The Voyage of the Jeannette
The Ship and Ice Journals of George W. De Long, Lieutenant-Commander U.S.N., and Commander of the Polar Expedition of 1879–1881

These two volumes, published in 1883, document the doomed Polar expedition of George W. De Long in the nineteenth century.

George Washington De Long (Author), Emma De Long (Edited by)

9781108050180, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 7 June 2012

496 pages, 38 b/w illus. 2 maps
21.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm, 0.63 kg

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, the crew abandoned ship, and he eventually died of starvation in Siberia. Compiled by his wife from his journals and the testimony of the survivors, these two volumes document De Long's doomed expedition. First published in 1883, Volume 2 records the Jeannette's final wreckage, and the crew's continuation of their perilous mission in smaller boats. It concludes with the discovery of De Long's records, and later his remains, by surviving crew member George Melville. Providing a vivid account of nineteenth-century Polar exploration, it remains of great interest to scholars of geography and maritime studies.

10. The return to cold and darkness
11. The last of the Jeannette
12. Leaving the ship behind
13. The march over the frozen ocean
14. Bennett Island
15. In the boats
16. The New Siberian Islands
17. The Lena delta
18. The fatal month
19. Nindemann and Noros
20. The fortunes of the whaleboat party
21. The first search
22. The final search
23. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]