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An Expedition for the Ages BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE A sectional view of the earth showing the openings Dr Vidya Schalk is a research scientist and at the North and South poles. In 1818, American currently a lecturer in the School of Materials John C. Symmes put forward the “Holes in the Poles” Science and Engineering at the Nanyang theory. Illustration reproduced from Seaborn, A. Technological University, where she develops (1820). Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery. New York: online curriculum and teaches a module on the J. Seymour. Image from Wikimedia Commons. History of Materials. Her interest in scientific explorations has led her to research 19th- century naval expeditions. the next fertile ground and the ability to navigate safely in these waters would be crucial to its success. The process of getting the expedi- tion off the ground, however, dragged on for almost a decade as the govern- ment’s priorities shifted due to political changes and financial pressures. Also, the public was suspicious of any scientific research, considering it the idle pastime U.S. Ex. Ex. of bored aristocrats. The expedition soon earned the unfortunate moniker the “Deplo rable Expedition”. In early 1842, almost 500 naval officers, doubtful islands and shoals; and In the midst of this, the financial An Expedition for the Ages sailors and scientists from the United to discover and accurately fix the crisis known as the Panic of 1837 struck States visited Singapore on their way position of those which lie in or the nation and thrust the American ihome after an epic four-year voyage near the track pursued by our economy into chaos. Nonetheless, in of discovery. They were members of merchant vessels in that quarter… 1838, against all odds, as directed by The Wilkes Expedition – as it is popularly known – vastly expanded the the United States Exploring Expedition, Although the primary object of Secretary of War Joel Poinsett (who borders of scientific learning. Vidya Schalk explains how this historic part of the last All Sail Naval Squadron the expedition is the promotion was also an amateur botanist), the U.S. American naval mission between 1838 and 1842 is linked to Singapore. to circumnavigate the globe and the of… commerce and navigation, Ex. Ex. was put back on the agenda and first-ever scientific mission mounted by yet all occasions will be taken, not Lt. Charles Wilkes was asked to take full the fairly young nation (the country had incompatible with the great purpose command of the mission. achieved independence in 1776). of the undertaking, to extend the A full-blown controversy erupted Few people have heard of the Wilkes bounds of science, and to promote when this was announced. Wilkes Expedition, its more commonly used name, the acquisition of knowledge…”1 (see text box overleaf) was one of 40 and fewer still about the United States lieutenants on the navy list, along with Exploring Expedition – or simply the U.S. Ex. 38 others who had chalked up more Ex. Although the expedition became mired Genesis of the Expedition sea service than him. Such a command in controversy, it nonetheless left behind In 1818, an American eccentric named conferred upon a junior officer was A painting of the USS Vincennes in Disappointment an important legacy in its meticulous John C. Symmes put forward the “Holes in unprecedented in the naval service and Bay, Antarctica, c. 1840, based on a sketch by Lt. documentation of the earth’s biodiversity. the Poles” theory. He declared the earth caused an uproar. Letters of protest Charles Wilkes. The ship was a 127-foot (39 m) Boston- Among its contributions are the first-ever as hollow, with a habitable interior only poured in and heated debates ensued in class sloop-of-war carrying a crew of 190. This was the flagship under the command of Lt. Wilkes. Image systematic mapping of the coastline of accessible through openings at the North Congress, but in the end the appointment from Wikimedia Commons. the US Pacific Northwest, the charting of and South poles that were large enough went through. some 1,500 miles (2,414 km) of the frozen to accommodate sailing ships. This was Antarctic coast, and the first concrete proof picked up by an enterprising newspaper The A-Team that Antarctica is a continent. editor from Ohio, Jeremiah Reynolds, who Wilkes personally selected the vessels, crew called for further research to establish the and scientists for the expedition. He also The Mission veracity of the so-called “polar holes”, decided that all duties pertaining to The Wilkes Expedition was primarily a eventually advocating a national maritime astronomy, surveying, hydrography, mission of exploration. It aimed to ex- expedition to explore the mysteries of geography, geodesy, magnetism, tend the borders of learning, and