Voyage to the South Pole and Oceania

Jules Dumont d’Urville · 1837 CE – 1840 CE · Earth

Push as far south as the ice allows, and survey the islands of Oceania on the way.

Historical context

The July Monarchy wanted an Antarctic success to match the British and American expeditions sailing the same summers, and offered the crews a bounty for every degree south of 75°. Dumont d’Urville, ill and past fifty, spent two tropical years between two attempts on the ice before finding a coast where the maps showed nothing.

The voyage, step by step

1. Orders from the king

   September 1837

   In September 1837 the Astrolabe and the Zélée leave Toulon with orders to sail further south than anyone.

2. Stopped by the pack

   February 1838

   In February 1838 the two corvettes are held for five days in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea and barely warp themselves out.

3. Louis Philippe Land

   March 1838

   In March 1838 the ships chart a long mountainous coast at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and name it for the king.

4. Refitting at Hobart

   December 1839

   In December 1839 the ships reach Tasmania after two years in the tropics, burying their dead and taking in coal and stores.

5. Land under the ice cap

   19 January 1840

   On 19 January 1840 the lookouts see rock beneath the ice: a continental coast at 66° south.

6. A flag on an islet

   21 January 1840

   On 21 January boats land on a rocky islet, chip off granite specimens and claim the coast for France.

7. Ships that did not speak

   30 January 1840

   On 30 January 1840 the Astrolabe and the American brig Porpoise pass within hailing distance and each sheers away.

8. Return to Toulon

   November 1840

   In November 1840 the two corvettes come home after three years, with a new Antarctic coast on the charts.

Outcome

Beaten back by the Weddell pack in 1838, he found and claimed Adélie Land from Hobart in January 1840.

Jules Dumont d’Urville

French officer, botanist and linguist who found the wreck of La Pérouse and claimed Adélie Land for France.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

• Jules Dumont d’Urville — Wikipedia
• Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l’Océanie sur les corvettes l’Astrolabe et la ZéléeJules Dumont d’Urville · Gide · 1841

Continue exploring

• The Erebus and Terror in the AntarcticJames Clark Ross · 1839 CE – 1843 CE
• Lost Arctic expeditionJohn Franklin · 1845 CE – 1848 CE
• The circumnavigation of AustraliaMatthew Flinders · 1801 CE – 1803 CE
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