Discovering the North-West Passage: The Four-Year Arctic Odyssey of H.M.S. Investigator and the McClure Expedition

From 1850 to 1854, the ambitious Commander Robert McClure captained the HMS Investigator on a voyage in search of the missing Franklin Expedition, which sailed from England into the Arctic in 1845 to map the last uncharted section of the North-West Passage. The Investigator and her consort the Enterprise were to pass through the Bering Strait from the west but a Pacific storm separated them, never to meet again. Obsessed with traversing the passage, McClure pressed on and HMS Investigator spent three years trapped in pack ice in Mercy Bay before the crew abandoned ship on foot. This book chronicles the voyage in detail. McClure and his relationships with his officers are at the heart of the story of the arduous journey, vividly illustrated by the paintings of Lt. Samuel Cresswell.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments delete viii Preface delete 1 1. The Frozen Grail, up to 1845 delete 3 2. Into the Fray, 1846–50 delete 14 3. The Pacific, 1850 delete 33 4. Western Arctic Gateway, 1850 delete 54 5. The Wily Arctic, 1850 delete 66 6. The Coldest Crucible, 1850 delete 82 7. Decisions, 1850 delete 100 8. Jack Frost, 1850–51 delete 120 9. The Grand Sledding Chorus, 1851 delete 136 10. The Trap Is Sprung! 1851 delete 154 11. “The fatal error of our voyage,” 1851–52 delete 170 12. Starvation, Madness—and Mutiny, 1852 delete 188 13. Infinity’s Brink, 1853–54 delete 209 14. Scattered Bones and Frozen Memories, 1853 Onward delete 226 Epilogue. Found Beneath the Ice, 2010–11 delete 249 Appendix 1. Weights and Measurements delete 253 Appendix 2. Notes on Sources delete 254 Appendix 3. HMS Investigator Crew List delete 265 Appendix 4. Extracts from Admiralty Orders to Captain Richard Collinson, CB, RN delete 279 Appendix 5. Notable Sled Parties of the Investigators delete 282 Appendix 6. Notes on Map Features delete 289 Appendix 7. Polar Crumbs: Creation of the Arctic Medal 1818–55 delete 292 Chapter Notes delete 307 Bibliography delete 351 Index delete 367

About the Author :
Glenn M. Stein has researched maritime and polar history since 1975, and regularly publishes in journals and magazines. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, life member of the American Polar Society and a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society and the Life Saving Awards Research Society. He lives in Apopka, Florida.

Review :
“provides new insights into how geographical discovery received the recognition of a grateful nation. Recommended”—Choice; “excellent...fully documented to the highest academic standards. Perhaps the author’s greatest accomplishment is that he demonstrates conclusively that careful attention to scholarly apparatus need not be any impediment to producing an exciting and absorbing adventure story”—Nautical Research Journal; “valuable...an enjoyable and informative story of the Royal Navy’s mid-nineteenth century Artic explorations”—Ocean Challenge; “his book is the product of extensive research, finding diaries and letters in many local repositories—Canadian Nautical Research Society; “research is extensive...comprehensive...excellent”—Ocean Challenge; “the author is well versed in the traditions of nineteenth-century sailing ships, the equipping of them and the society of the sailors aboard them...well-researched and has such great detail that, even though it is quite readable, it doubles as a reference work for Arctic exploration”—The Journal of the Society for Nautical Research; “deserves credit for bringing the story of the McClure expedition to center stage...readable account of the complex history...high scholarly quality...high technical quality...a most welcome addition to the literature about early polar exploration...Stein provides a most welcome and enjoyable historical background story...recommended”—Navy History; “the definitive account of the last voyage of HMS Investigator.... Stein’s exhaustive research turns up a multitude of little-known nuggets”—Arctic Journal; “a lively, readable account...as an example of thorough historical research, Stein’s work has few equals...extremely valuable...recommended highly”—Polar Record; “deep research. A volume of very considerable scholarship which deserves to be on the bookshelves of everyone interested in naval life in the 19th century, and in the search for the North-West Passage.”—The Journal of Orders and Medals Research Society; “a stirring account...compelling...meticulously assembled”—Geographical Magazine; “this is the human story of this historic expedition, and includes a wealth of unpublished information within a thoroughly readable text”—Heritage Florida Jewish News; “Glenn M. Stein’s Discovering the North-West Passage gives a stirring account of the perilous journey of Robert McClure and his men, the first ever to pass through the Arctic from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In Stein’s words, McClure and his men are fully brought to life in a way no previous account of nineteenth-century exploration has managed.”—Russell Potter, author of Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture.