George W. De Long

George Washington De Long (22 August 1844 – c. 31 October 1881) was a United States Navy officer and explorer who led the ill-fated Jeannette expedition of 1879–1881, in search of the Open Polar Sea.

George W. De Long
De Long before 1879
Birth nameGeorge Francis De Long[lower-alpha 1]
Born(1844-08-22)22 August 1844
New York City, New York, U.S.
Diedc. 31 October 1881(1881-10-31) (aged 37)
Yakutia, Siberia, Russia
Buried
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
BranchUnited States Navy
Service years1865–1881
RankLieutenant Commander
ExpeditionJeannette expedition
AwardsGold Jeannette Medal (1890)
MemorialsJeannette Monument
Spouse(s)Emma Wotton De Long

Career

Jeannette expedition
Main article: Jeannette expedition

In 1879, backed by James Gordon Bennett Jr.—owner of the New York Herald—and under the auspices of the United States Navy, Lieutenant Commander De Long sailed from San Francisco on the ship USS Jeannette with a plan to find a way to the North Pole via the Bering Strait.[2] As well as collecting scientific data and animal specimens, De Long discovered three islands and claimed them for the United States in the summer of 1881.[2] The government did not endorse this claim; as such the islands are under Russian jurisdiction.

The ship became trapped in the ice pack in the Chukchi Sea northeast of Wrangel Island in September 1879. It drifted in the ice pack in a northwesterly direction until it was crushed in the shifting ice and sank on 12 June 1881, in the East Siberian Sea. De Long and his crew then traversed the ice pack to try to reach Siberia pulling three small boats.

After reaching open water on September 11 they became separated and one boat—commanded by Executive Officer Charles W. Chipp—was lost; no trace of it was ever found. De Long's own boat reached land, but only two men sent ahead for aid survived. The third boat, under the command of Chief Engineer George W. Melville, reached the Lena Delta and its crew were rescued.[2]

Death

De Long died of starvation near Matvay Hut, Yakutia. Melville returned a few months later and found the bodies of De Long and his boat crew. Overall, the doomed voyage took the lives of 20 expedition members, as well as additional men lost during the search operations.[2] De Long's death – and that of the other men – was assumed to have occurred at or about the end of October.

Legacy

In 1890, the officers and men of the United States Navy dedicated the Jeannette Monument, a granite-and-marble monument designed by George P. Colvocoresses—a cross with carved icicles hanging from it that sits atop a cairn. The 24-foot (7.3 m)-high structure is in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery overlooking the Severn River.

Three United States Navy ships have been named USS DeLong. In addition to the De Long Islands, the De Long Mountains in northwest Alaska, and the De Long Fjord in Greenland bear his name.

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References

Notes
  1. De Long thought his middle name, "Francis," sounded feminine. He had it legally changed to "Washington" in 1860.[1]

Footnotes
  1. Sides 2015, p. 35.
  2. Sides 2015.

Bibliography
  • Danenhower, J. W. (1882). Lieutenant Danenhower's Narrative of the Jeannette. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. OCLC 3109240.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • De Long, E. W. (1938). Explorer's Wife. Introduction by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. OCLC 1509876.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • De Long, G. W. (1884). The Voyage of the Jeannette: The Ship and Ice Journals of George W. De Long. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 4285879.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Ellsberg, E. (1938). Hell on Ice: the Saga of the Jeannette. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. OCLC 486495.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Guttridge, G. F. (1986). Icebound: the Jeannette Expedition's quest for the North Pole. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870213304.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Melville, G. W. (1885). In the Lena Delta: A Narrative. London: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 18786362.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Muir, J. (1917). The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 293826.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Robinson, M. F. (2006). The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226721842.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sides, H. (2015). In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette. London: Oneworld. ISBN 9781780745213.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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