The Vega, painting by Jacob Hägg | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | SS Vega |
Port of registry | Sweden |
Launched | 1872, in Bremerhaven |
Owner | Ferguson |
Port of registry | Dundee, Scotland |
Acquired | 1903 |
Out of service | 1903 |
Fate | Missing in Melville Bay, Greenland |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Steamship |
Tonnage | 357 DWT |
Length | 150 ft. |
Propulsion | Sails, 70 hp auxiliary steam engine |
Sail plan | Barque |
SS Vega was a Swedish barque, built in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1872. The Vega was the first ship to complete a voyage through the Northeast Passage, and the first vessel to circumnavigate the Eurasian continent, during the Vega expedition. Initially a troubled enterprise, the successful expedition is considered to be among the highest achievements in the history of Swedish science.
Though a sailing ship, the Vega had a 60 hp auxiliary steam engine. The hull was of wood measuring 150 ft. in length (45.72 m), a capacity of 357 DWT.
Constructed as a whaler, the vessel was acquired and rebuilt for Arctic exploration by Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld with financial assistance from King Oscar II of Sweden and others. [1] [2] On 22 June 1878 the ship set out from Karlskrona, Sweden through the Northeast Passage around the north coast of Eurasia. Blocked by ice on 28 September of that year only 120 miles (200 km) short of the Bering Strait marking the eastern end of Asia, the ship was not freed until 18 July 1879. Two days later East Cape was passed, and Vega became the first ship to complete a voyage through the Northeast Passage. [1] Returning by way of the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Suez Canal, [3] Vega also became the first vessel to circumnavigate the Eurasian continent.
After the expedition Vega returned to her original trades of whaling and seal hunting. The ship was reported sunk in Melville Bay west of Greenland in 1903, sailing under the Scottish owner Ferguson of Dundee.
The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all extensions of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia.
Oscar II was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905.
Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld was a Finland-Swedish aristocrat, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer. He was a member of the noble Nordenskiöld family of scientists and held the title of a friherre (baron).
The Northeast Passage is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage (NWP).
Alfred Gabriel Nathorst was a Swedish Arctic explorer, geologist, and palaeobotanist.
David Melgueiro was alleged to have been a Portuguese navigator and explorer. He allegedly sailed across the Northeast Passage in 1660 by travelling from Japan to Portugal through the Arctic Ocean at a time when Portuguese vessels were banned from Japan. The story is considered to be a falsehood, with obvious factual errors in the account of the voyage and no historical evidence to support it or even confirm Melgueiro's existence.
Frans Reinhold Kjellman was a Swedish botanist who specialized in marine phycology and is known in particular for his work on Arctic algae.
Oscar Frithiof Nordqvist Ph.D. was a Finnish hydrographer.
Adolf Arnold Louis Palander af Vega was a Swedish naval officer, mostly remembered as the captain on Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's Vega expedition, the first successful attempt to navigate the Northeast Passage.
Kobbefjorden is a small fjord on the west coast of Danes Island, on the northwestern coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago. The fjord is about two miles (3.5 km) long and 1-1.2 miles (1.5–2 km) wide. It offers one of the best anchorages on Spitsbergen's northwest coast, "being sheltered from most winds and ice-free for much of the year." At the head of the fjord is a valley, Kobbefjorddalen, which leads to the east coast of Danes Island. Kobbefjorden's southwesternmost point is Luftskipodden. Sir Martin Conway, on his visit to Spitsbergen in 1896–97, described the fjord as having "ice-smoothed hills of [the] hardest rock."
The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography is a scientific learned society founded in December 1877. It was established after a rearrangement of various sections of the Anthropological Society, which was formed in 1873 by Hjalmar Stolpe, Hans Hildebrand, Oscar Montelius, and Gustaf Retzius.
A number of steamships have carried the name Vega, including
Giacomo Bove was an Italian explorer. He sailed with Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld on the first voyage through the north-east passage, and later explored Tierra del Fuego and the Congo River.
The VegaExpedition of 1878–1880, named after the SS Vega and under the leadership of Finland-Swedish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, was the first Arctic expedition to navigate through the Northeast Passage, the sea route between Europe and Asia through the Arctic Ocean, and the first voyage to circumnavigate Eurasia. Initially a troubled enterprise, the successful expedition is considered to be among the highest achievements in the history of Swedish science.
HSwMS Eugenie was a Swedish frigate, armed with 40 cannons. Between 1851 and 1853, the Eugenie was captained by Christian Adolf Virgin as the first Swedish warship to circumnavigate the globe, on a voyage intended to promote Swedish trade. Naval officer Carl Skogman subsequently released an itinerary of the journey.
Cape Vega is a headland on the northern shore of the Taymyr Peninsula in the Kara Sea, Russian Federation. This cape is located at the northern tip of the peninsula, a little to the west of Cape Chelyuskin. Oscar Bay lies between both capes.
Penkigney Bay is a bay of the Bering Sea on the eastern coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, Russian Federation. Administratively the bay is part of the Providensky District of Chukotka.
Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman were English explorers. They led an expedition for the Muscovy Company to discover the Northeast Passage in 1580.
The Skirmish at the Chukchi peninsula was a brief altercation between the Swedes onboard the SS Vega and the local Chukchi people. While stranded due to the cold conditions of the Arctic, a small party of local Chukchis would make their way to the ship, expecting that the Chukchis would in some way be a threat to the crew members, the Swedes would open fire upon them. However, the Chukchis were only there to offer their help and things would de-escalate quickly.
Media related to Vega (ship, 1872) at Wikimedia Commons