Wikibooks: Planet Earth/5d. Ocean Circulation (Surface and Deep).
=An Ill Fated Expedition to the North Pole= Encased in ice the American ship was being crushed its wooden hull cracking and breaking under the intense cold grip of the frozen ocean. For the past month the ship had been entrapped in the arctic ice. The crew scrambled as they off loaded boats onto the...
| Format: | Book |
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Planet_Earth/5d._Ocean_Circulation_(Surface_and_Deep). |
| Summary: | =An Ill Fated Expedition to the North Pole= Encased in ice the American ship was being crushed its wooden hull cracking and breaking under the intense cold grip of the frozen ocean. For the past month the ship had been entrapped in the arctic ice. The crew scrambled as they off loaded boats onto the flat white barren landscape. They dragged the boats with them as they watched with horror the splintered remains of the ship sink between the icy cavasses of the frozen Arctic ocean. The expedition was headed toward the North Pole led by their captain a United States Navy officer who was on a quest to find passage to the open northern polar sea. His ship sinking beneath the ice left his crew isolated upon the frozen ocean. De Long took out his caption log book and listed the location of the sinking ship before ordering the men to drag the boats and whatever provisions they had remaining across the vast expanse of ice. Once they reached open water they set their boats into the non frozen waters and rowed southward. Chief Engineer a stoic figure with a long prophetic beard lead one group of survivors. Melville had worked his way up in the Navy helping to establish the was a veteran of such dangerous Arctic explorations. In 1873 he volunteered to help rescue the survivors of the ill fated an attempt to reach the North Pole. Now trapped in a similar situation George Melville watched as the various boats were tossed on the open water and soon became separated in the night. It was the last time he would see Captain De Long alive. His small crew on the boat would survive after landing on the shores of the Lena Delta on the northern coast of Siberia. For the next year Melville searched for De Long and finally discovered his body and those of 11 crew men. He also found the captain’s log book that recorded their furthermost approach to the North Pole. Melville wrote of the ill fated expedition and the search for the Captain in a book published in 1884. That same year 1884 the wreckage of their ship was discovered off the ... |
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