Terra Nova (ship)
Terra Nova in 1911
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| History | |
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| Namesake: | Newfoundland (Terra Nova in Latin) |
| Builder: | |
| Launched: | 1884 |
| Fate: | Sunk off Greenland, 13 September 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: |
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| Tonnage: | 764 grt |
| Length: | 187 ft (57 m) |
| Beam: | 31.4 ft (9.6 m) |
| Draught: | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Crew: | 65 |
Terra Nova was a whaler and polar expedition ship. She is best known for carrying the 1910 British Antarctic Expedition, Robert Falcon Scott's last expedition.
Terra Nova (Latin for New land) was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She was ideally suited to the polar regions and worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea, proving her worth for many years before she was called upon for expedition work.
In 1903, she sailed in company with fellow ex-whaler SY Morning to assist in freeing the National Antarctic Expedition's RRS Discovery from McMurdo Sound. On return to the UK, expedition leader Commander Robert Falcon Scott was promoted to the rank of Captain.
On return from the Antarctic Terra Nova was purchased by the American millionaire, William Ziegler and placed under the command of a Norwegian, Captain Kjeld Kjeldsen. She sailed to the Arctic to return members of the US Fiala/Ziegler expedition from Franz Josef Land to Norway. This expedition had lost its ship America, crushed by ice, during an attempt to reach the North Pole.
After returning to Newfoundland in 1906, Terra Nova resumed sealing duties with her owners, C.T. Bowring & Co. of St. John's and Liverpool.
In 1909, Terra Nova was bought by Captain R.F. Scott RN for the sum of £12,500, as expedition ship for the British Antarctic Expedition 1910. Reinforced from bow to stern with seven feet of oak to protect against the Antarctic ice pack, she sailed from Cardiff Docks on 15 June 1910 under overall command of Captain Scott. He described her as "a wonderfully fine ice ship.... As she bumped the floes with mighty shocks, crushing and grinding a way through some, twisting and turning to avoid others, she seemed like a living thing fighting a great fight".
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