Terra Nova Expedition

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The Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1913) was a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott with the purpose of undertaking scientific research and exploration along the coast and interior of Antarctica. The name was taken from the ship, Terra Nova which transported and provided support to the expedition. The expedition was most notable for its failed attempt to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole and for the death of Scott and four of his companions. For details of the factors contributing to the failure of this aspect of the expedition see Robert Falcon Scott: The Debate.

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[edit] Prior Antarctic (Ross Sea) expeditions

The Terra Nova Expedition was one of several undertaken in the Ross Sea area of Antarctica during the period 1840 to 1910. These expeditions pursued a mix of survey, scientific and commercial activities. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica was an area of growing commercial importance in the late 1800's due to the rapid expansion of whaling. Private and Government interests sponsored expeditions with a view to establishing bases in Antarctica to exploit the whale and seal populations and to investigate the potential for mineral extraction and processing.

Additionally, public attention at the turn of the century began to focus on the South Pole. Fridtjof Nansen's failed attempt to reach the North Pole in 1895, and Robert Peary's apparently successful attempt in 1909 left the South Pole as the 'last geographic challenge'. The Ross Sea, the southernmost point of Antarctica at which a landing could be made, was an ideal location from which to launch an attempt to reach the South Pole.

Despite a tradition of States conducting exploration only in those areas of Antarctica that they had a role in initially discovering, both Norway and Britain had a history of exploration activity in the Ross Sea prior to the Terra Nova expedition.

[edit] Terra Nova expedition members

The names of expedition members are grouped here according to their role in the major journeys during the expedition, with other significant journeys and previous Antarctic experience noted against each name. Career achievements subsequent to the Terra Nova expedition are not included. This list only included members of the expedition 'ashore', and not the ships crew - who however were technically part of the expedition and, in the case of Commander Harry Pennells, took an active role in survey work.

South Pole Journey - South Pole Group. Reached 90° South on 17 January 1912.
South Pole Journey - Last Supporting Group. Turned back at 87°32′ South on January 4, 1912. Photograph
South Pole Journey - Second Supporting Group. Turned back at 85°15′ South on December 22, 1911.
South Pole Journey - Dog Team Group. Turned back at the bottom of the Beardmore Glacier on December 11, 1911.
Northern (Cape Adare & Evans Cove) Group.
  • Victor L. A. Campbell (1875–1956) Navy Lieutenant.
  • G. Murray Levick (1877–1956) Navy Surgeon. Photograph
  • Raymond Edward Priestley Geologist. Photograph
  • George P. Abbott RN Petty Officer.
  • Frank V. Browning RN Petty Officer.
  • Harry Dickason (–1943) Navy Able Seaman.
Cape Evans Base Group.
Cape Evans Base Group Departed on Terra Nova April 1912.
  • George C. Simpson (1878–1965) UK. Meteorologist.
  • Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880–1963) Australia. Geologist. Photograph Link
  • Herbert Ponting (1870–1935) UK. Photographer. Photograph
  • Bernard C. Day Motor Engineer. Photograph
  • Robert Forde (–1959) Ireland. Navy Petty Officer.
  • Thomas Clissold Navy Cook. Photograph
  • Anton Omelchenko Groom. Photograph
Cape Evans Base Group Arrived on Terra Nova April 1912.
  • W. W. Archer. Navy Cook.
  • Thomas S. Williamson. Navy Petty Officer. Search party (1912).

