Fox (ship)

*Fox*
History

United Kingdom
Name:	Fox
Builder:	Alexander Hall, Aberdeen
Launched:	1854
Fate:	Wrecked on the Greenland coast 1912
General characteristics
Class & type:	Auxiliary steamship
Tons burthen:	320 BM, 177 register. In 1900: 187 tons gross, 110 net register.
Length:	132 ft (40.2 m) (hull overall) 120 ft 6 in (36.7 m) (between perpendiculars)
Beam:	24 ft 4 in (7.4 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Propulsion:	Sails and steam (16 nominal horse power)
Sail plan:	3-masted schooner rigged
Complement:	26
Armament:	None fixed.

The steam yacht Fox was the vessel that Francis Leopold McClintock commanded in 1857-1859 on an expedition to the Arctic in northern Canada to search for the fate of the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin.

Construction and Early History

Fox was a built as a yacht for Sir Richard Sutton, 2nd Baronet at a cost of about £5000. The ship's hull was diagonally planked with Scotch larch on the inside and East India teak on the outside, and the two-cylinder auxiliary steam engine of 16 n.h.p. gave a speed of about seven knots.

Fox had made just one cruise to Norway before Sutton’s death. After a period of use in the Baltic during the Crimean War, the vessel was laid up in a partly dismantled state at the builders’ yards. The executors of Sutton's will sold the ship for £2000 to Lady Franklin for her Arctic search.

The 1857-59 Expedition

Land-based expeditions in 1854 and 1855 under John Rae and James Anderson had discovered relics from the missing expedition north of Back River, south-west of the Boothia Peninsula. Lady Franklin had previously sent three expeditions to search this area, but all had failed to reach it. She purchased Fox in April 1857 after finally accepting advice that the 159-ton auxiliary schooner Isabel that she had owned since 1852 was too small for the job, and the government had denied her requests to use HMS Resolute.

The sailing master was Allen Young, who donated £500 towards the subscriptions raised for the expedition (about £3000 in cash or kind). Fox's second-in-command was Lieutenant William Hobson, RN.

Fox left Aberdeen on 1 July 1857, and managed to pass through the Bellot Strait briefly before finding a secure winter anchorage to the east of the Strait off the Boothia Peninsula. Over the next two years extensive expeditions were made by sled to the west of the Boothia Peninsula. On 6 May 1859 William Hobson discovered the only written messages from the missing expedition ever found, in cairns on King William Island. The overland parties returned to the ship, which then left for Plymouth, arriving on 20 September. Three of the ship's crew died during the expedition: the engineer from natural causes, his assistant by a shipboard accident, and the steward from scurvy.

Later Service

Fox in a hurricane from Fox-Expeditionen i Aaret 1860 over Færøerne, Island og Grønland.

Still under Allen Young's command, Fox was engaged in survey work off the coast of Norway in conjunction with laying a North Atlantic telegraph cable in 1860-61 before being sold to the Danish Royal Greenland Company. By the late 1880s Fox was owned by Akties. Kryolith Mine-og Handels Selskabet of Copenhagen, and was refitted with a 17 nhp compound steam engine made by Burmeister & Wain. After a long and useful career Fox was wrecked on the coast of Greenland in 1912.

References

Francis Leopold McClintock, The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas: A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions, John Murray, London, 1859.
Francis Leopold McClintock, Die Reise der Fox im Arktischen Eismeer. Ein Bericht von der Expedition zur Aufklärung des Schicksals von Sir John Franklin und seiner Gefährten (1857-1859), ed. E. Berkenbusch, St. C. Saar, Wiesbaden 2010
Roderic Owen, The Fate of Franklin: The Life and Mysterious Death of the Most Heroic of Arctic Explorers, Hutchinson Group (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Richmond South, Victoria, 1978.
[Christian Frederik] Theodor Zeilau, Fox-Expeditionen i Aaret 1860 over Færøerne, Island og Grønland, med Oplysninger om Muligheden af et nordatlantisk Telegraf-Anlæg, Fr. Wøldikes Forlagsboghandel, Copenhagen, 1861. Digital version at Google Books
The Times newspaper (London), 16 April 1857, 16 May 1857, 3 June 1857, 6 August 1912.
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 11 February 1861 (RGS, London).
Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1900 edn.
Carl Petersen, "Den sidste Franklin-expedition med "Fox", Capt. M'Clintock", Fr. Wøldikes Forlagsboghandel, Copenhagen, 1860.

Polar exploration

Arctic

Ocean History Expeditions

Farthest North North Pole	Barentsz Hudson Marmaduke Carolus Parry North Magnetic Pole J. Ross J. C. Ross Kane Hayes Polaris Polaris C. F. Hall British Arctic Expedition HMS Alert Nares HMS Discovery Stephenson Markham Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Greely Lockwood Brainard 1st Fram expedition Fram Nansen Johansen Sverdrup Jason Amedeo F. Cook Peary Sedov Byrd Airship Norge Amundsen Nobile Wisting Riiser-Larsen Ellsworth Airship Italia Nautilus Wilkins ANT-25 Chkalov Baydukov Belyakov "North Pole" manned drifting ice stations NP-1 Papanin Shirshov E. Fyodorov Krenkel NP-36 NP-37 Sedov Badygin Wiese USS Nautilus USS Skate Plaisted Herbert NS Arktika Barneo Arktika 2007 Mir submersibles Sagalevich Chilingarov

