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| ANTARCTIC EXPLORERS . |
Robert
Falcon SCOTT 1868- 1912 |
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Scott
was born the son of a Devonshire brewer with naval connections. He
entered the navy training school at 13, graduated to midshipman and
lieutenant and served in the Caribbean and Pacific.
His first Antarctic Expedition was in 1901-04 on the ship Discovery, where with Scott, Shackleton and Wilson sled to a record 82 deg. S Promoted to
Captain, Scott announced in September 1909 of his plans to lead
a new expedition to claim the Pole for the British Empire. |
| For transport over
the ice, Scott clung to the British orthodoxy that man-hauling as
the best. If help was needed, ponies or engines would take precedence
over dogs. The Terra Nova a 700 tonne coal-burning whaler was used as the expedition ship, leaving London 1 June 1910. Landing on the Antarctic continent on 4th January at a place now named Cape Evans. A permanent camp and hut was setup by 17 January in preparation to the summer program of laying down supply depots for the following seasons expedition to the pole. |
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Scott's last birthday dinner
- his 43rd The sumptuous spread included seal soup, roast mutton
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He and four companions reached the South Pole on 17th January 1912 only to find Amunsden had been there a month earlier. All died on the return journey. The heroism of their end and Scott's moving diary began an enduring legend that masked what many now concider a real failure of organsation. |