[edit] Voyages of the Terra Nova in support of the Expedition

  • June 1, 1910, Sailed from West India Docks, London
  • June 15, 1910 Sailed from Cardiff, Wales
  • June 23, 1910 Arrive Funchal Harbour, Madeira
  • June 26, 1910 Sailed from Funchal Harbour, Madeira
  • July 25, 1910 Arrive Trinity Island (animal fieldwork and specimen collection)
  • September 2, 1910 Sailed from Simons Bay, South Africa
  • October 12, 1910 Arrive Melbourne, Australia
  • October 28, 1910 Arrive Lyttleton, New Zealand. Took on 34 Dogs and 19 ponies
  • November 26, 1910 Sailed from Lyttleton
  • January 3, 1911 Off Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica
  • January 4, 1911 Arrive Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica. Unloaded expedition members and supplies.
  • Sailed from Cape Evans, eastward along the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf to 170° W, then direct to Cape Colbeck
  • February 1, 1911 Returning westward encounter Fram in the Bay of Whales
  • Arrived Hut Point, Ross Island. Embarked 2 ponies and left news of Amundsen
  • Arrived Cape Adare. Unloaded Campbell's group
  • Arrived New Zealand
  • January 4, 1912 Arrive Cape Adare, take Campbell's group aboard
  • January 8, 1912 Arrive Evans Coves, 250 miles south of Cape Adare, 200 miles north of Cape Evans
  • February 4, 1912 Arrive Cape Evans. Unload 7 Indian mules. Take aboard 9 returning men, and leave 2 replacements.
  • Sailed from Cape Evans, arrived New Zealand
  • Sailed from New Zealand, arrived Cape Evans
  • January 22, 1913 Sailed from Cape Evans (for the last time)
  • January 23, 1913 Arrive Granite Harbour. Geological and marine specimen collection
  • January 26, 1913 Arrive Evans Coves
  • January 29, 1913 Arrive Cape Adare. Retrieve specimens
  • February 10, 1913 Arrive Oamaru, New Zealand. Cable with news sent to England
  • February 11, 1913 Arrive Lyttleton, New Zealand.
  • June 14, 1913 Arrived Cardiff, Wales. Ship 'Paid Off'.

[edit] Cape Evans base of operations

After scouting unsuitable landing sites around Cape Crozier on the eastern side of Ross Island, the Terra Nova sailed to McMurdo Sound on the west of the island where 3 previous expeditions had landed and overwintered. A landing was made at Cape Evans, approximately 20 km north of Scott's 1902 base on Hut Point. Scott hoped that the Cape Evans location would be accessible by sea for a longer period than Hut Point location, mindful that the pack ice closed off the entire area in winter, and could—as happened in 1901—trap ships in the ice. In addition to the expedition members, 17 ponies, 32 dogs, 2 motorised sleds, some 30 tons of stores and a complete prefabricated accommodation hut measuring 50 feet by 25 feet were put ashore. The hut, known as Scott's Hut, still stands at Cape Evans today.

[edit] Expedition journeys: depot laying. 1911

On January 26, 1911, a team of twelve set out with 2 dog teams and 8 ponies with the intention of laying supply depots for use by the group attempting the journey to the South Pole in the following spring. Their departure was somewhat rushed, driven by consideration of the impending breakup of the sea ice that gave them a direct route to Hut Point on the south west corner of Ross Island. A supply dump was established at Hut Point, at Scott's 1902 camp, and at a series of points further south culminating in the One Ton Dump, approximately 130 miles from Hut Point. This last dump was approximately 30 miles short of Scott's intended location goal of (80° S) latitude, but was as much as could be achieved with the ponies. They had been pulling weights of up to 900 kg in difficult conditions, particularly soft snow. Scott had brought south specially made snow-shoes for the pony's, but in the rush to get away before the sea ice broke up there had been insufficient time to train the ponies with them, and by the time it was realized that they were required (with or without the training) the sea ice behind had broken up cutting them off from Cape Evans. The failure to lay the depots according to the original plan was one step in a long chain of events that led to the death of the group returning from the South Pole the following year.

[edit] Expedition journeys: northern party. 1911 to 1912

Scott's intention was that a second group would camp on the mainland coast. While searching for a suitable landing site the Terra Nova found Amundsen's expedition at the Bay of Whales, the southernmost point of the Ross Sea. The Terra Nova returned to Cape Evans to pass on the news, along with an offer from Amundsen that Scott's second group might share his site at the Bay of Whales. Ultimately the second group was put ashore at Evans Cove in 1911, approximately 400 miles north west of Cape Evans. The privations of this group, due to inability to resupply them by sea in 1912, were extraordinary, as was their feat in walking back to Cape Evans (arriving there on November 6, 1912) when further attempts to reach them by sea failed.

[edit] Expedition journeys: Cape Crozier. June–August 1911

On June 22, 1911 a party of three, Wilson, Bowers and Cherry-Garrard, set out from Hut Point to travel to Cape Crozier to study an Emperor Penguin colony. While previous expeditions had over-wintered in Antarctica, none had attempted exploration work during this season of perpetual night and storms where temperatures could reach minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (−55 °C). It was known, however, that Emperor penguins laid their eggs in mid-winter, and it was the plan of the expedition to obtain samples for scientific study. The group suffered considerable privations, including having their shelter destroyed in a blizzard at Cape Crozier and sheltering in their sleeping bags for 3 days until the storm blew over. The group returned to Cape Evans on August 1, 1911. Wilson, notably, had refused to abandon their specimens on the return journey despite being in considerable peril of dying through exposure and exhaustion. Cherry-Garrard afterwards described this as the 'worst journey in the world' and lent this to the title of the book that he subsequently (1922) wrote about the entire expedition.

