USS Advance (1850)
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: | USS Advance |
| Launched: | 1847 |
| Acquired: | on loan, 1850 |
| Fate: | Abandoned in the Arctic, 1855 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Brigantine |
| Tonnage: | 144 long tons (146 t) |
| Length: | 88 ft (27 m) |
| Beam: | 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m) |
| Depth: | 8 ft 5 in (2.57 m) |
| Complement: | 17 officers and enlisted |
The first USS Advance was a brigantine in the United States Navy which participated in an arctic rescue expedition. Advance was built in 1847 as Augusta in New Kent County, Virginia and loaned to the Navy on 7 May 1850 by Mr. Henry Grinnell to participate in the search for Sir John Franklin's arctic expedition which had been stranded in the frozen north since 1847. After last-minute preparations, the ship, under the command of Lieutenant Edwin J. De Haven and in company with Rescue, put to sea from New York on 23 May 1850.
Storms battered the two ships on the initial leg of the voyage and separated them. However, both safely reached Disko Island, located off the west coast of Greenland where Davis Strait gives way to Baffin Bay. Advance arrived on 24 June, and Rescue pulled into port three days later. On the 29th, the two ships headed into Baffin Bay, bound for Lancaster Sound located north of Baffin Island and south of Devon Island. Off Haroe Island on 1 July, Advance encountered pack ice. A week later, she and her consort were caught in the pack just north of Upernavik. For the next three weeks, the two ships fought their way through the ice. On the 29th, they cleared the pack and continued their voyage across Melville Bay to Lancaster Sound. The two ships entered the sound on 19 August and, that same day, encountered two British vessels engaged in the same mission as the Americans.
That evening, a storm blew up and separated Advance and Rescue. The next day dawned "thick and foggy," but the wind had abated. Advance began searching for her companion. By 25 August, she was off Cape Riley on Devon Island where she put ashore a landing party to search for clues to the whereabouts of the Franklin expedition. While the searchers ashore were discovering the former campsite of some unidentified party, Advance was run aground by a strong current. The British ship Prince Albert offered assistance, but Rescue showed up at about the same time. Moreover, Advance lightened her load and succeeded in hauling off by her own efforts.
...
Wikipedia