ship, Robertson turned northward, at 70°25’.^[20]

South Orkney Islands

No land having been discovered, the question arose of where to winter. The matter was of some urgency — the seas would soon be freezing over, trapping the ship. Bruce decided to head back to the South Orkneys and find an anchorage there. In contrast to his stated object, to winter close to the South Pole, the South Orkneys were more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the Pole, but the northerly location had advantages. The relatively brief period during which the ship would be frozen in would allow more time for trawling and dredging operations in the early spring. Also, the islands were well-situated as a site for a meteorological station—their relative proximity to the South American mainland opened the prospect of a permanent station being established.^[21] It took a month of hard sailing before Scotia reached the islands. After several foiled attempts to locate a suitable anchorage, and with its rudder seriously damaged by ice, the ship finally found a sheltered bay on the southern shore of Laurie Island, the most easterly of the South Orkneys chain. On 25 March, the ship was safely anchored.^[22]

During the ensuing winter months, Bruce instituted a comprehensive programme of work involving meteorological readings, trawling for marine samples, botanical excursions and the collection of biological and geological specimens. The major task completed during this time was the building of a stone building, christened "Omond House", after Robert Omond, director of the Edinburgh Observatory and a supporter of the expedition.^[23] This was to act as the headquarters for the parties that would remain on Laurie Island to operate the proposed meteorological laboratory. The building was constructed from local materials using the dry stone method, with a roof improvised from wood and canvas sheeting. The completed house was 20 feet square (6m x 6m), with two windows, fitted as quarters for six people. Rudmose Brown wrote: "Considering that we had no mortar and no masons' tools it is a wonderfully fine house and very lasting. I should think it will be standing a century hence…"^[24]

In general, the party maintained excellent health. The exception was the ship's engineer, Allan Ramsay, who had been taken ill with a heart condition in the Falklands during the outward voyage. He chose to remain with the expedition, but he grew steadily weaker as winter progressed. He died on 6 August, and was buried on the island.^[25]

As winter turned to spring, the range of activities increased, and there were many dog-sledge journeys,^[26] including some to neighbouring islands. However, hopes that the northerly latitude would lead to the ship's early release from the ice were confounded when Scotia remained icebound through September and October. It was 23 November before a strong wind took the ice out of the bay and Scotia floated free. Within days, she departed for Port Stanley, leaving a party of six, under Robert Mossman, at Omond House.^[25]

[edit] Buenos Aires, 1903–04

A map (French) of Laurie Island, showing location of the Orcadas Base, formerly Omond House.

On 2 December, the expedition reached Port Stanley, where the ship's party received their first news from the outside world. After a week's rest, Scotia departed for Buenos Aires, where she was to be repaired and provisioned for another season's work. Bruce had further business in the city; he intended to persuade the Argentine government to assume responsibility for the Laurie Island meteorological station after the expedition's departure.^[27] During the voyage to Buenos Aires, Scotia ran aground in the Rio de la Plata estuary, and was stranded for several days before floating free and being assisted into port by a tug, on 24 December.^[28]

During the following four weeks, while the ship was dry-docked, Bruce negotiated with the Argentine government over the future of the weather station. He was assisted by the British resident minister, the British Consul, and the director of the Argentine Meteorological Office, Dr W G Davis. When contacted by cable, the British Foreign Office registered no objection to this scheme. On 20 January 1904, Bruce confirmed an arrangement whereby three scientific assistants of the Argentine government would travel with Scotia back to Laurie Island and would work for a year, under Robert Mossman, as the first stage of an annual arrangement. He then formally handed over the Omond House building, its furnishings and provisions, and all magnetic and meteorological instruments, to the Argentine government.^[27] The station, renamed Orcadas Base, has remained operational ever since, having been rebuilt and extended several times.^[27]

Several of the original crew left during the Buenos Aires interlude, some through illness and one through a misconduct discharge.^[15] Replacements were recruited locally.^[15] Scotia left for Laurie Island on 21 January, arriving on 14 February. A week later, having settled the meteorological party, who were to be relieved a year later by the Argentine gunboat Uruguay, Scotia set sail for her second voyage to the Weddell Sea.^[29]

[edit] Second voyage, 1904

The coast of Coats Land, discovered by SNAE in March 1904, photographed in 1915 during Shackleton's expedition

Gough Island, visited by SNAE in April 1904

Scotia sailed from Laurie Island on 22 February 1904, heading south-east, towards the eastern waters of the Weddell Sea. The weather was calm, and no pack ice was encountered until they were south of the Antarctic Circle. The voyage proceeded smoothly until, on 3 March, heavy pack stopped the ship at 72°18’S, 17°59’W. A sounding was taken, providing a depth of 1,131 fathoms (6,790 ft/2,068 m), instead of the 2,500 fathoms which had until that time been the usual recorded sea-depth.^[30] This suggested that they were approaching land. A few hours later, they reached an ice barrier, which shut off progress towards the south-east. Over the following days, they were able to track the edge of this barrier southwards for some 150 miles (241 km). A sounding two-and-a-half miles from the barrier edge gave a depth of only 159 fathoms (950 ft/291 m), which indicated the certainty of land behind the barrier.^[30] The outlines of this land became only faintly visible, but Bruce felt confident enough of its presence to name it after his chief sponsors—Coats Land. This was the first positive indicator of the eastern limits of the Weddell Sea at high latitude, and showed the sea to be considerably smaller than had been previously supposed.^[31]

On 9 March, Scotia reached its most southerly latitude of 74°01’S. At this point, the ship was held fast in the pack, and the prospect loomed of a winter trapped in the ice. However, on 14 March, they were able to break free, and to move slowly north-eastward.^[32] Throughout the voyage, a regular programme of depth soundings, trawls and sea-bottom samples provided a comprehensive record of the oceanography and marine life of the Weddell Sea.