[edit] Expedition journeys: South Pole. October 1911 to March 1912

The South Pole journey was made with four teams, only the last of which was intended to go on to the South Pole. The other teams were engaged in laying supplies for the outbound and returning groups. Naming of the teams is inconsistent, but the first to turn back at the base of the Beardmore Glacier were the two dog teams with Meares and Gerof. It was Scott's intention that the dog teams would return to base, pick up more supplies and head back out to lay further supply depots for the returning parties including Scott's own. In this sense Scott was placing considerable reliance on the dogs teams' performance.

The next team to turn back did so at the top of the Beardmore. This group comprised Atkinson the doctor, Cherry-Garrard the zoologist, Wright the physicist, and Keohane. Essentially this 'Second Return Group' was the scientific party. Scott continued further south with the remaining teams that were, except for Wilson, army and navy men who had been with Scott since the Discovery days. The 'Second Return Group' got back to Hut Point in January 1912 to find that the First Return Party (the dog teams) had not been able to get back out to resupply the depots. It was particularly important that this be done for the South Pole party, as the earlier returning parties would be depleting stores at every depot along the way. Cherry-Garrard and Gerof prepared to go out on the journey known as the One Ton Dump resupply journey.

The last return party, comprising Commander Evans, Crean and Lashley turned back approximately half way between the top of the Beardmore Glacier and the South Pole. Travelling as a party of four on the southward journey, only three came back, Petty Officer Evans having transferred to Scotts group. Commander Evans became seriously ill on the return journey, and only through the efforts of Crean and Lashley survived. This group brought back news that Scott was travelling at a better than expected rate, which led to some impetus being put into Cherry-Garrards resupply trip, it being hoped (but not planned) that he might rendezvous with Scott at the One Ton Dump in early March.

The South Pole group now consisted of Scott, Henry Robinson Bowers, Lawrence Oates, Edward Adrian Wilson and Edgar Evans. They continued man-hauling sledges in reasonably good conditions and reached the south pole on 17 January 1912, discovering that Amundsen had been there one month previously. Amundsen had left a tent, some supplies and a note (in case he failed to return safely) which he asked Scott to deliver.

Amundsen's earlier arrival had been predicted by Scott in 1911 as soon as he learnt that Amundsen was based in the Bay of Whales, further south than Scott, and was intending to rely wholly on dogs. The significance of that for Scott was not that dogs were superior to pony or man hauling (and in fact Scott used dogs, man-hauling, motorised tractors and ponies), but that Scott's mixed hauling strategy necessitated delaying the start of his haul to the South Pole until such time as the weather was moderate enough for the less hardy ponies.

Scott's party turned homewards the next day, and for three weeks made reasonable progress, averaging fourteen miles per day. The season was getting late, however, and temperatures were falling. Reaching each depot and finding sufficient food and particularly heating oil became problematic. As temperatures fell below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, snow tended to become hard and coarse, losing its ability to lubricate the bottom of skis and pulling the sleds became increasingly difficult. Scott was facing conditions later in the short Antarctic summer than had Amundsen. Ultimately it was Scott's delay in setting out that reduced his margins of error to the point where tragedy was inevitable.

By February 7, 1912, they had reached the supply depot at the top of the Beardmore depot, and began their descent. Evans, who had been suffering from frostbite, fell on the treacherous ground and may have been concussed. He died shortly afterwards. The group may have been suffering from dehydration, and to some degree malnutrition, by this stage which led to problems with wounds failing to heal. Oates, carrying an old war wound and the effects of frostbite, became increasingly incapable, and on 17 March 1912 while apparently lucid stepped outside the tent with the thereafter famous words, "I am just going outside and I may be some time." Oates' intentional sacrifice was not enough to save the remaining members of the group who were faced every day with fewer supplies, and less mileage achieved. On 10 March 1912, Scott calculated they had food for another 7 days, but were 9 days from the nearest supply dump, the One Ton Dump approximately 140 south of Cape Evans. By 20 March they were 11 miles, approximately 2 to 3 days from One Ton Dump when blizzards came in restricting them to their tent, where some 8 to 9 days later they died. Scott's final diary entry dated March 29, 1912 ends with the words:

Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside of the door of the tent it remains a whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write any more. For God's sake look after our people.

