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 SYAurora anchored to floe-ice during theAustralasian Antarctic Expedition | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd.Dundee,Scotland |
| Launched | 1876 |
| Fate | Declared lost byLloyd's of London, 2 January 1918 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Steam yacht |
| Tonnage | 580grt; 380nrt[1] |
| Length | 165 ft (50 m) |
| Beam | 30.5 ft (9.3 m) |
| Draught | 18.75 ft (5.72 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Barquentine |
SYAurora was a 580-ton[1] barque-rigged[3]steam yacht built byAlexander Stephen and Sons Ltd. inDundee, Scotland, in 1876,[4] for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company. She was 165 feet (50 m) long with a 30-foot (9.1 m) beam. The hull was made of oak, sheathed with greenheart[clarification needed] and lined with fir. The bow was a mass of solid wood reinforced with steel-plate armour. The heavy side frames were braced by two levels of horizontal oak beams. Its primary use was whaling in the northern seas, and it was built sturdily enough to withstand the heavy weather and ice that would be encountered there. That strength proved useful for Antarctic exploration as well and between 1911 and 1917 it made five trips to the continent, for both exploration and rescue missions.
Between the years 1876 and 1910,Aurora made the annual trip fromDundee, Scotland toSt. John's, Newfoundland to take part in the whale and seal hunt in the North Atlantic. There were a couple of notable events in this time. In 1884,[5] along with other whalers in the areaAurora made an attempt to rescue the controversialGreely Expedition, and its captain, James Fairweather[6] assisted with a repair to the US relief shipBear.[7] In 1891, the ship came to the rescue of the crew ofPolynia when it was crushed in sea ice.[8]
In 1910, it was bought byDouglas Mawson's deputy, CaptainJohn King Davis, for £6,000 for hisAustralasian Antarctic Expedition.[9] On 2 December 1911Aurora departed fromHobart, Australia forMacquarie Island, where a radio relay station was established. It left the island on 25 December, arriving atCape Denison on 8 January 1912, where themain base was built. It departed on 19 January, heading west to find a location for the western base, which was eventually sited in what is now known as Queen Mary Land, on 1 February 1912. After the western party was established on the stable ice shelf,Aurora left on 20 February, arriving in Hobart on 12 March.
In December 1912,Aurora returned to Cape Denison to find that the sledging expedition of Mawson,Xavier Mertz, andBelgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis was overdue. Davis had to pick up the party at the western base and risked the ship being iced in over the winter if he left it too long. He waited until 8 February but just after leaving, he received a wireless message asking him to turn back as Mawson had reached the base. He turnedAurora around but severe weather prevented the landing boat being put ashore, so, on the evening of 9 February, Davis decided he must steam west to fetch the western base party.Aurora reached the western base on 23 February, loaded quickly and headed north, arriving in Hobart on 15 March.
Over the subsequent months, Davis raised extensive rescue funds, and hadAurora refitted. Departing from Hobart on 15 November 1913,Aurora collected the radio relay party underGeorge Ainsworth at Macquarie Island, and sailed on to pick up the relief party at Cape Denison. It arrived inCommonwealth Bay on 3 December 1913 and left on 25 December. After an extensive coastal exploration and oceanographic work, it arrived back in Australia at Port Adelaide on 26 February 1914.
In 1914, SirErnest Shackleton taskedAurora to help set up supply depots along the route for hisImperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. After being delayed bysea ice inMcMurdo Sound in January 1915,Aurora managed to make its way further south, and sent teams off to set up the depots. It eventually made its way toDiscovery Bay on 12 March 1915, where it anchored and continued to offload supplies. In May,Aurora was trapped in the ice, and was carried out to the sea, stranding the men that were setting up the depots. It remained trapped in the ice for the better part of a year, drifting some 1600 nautical miles. It was not until 12 February 1916 that the ship escaped from the ice, making it back toDunedin,New Zealand on 3 April.
The Australian, New Zealand and British governments agreed to fund the refit ofAurora for the rescue of theRoss Sea Party. An Advisory Committee was established inMelbourne, consisting ofRear Admiral Sir William Cresswell,Professor Sir Orme Masson, Captain J.R. Barter,Commander John Stevenson andDr Griffith Taylor.[10]
Shackleton's expedition funds were fully expended. After his legendary ordeal onEndurance in theWeddell Sea sector, Shackleton arrived inNew Zealand during December 1916. The three governments involved were adamant that he would not lead the rescue expedition and at their insistenceJohn King Davis was appointed to captainAurora. After negotiation Shackleton sailed aboardAurora, but Captain Davis had total authority on the voyage. On 10 January 1917, the ship pulled alongside the pack ice nearCape Royds and worked its way toCape Evans. One week later, the seven survivors of the original ten members of theRoss Sea Party were headed back toWellington, New Zealand aboardAurora.
Aurora was last seen in 1917, when it departedNewcastle, New South Wales, bound forIquique, Chile with a cargo of coal.Lloyd's of London posted the ship as missing on 2 January 1918; it was believed it was a casualty of World War I, possibly being sunk by a mine laid by the Germanmerchant raiderWolf. One ofAurora'slifebelts was recovered from theTasman Sea betweenSydney andBrisbane six months after its disappearance.[11]
In 1927, a G. Bressington was walking along the beach nearTuggerah, New South Wales and noticed an old wine bottle partly buried in the sand. Upon examining the bottle he saw an engraving of the picture of a ship and on the other side the following message: "Midwinter's Day, 1912, Shackleton Glacier, Antarctica. 'Frank Wild, A. L. Kennedy, S. Evan Jones, C. Arch. Hoadley, Charles T. Harrisson, George Dovers, A. L. Watson and Morton H. Moyes".[12]
The story of the bottle is that it was one of three given to Sir Douglas Mawson when his expedition left England in 1911. The bottles were given by Mr J. T. Buchanan who had them left over from theChallenger expedition and wished the party to drink them on Explorer Day. Mawson passed one bottle on toFrank Wild, who led the Western Base Party whilstAurora was under the command of John King Davis. When the wine was drunk on the day, the party's artist Harrisson engraved a picture ofAuroraon one side and the names of the party on the other. It is thought the bottle was still aboardAurora when it left Newcastle in 1917.
A number of Antarctic features are named forAurora. These include:
This is a partial list ofcaptains ofAurora:
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