Description
Book SynopsisA detailed account of the Royal Navy''s near fatal expedition into the polar regions in 1773--with the young Horatio Nelson on board.
In the summer of 1773 the 14-year old Horatio Nelson took part in an expedition to the Arctic, which came close to ending his naval career before it had begun. Two bomb vessels, HMS Racehorse and Carcass, were fitted out and strengthened under the command of Captain Hon. Constantine Phipps for an expedition to find the Northwest Passage. It was an extremely cold Arctic summer and the ships became locked in ice unable to cut their way out for days until the wind changed and the ice broke up. The ships were eventually extricated and sailed home, and the legend of Horatio Nelson began.
During the voyage, the young Nelson had command of one of the smaller boats of the ships, a four-oared cutter manned by twelve seamen. In this he helped save the crew of one of the Racehorse''s boats from an attack by a herd of en
Table of Contents
1. Introduction. 2. The Royal Society Mission for Exploration. 3. Captain James Cook and the South Seas. 4. The Quest for the North West Passage. 5. Admiralty Planning and Organisation. 5. Ships: Carcass and Racehorse. 6. The Commanders. 7. Preparing and Equipping the Expedition. 8. Manning the Ships. 9. Young Nelson enters into the Carcass. 10. The Voyage Commences. 11. Robin Hood Bay. 12. Svalbard and the Norwegian Archipelago. 13. ‘Seahorses’ Flora and Fauna. 14. Nelson and the ‘Incident of the Polar Bear’? 15. Ice-bound and Abandoning Ship. 16. Failure and Return. 17. Conclusions.
