The Voyages of the Discovery: The Illustrated History of Scott’s Ship

by Ann Savours

This is the enthralling story of Captain Scott's remarkable ship, the Discovery, during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration. She was built at Dundee for Scott's first expedition of 1901-04 but was to have many roles before her final voyage back to Dundee in 1986, and this book tells the story of that long career. At the end of the 19th century the Royal Geographical Society proposed a National Antarctic Expedition, for which the Discovery was specially designed. Based on a whaleship, she was massively built to withstand ice. She set sail from Cowes on August 6th, 1901, under the command of Captain Scott, and entered the Ross Sea in January. A sledging expedition - of Scott, Shackleton and Wilson - reached within 500 miles of the South Pole. In 1905, a year after her return to Europe, she was purchased by the Hudson Bay Company; she traded under charter throughout the First World War; was later sent to rescue Shackleton, marooned on Elephant Island; in 1925 she became a Royal Research Ship, and then during 1929-31 she was used by Sir Edward Mawson to survey Australian Antarctic territory. She survived WWII and after restoration to her 1925 state returned to Dundee in 1986 where she is now a museum ship. This new and abridged edition of Ann Savours earlier bestselling book portrays vividly the epic voyages, and with its many illustrations conjures up the lost world of wooden ships and Antarctic exploration.

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Howard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your are a fan of the golden ages of arctic exploration, this book will be interesting. The Discovery was in many ways a flawed and inadequate ship that nonetheless is central to the stories of adventures of its time. The writing style is much more historical than narrative, letting the fact speaks. So it is not gripping in the way other treatments are.