Iceland Greenland	Pytheas Brendan Papar Vikings Naddodd Svavarsson Arnarson Norse colonization of the Americas Ulfsson Galti Erik the Red Christian IV's expeditions J. Hall Cunningham Lindenov C. Richardson Danish colonization Egede Scoresby Jason Nansen Sverdrup Peary Rasmussen

Northwest Passage Northern Canada	Cabot G. Corte-Real M. Corte-Real Frobisher Gilbert Davis Hudson Discovery Bylot Baffin Munk I. Fyodorov Gvozdev HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Discovery Clerke Mackenzie Kotzebue J. Ross HMS Griper Parry HMS Hecla Lyon HMS Fury Hoppner Crozier J. C. Ross Coppermine Expedition Franklin Back Dease Simpson HMS Blossom Beechey Franklin's lost expedition HMS Erebus HMS Terror Collinson Rae–Richardson Expedition Rae J. Richardson Austin McClure Expedition HMS Investigator McClure HMS Resolute Kellett Belcher Kennedy Bellot Isabel Inglefield 2nd Grinnell Expedition USS Advance Kane Fox McClintock HMS Pandora Young Fram Sverdrup Gjøa Amundsen Rasmussen Karluk Stefansson Bartlett St. Roch H. Larsen Cowper

North East Passage Russian Arctic	Pomors Koch boats Willoughby Chancellor Barentsz Mangazeya Hudson Poole Siberian Cossacks Perfilyev Stadukhin Dezhnev Popov Ivanov Vagin Permyakov Great Northern Expedition Bering Chirikov Malygin Ovtsyn Minin V. Pronchishchev M. Pronchishcheva Chelyuskin Kh. Laptev D. Laptev Chichagov Lyakhov Billings Sannikov Gedenschtrom Wrangel Matyushkin Anjou Litke Lavrov Pakhtusov Tsivolko Middendorff Austro-Hungarian Expedition Weyprecht Payer Vega Expedition A. E. Nordenskiöld Palander USS Jeannette De Long Yermak Makarov Zarya Toll Kolomeitsev Matisen Kolchak Sedov Rusanov Kuchin Brusilov Expedition Sv. Anna Brusilov Albanov Konrad Wiese Nagórski Taymyr / Vaygach Vilkitsky Maud Amundsen AARI Samoylovich Begichev Urvantsev Sadko Ushakov Glavsevmorput Schmidt Aviaarktika Shevelev Sibiryakov Voronin Chelyuskin Krassin Gakkel Nuclear-powered icebreakers NS Lenin Arktika class

Antarctic

Continent History Expeditions

Southern Ocean	Roché Bouvet Kerguelen HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Smith San Telmo Vostok Bellingshausen Mirny Lazarev Bransfield Palmer Davis Weddell Morrell Astrolabe Dumont d'Urville United States Exploring Expedition USS Vincennes Wilkes USS Porpoise Ringgold HMS Erebus J. C. Ross HMS Terror Crozier Cooper Challenger expedition HMS Challenger Nares Murray Jason C. A. Larsen

"Heroic Age"	Belgian Antarctic Expedition Belgica de Gerlache Lecointe Amundsen Cook Arctowski Racoviță Dobrowolski Southern Cross Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Discovery Discovery Hut Gauss Gauss Drygalski Swedish Antarctic Expedition Antarctic O. Nordenskjöld C. A. Larsen Scottish Antarctic Expedition Bruce Scotia Orcadas Base Nimrod Expedition Nimrod French Antarctic Expeditions Pourquoi-Pas Charcot Japanese Antarctic Expedition Shirase Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Framheim Polheim Terra Nova Terra Nova Scott Wilson E. R. Evans Crean Lashly Filchner Australasian Antarctic Expedition SY Aurora Mawson Far Eastern Party Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Endurance Ernest Shackleton Wild *James Caird* Ross Sea party Mackintosh Shackleton–Rowett Expedition Quest

IPY · IGY Modern research	Christensen Byrd BANZARE BGLE Rymill New Swabia Ritscher Operation Tabarin Marr Operation Highjump Captain Arturo Prat Base British Antarctic Survey Operation Windmill Ketchum Ronne Expedition F. Ronne E. Ronne Schlossbach Operation Deep Freeze McMurdo Station Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition Hillary V. Fuchs Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1st Somov Klenova Mirny 2nd Tryoshnikov 3rd Tolstikov Antarctic Treaty System Transglobe Expedition Fiennes Burton Lake Vostok Kapitsa

Farthest South South Pole	HMS Resolution J. Cook HMS Adventure Furneaux Weddell HMS Erebus J. C. Ross HMS Terror Crozier Southern Cross Borchgrevink Discovery Barne Nimrod Shackleton Wild Marshall Adams South Magnetic Pole Mawson David Mackay Amundsen's South Pole expedition Fram Amundsen Bjaaland Helmer Hassel Wisting Polheim Terra Nova Scott E. Evans Oates Wilson Bowers Byrd Balchen McKinley Dufek Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station Hillary V. Fuchs Pole of Cold Vostok Station Pole of inaccessibility Pole of Inaccessibility Station Tolstikov Crary A. Fuchs Messner

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