came the South Pole. By 1828, Reynolds had meteorology and physics would be at a time when Britain, France and other managed to pique the interest of US Naval the preserve of the naval officers. Any European nations were busy expanding Secretary Samuel Southard and President work relating to zoology, geology and their territories through colonisation. John Quincy Adams. mineralogy, botany and conchology was The mission parameters were two-fold Support also came from whalers to be filled by the naval medical corps, – navigational and scientific – as directed and sealers who needed accurate charts failing which civilians could be appointed. by the US Congress: of islands and navigational hazards in All personnel and crew members of the Pacific Ocean. Whaling had become the expedition came under the control “To explore and survey the Southern a booming business – whale oil was as and direction of Wilkes. Disappointed that Ocean, having in view the important significant then as crude oil is today – and there was no “respectable naturalist”2 in interest of our commerce embarked the US was then the global industry leader. the medical corps, he fell back on the best in the whale fisheries, as well as With whales hunted to near extinction in civilian talents the country could offer. The to determine the existence of all the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean was “Scientifics”, 3 as they were called, were a 16 17 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE group of brilliant scientists and naturalists, to enjoy the sights. They also noted that Northwest in April 1841. From California, almost all of whom went on to redefine rum was used as a medium of exchange; the fleet briefly returned to Honolulu and A SIZEABLE FLEET ● The 118-foot USS Peacock, a slightly the scientific fields of botany, zoology and with a population of 24,000 in the city, proceeded to Manila in the Philippines. Most European exploring expeditions smaller, full-rigged sloop-of-war rebuilt geology as well as then emerging fields like it seemed there was a tavern for every By then, time was running out for the in the 19th century used modestly for the expedition, and manned by a volcanology and anthropology. Two artists 100 inhabitants. expedition. Wilkes had promised the sized ships. But the US Navy went crew of 130. (When the Peacock ran were also part of the crew: they sketched From Sydney, the U.S. Ex. Ex. crew that they would return to the US by one up by assembling a squadron of aground on 18 July 1841, the USS Oregon, and used the camera lucida – an optical launched a second encounter to the the end of May 1842, and the men were six sailing vessels with officers, crew an 85-foot brigantine, accommodated device used to aid drawing – to capture Antarctic on 26 December 1839. Well eager to get home. and scientists numbering almost 500 the officers and crew of the lost ship.) portraits of people and to maintain a visual stocked with 10 months of provisions The U.S. Ex. Ex. left Manila in Janu- strong, making it one of the largest ● The two-masted 88-foot brigantine USS record of the voyage. in case they became trapped in ice, ary 1842, making their way home via the voyages of discovery in the history of Porpoise with a crew of 65. Also assembled onboard were the expedition proceeded south. On Sulu Sea. When Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I of Western exploration. The original fleet ● The USS Relief, a slow 109-foot supply taxidermists, equipment makers, 19 January 1840, land was identified Sulu sent word that he was interested in comprised the following: ship with a crew of 75. Portrait of Charles Wilkes painted by Thomas Sully carpenters, sailmakers and surgeons, in at roughly 160 degrees east and 67 establishing closer trading ties with the and engraved by R.W. Dodson. The image appears ● Two small 70-foot schooners, USS Sea addition to naval officers (many of whom degrees south. Wilkes surveyed and US, Wilkes signed a peace and trade treaty in vol. I of Charles Wilkes’ Narrative of the United ● The USS Vincennes, a fast 127-foot Gull and USS Flying Fish, each manned later became high-ranking servicemen), mapped nearly 1,500 miles (2,414 km) with the king, which gave protection to US States Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, Boston-class sloop-of-war with a crew by a crew of 15. (Sea Gull went missing 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, published by Lea and marines and other sailors. It was not glory of the Antarctic coastline – considered vessels and a shorter passage to Manila and of 190. This was the flagship under the on 8 May 1839 when it was caught in Blanchard in 1845. Retrieved from Internet Archive. or wealth but the thirst for knowledge a remarkable achievement to this on to Canton (now Guangzhou) in China.
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