[edit] Expedition journeys: One Ton Dump resupply. February-March 1912

Undertaken by Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri Gerof driving two dog teams. Leaving Hut Point on February 25, they arrived at One Ton Dump on 1 March 1912 with food and heating oil supplies. Cherry-Garrards' instructions were to resupply the dump and then escort the South Pole group home from One Ton if they had arrived there, but not to go beyond One Ton himself or to take any risks with the dogs. Scott was expected to arrive at One Ton in early March based on information about Scott's rate of progress that had been brought back by the last return group. Scott's original estimate was that he would arrive there by late March. Cherry-Garrard waited 10 days and then turned back, concerned about lack of food for the dogs and the condition of his companion. At that time Scott was 55 miles further south in deteriorating weather. This equated to nine days' march at their current pace, and they had food remaining for seven. Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri arrived back at Hut Point on 15 March. Atkinson and Keohane who were at Hut Point made a foray south between March 27 and April 1, but could not reach the One Ton supply dump, noting that weather conditions were extreme, blizzards and minus 40 °F (−40 °C). By April 1 Atkinson and Cherry-Garrard came to the view that Scott's group were unlikely to have survived.

In early March, just prior to arriving at One Ton, Cherry-Garrard and Dimitri were making approximately 9 miles a day. If they had continued immediately beyond One Ton on March 1, and followed the cairns marking the trail by which Scott was expected to return it is conceivable that they might have encountered the South Pole group on or around March 11 at a point 80 miles south of One Ton. If they did not miss the South Pole group on the trail or meet other delays they might have combined forces and arrived back at One Ton on or around March 20. Blizzards closed in on the area on that day. Given the supplies at One Ton they might have been able to make it back to Hut Point by 1 April, but at that time Atkinson reported that conditions were extremely bad south of Hut Point. Ultimately it would have been a very 'close run thing'. Any delay in Cherry-Garrard setting out from One Ton (or delay resulting from missing each other on the trail) would have almost certainly meant that the combined group would have been caught in very severe weather even before getting back to One Ton and certainly between there and Hut Point, a distance of 140 miles. It is quite possible, with Scott, Wilson, Bowers and Dimitri in poor health, that even with the help of the dogs the combined party might have perished.

Cherry-Garrard, at the beginning of March, and even when he left One Ton on 10 March, had no reason to believe the South Pole group were in difficulties. The last return group had reported they were moving strongly, the weather at One Ton was reasonable on 10 March, and Scott's original estimate was that he would be arriving there in about 7 to 10 days. Cherry-Garrard was, however, certainly troubled by the question of whether he made the right decisions during this journey, although no suggestion of blame ever attached to him.

[edit] Expedition journeys: search party. October-November 1912

The Terra Nova had taken off 8 men and left 2 replacements in February 1912. The remaining expedition members waited through the winter, continuing their scientific work, until setting out on October 29, 1912 to search for Scott's group. On November 12, 1912, the search party found the frozen bodies of Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Adrian Wilson and Henry Robinson Bowers 11 miles south of the One Ton supply depot. Snow had drifted up to almost the top of their tent. After collecting personal effects and diaries, Bowers' meteorological logs and 14 kg of geological specimens, the tent was collapsed over the bodies, and a cairn of snow was raised to mark the site. Tryggve Gran's skis were fashioned into a cross on top, while he took Scott's skis for the journey home. Knowing from Scott's diary that Oates had stepped out of the tent into the blizzard some 15 miles further south, the search party went on, but acknowledged the hopelessness of finding his body and on November 15, 1912 raised a cairn near where they believed he had died. On the return journey the search party recovered some further geological samples and photographic film left behind by the last return group. The search party returned to Cape Evans on November 26, 1912, and were eventually picked up by the Terra Nova on January 22, 1913.

[edit] Expedition memorabilia and sites of historic interest

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • Cherry-Garrard, A. (1922, 2001 reprint). The Worst Journey in the World. Stackpole Books. ISBN 1-58976-120-0
  • Fiennes, R. Race to the Pole : Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest. Hyperion. ISBN 1-4013-0047-2
  • Hattersley-Smith, G. (1984). The Norwegian with Scott: The Antarctic Diary of Tryggve Gran, 1910-13. Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-290382-7
  • Jones, M. (2003). The Last Great Quest : Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-280483-9
  • Lambert, K. (2004). The Longest Winter: The Incredible Survival of Captain Scott's Lost Party. Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1-58834-195-X
  • Scott, R. et al. (1996). Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-0382-2
  • Solomon, S. (2002). The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09921-5
  • Ponting, H. G. (1921). The Great White South. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 0-8154-1161-8

[edit] External links

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