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0613201	73k	Robert Edwin Peary (6 May 1856 - 20 February 1920) was born in Cresson, Pa. near Pittsburgh, grew up in Maine, and graduated from Bowdoin College as a civil engineer in 1877. Peary made several expeditions to the Arctic, exploring Greenland by dog sled in 1886 and 1891 and returning to the island three times in the 1890s. Unlike many previous explorers, Peary studied Inuit survival techniques, built igloos, and dressed in practical furs in the native fashion. Peary also relied on the Inuit as hunters and dog-drivers on his expeditions, and pioneered the use of the system (which he called the "Peary system") of using support teams and supply caches for Arctic travel. His wife, Josephine, accompanied him on several of his expeditions. He also had 8 toes amputated but kept walking. Peary made several attempts to reach the North Pole between 1898 and 1905. For his final assault on the pole, he and 23 men set off from New York City aboard the Roosevelt under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett on 06 July 1908. They wintered near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island and from there departed for the pole on 01 March 1909. The last support party turned back on 01 April 1909 in latitude 87°47' north. On the final stage of the journey to the North Pole only five of his men, Matthew Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, remained. On April 6, he established Camp Jesup near the pole. In his diary for April 7 (but actually written up much later when preparing his journals for publication), Peary wrote "The Pole at last! The prize of 3 centuries, my dream and ambition for 23 years. Mine at last..." He died in Washington, D.C. on 20 February 1920 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His gravesite is topped by a huge globe on which Peary's personal credo, "I shall find a way or make one," is inscribed. USS Robert E. Peary (DE 132) (1943 - 1947) was the second ship named in his honor, having been preceded by DD 226 (1920 - 1942). She was succeeded by DE 1073 (1972 - 1992) and T-AKE 5 (2008 - ).       (photo and paraphrased biography from Wikipedia)		Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Navsource DE/FF/LCS Archive Manager
0613202	129k	circa 1943 (from the collection of Ernest Arroyo)		Jim Flynn HMC, USNR (ret.) Philadelphia, Pa.
0613203	220k	circa 1943
0613201	382k	25 March 1944: off Brooklyn, N.Y. - Two aerial views of Robert E. Peary taken from an altitude of 300' in waters near the New York Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-132 19-N-63085 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright) (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-132 19-N-63083 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)		Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
0613206	445k
0613207	154k	30 October 1944: USS Robert E. Peary (DE 132) is shown in a starboard aerial view wearing camouflage scheme 32/3D modified. This photo was taken 50 miles south of Nantucket Island. Peary had departed the 35th Street pier at the U.S. Naval Supply Depot in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn at 13:00 to join Convoy CU45. CU45 consisted of 32 merchant ships bound for the British Isles, escorted by one destroyer and nine destroyer escorts. (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-419675 from the United States National Archives)		Mike Green Port Angeles, Wash.
0613204	448k	My father, BM2c William J. Whitehead, served in Peary between 1943 and 1945. The mast from DE 132 was salvaged back in the 1960's and apparently made its' way to what was then a new high school in Rockville, Maryland aptly named "Robert E. Peary" High School in honor of the exployer. At that time the mast and bell (now missing) were salvaged and relocated on the campus of the high school. Once the school closed in the 1980's, the mast was relocated to the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center (5110 Meadowview Dr.) in Derwood, Maryland. Today, the mast of the DE 132 (along with the accompanying plaque) is still located at the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental Education Center, where it proudly serves to display flags. (Photos courtesy of Shaun Donaldson, grandson of William J. Whitehead)		Robert S. Whitehead

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