Scotia now headed for Cape Town, by a route that enabled a visit to Gough Island, an isolated mid-Atlantic volcanic projection that had never before been visited by a scientific party. On 21 April, Bruce and five others spent a day ashore, collecting specimens.^[33] During the whole expedition, more than 1,100 species of animal life were catalogued, 212 of them previously unknown to science.^[34] The ship then proceeded to Cape Town, arriving on 6 May. After carrying out further research work in the Saldanha Bay area, Scotia sailed for home on 24 May. Her final ports of call were St Helena and Ascension Island, and she arrived at the Clyde on 21 July 1904.^[35]

[edit] Homecoming and after

The expedition was warmly received on its return to the Clyde, with a formal reception for 400 people at the Marine Biological Station, Millport, at which John Murray read a telegram of congratulation from King Edward VII.^[35] Bruce was presented with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Gold Medal, Captain Robertson with a silver medal.^[36] There was no official acknowledgement forthcoming from London, however, where under the influence of RGS president Sir Clements Markham the achievements of the SNAE tended to be ignored or denigrated.^[37] Its members were not awarded the prestigious Polar Medals, which were bestowed on members of the Discovery Expedition when it returned home two months after Scotia. Polar Medals would also be awarded after each of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expeditions, and after Douglas Mawson's Australian expedition.^[38] Bruce fought for years to right what he considered a grave injustice, a slight on his country and on his expedition, but to no avail.^[38]

The Polar Medal, denied to members of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition

A significant consequence of the expedition was the establishment, in Edinburgh, of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, which was formally opened by Prince Albert of Monaco in 1906. The Laboratory served several purposes: as a repository for the large collection of biological, zoological and geological specimens amassed during the Scotia voyages, and also during Bruce’s earlier Arctic and Antarctic travels; as a base from which the scientific reports of the SNAE could be prepared; as a general headquarters where polar explorers could meet—Nansen, Amundsen and Shackleton all visited—and where other Scottish polar ventures could be planned and organised. The scientific reports took many years to prepare; most were published between 1907 and 1920, but one volume was delayed until 1992. A proposal, to convert the Laboratory into a permanent Scottish National Oceanographic Institute, failed to come to fruition, and, for funding reasons, Bruce was forced to close it down in 1919, two years before his death aged 54.^[39]

By this time, the Scotia expedition was barely remembered, even in Scotland, and it has remained overshadowed in polar histories by the more glamorous adventures of Scott and Shackleton. It is typically confined to a passing mention or footnote—Elspeth Huxley, in her 1977 biography of Captain Scott, dismisses the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition thus: "There was Bruce’s venture shortly to sail in the Scotia to the Weddell Sea; this, too, got trapped in sea-ice and returned without ever reaching land".^[40] Fiennes also stresses that Bruce "failed to make a landing on the continent", while mentioning none of his successes.^[41] Bruce lacked charisma, had no public relations skills ("...as prickly as the Scottish thistle itself", according to a lifelong friend^[1]), and tended to make powerful enemies.^[1] However, in the words of oceanographer Professor Tony Rice,^[42] his expedition fulfilled "a more comprehensive programme than that of any previous or contemporary Antarctic expedition".^[1]

The expedition ship, Scotia eventually suffered a sad fate. During the Great War she was requisitioned, and saw service as a freighter. On 18 January 1916, she caught fire, and was burned out on a sandbank in the Bristol Channel.^[43]

[edit] See also

• List of Antarctic expeditions

[edit] Notes and References

[edit] Sources

• Erskin, A B and Kjaer, K-G (27 Apr 2005). "The Polar Ship Scotia". Polar Record 41 (2): 131-140. Cambridge University Press. 
• Fiennes, Ranulph: Captain Scott Hodder & Stoughton, London 2003 ISBN 0 340 82697 5
• Huxley, Elspeth: Scott of the Antarctic Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1977 ISBN 0 297 7743 6
• Rudmose Brown, R.N., Pirie, J.H. and Mossman, R.C.: The Voyage of the Scotia Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 2002 ISBN 1 84183 044 5
• Speak, Peter: William Speirs Bruce: Polar Explorer and Scottish Nationalist NMS Publishing, Edinburgh 2003 ISBN 1 901663 71 X
• Scotland and the Antarctic, Section 5: Voyage of the Scotia. Glasgow Digital Library. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
• William Speirs Bruce, 1867-1921. Polar explorer and oceanographer. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.

[edit] External links

• ebook Scotland and the Antarctic