George W. De Long

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George W. De Long
GeorgeWashingtonDeLong (cropped).jpg
George W. De Long in 1879, before
Birth nameGeorge Washington De Long
Born(1844-08-22)August 22, 1844
New York City, U.S.
DiedOctober 31, 1881(1881-10-31) (aged 37)
Siberia, Russia
BuriedWoodlawn Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Navy
Years1865–1881
RankLieutenant commander
Commands heldJeannette Expedition

George Washington De Long (August 22, 1844 – October 31, 1881) was a United States Navy officer, and explorer who led the ill-fated Jeannette Expedition of 1879–1881 in search of the Open Polar Sea.

Biography[edit]

Born in New York City, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy and graduated in 1865.[1]

Jeannette Expedition[edit]

In 1879, backed by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the New York Herald newspaper, and under the auspices of the US Navy, lieutenant commander De Long sailed from San Francisco on the ship USS Jeannette with a plan to find a quick way to the North Pole via the Bering Strait.[2] As well as collecting scientific data and animal specimens, De Long discovered three islands and claimed them for the U.S. in the summer of 1881.[2] The U.S. government did not endorse this claim; as such the islands are under Russian jurisdiction.

The ship became trapped in the ice pack in the Chukchi Sea northeast of Wrangel Island in September 1879. It drifted in the ice pack in a northwesterly direction until it was crushed in the shifting ice and sank on June 12, 1881, in the East Siberian Sea. De Long and his crew then traversed the ice pack to try to reach Siberia pulling three small boats. After reaching open water on September 11 they became separated and one boat, commanded by executive officer Charles W. Chipp, was lost; no trace of it was ever found. De Long's own boat reached land, but only two men sent ahead for aid survived. The third boat, under the command of chief engineer George W. Melville, reached the Lena_Delta and its crew were rescued.[2]

Death in Siberia[edit]

De Long died of starvation near Matvay Hut, Yakutia, Siberia. Melville returned a few months later and found the bodies of De Long and his boat crew. Overall, the doomed voyage took the lives of twenty expedition members, as well as additional men lost during the search operations.[2]

Legacy[edit]

In 1890, the officers and men of the U.S. Navy dedicated the Jeannette Monument, a granite-and-marble monument designed by George Partridge Colvocoresses—a cross with carved icicles hanging from it that sits atop a cairn. The 24-foot (7.3 m)-high structure is in the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery overlooking the Severn River.

Three U.S. Navy ships have been named USS DeLong. In addition to the De Long Islands, the De Long Mountains in northwest Alaska bear his name.

Dates of rank[edit]

De Long's grave
  • Midshipman – October 1, 1861
  • Passed midshipman – September 24, 1865
  • Ensign – December 1, 1866
  • Master – March 12, 1868
  • Lieutenant – March 26, 1869
  • Lieutenant commander – November 1, 1879

Bibliography[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ During the Civil War, the Naval Academy was relocated from Annapolis to Newport.
  2. ^ a b c d Sides, Hampton (2014). In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the U.S.S. Jeannette. Doubleday.