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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

Rescue I

Brigantine:

Built, date and location unknown

Launched, date unknown

Rescue and sister ship Advance were specially reinforced and fitted out for Arctic service

Offered, on loan, to the U.S. Government by Henry Grinnell in 1850 for use in tracing the ill-fated expedition which, in May 1845, had sailed from England under Sir John Franklin seeking a northwest passage

IN 1847 the Admiralty dispatched relief expeditions

Since there was still no news of the expedition by 1 May 1850, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to accept Mr. Grinnell's offer

In accordance with the wishes of both Congress and Mr. Grinnell, both ships were manned by volunteers from the U.S. Navy

On 22 May, the expedition, commanded by LT. Edward J. DeHaven, sailed from New York with Rescue's captain, Acting Master Samuel P. Griffin, second in command

Sailing independently the first days out, the two ships rendezvoused at the Whale Fish Islands in Disko Bay, Greenland, and on 29 June headed for Melville Bay and the northern route across Baffin Bay to Lancaster Sound

On 1 July they encountered their first pack ice off Haroe Island

On 8 July, they were caught in the ice north of Upernavik and spent the next 21 days forcing their way through the ice

Free on the 29th, the brigs continued through the heavy floes of Melville Bay into August

On the 19th, they entered Lancaster Sound. By the 23d, Rescue was off Cape Riley, Devon Island. There, Griffin and others from his crew joined searchers from a British squadron in the discovery of a campsite previously occupied by an unknown Royal Navy party

On the 26th, the American expedition attempted to enter Wellington Channel and search to the north of Cape Spencer

Meeting another British ship, they learned that positive evidence of the Franklin party had been found between the Cape and Point Innes

Ice, however, blocked further progress to the north, through the channel, and to the west, into Barrow Strait

On the 27th, the search vessels, British and American, gathered in a cove, later named Union Bay, at Beechey Island to plan coordinated searches

As the commanders made their plans, a shore party discovered three graves on the island, across from Cape Riley. Franklin's first winter quarters had been found

From that time on, however, little progress was made in the search, even though sledge parties were sent out

One such party, from Rescue, followed traces of a similar journey by a party from one of Franklin's ships, Erebus or Terror, almost to Cape Bowden. Continuing past that point they discovered a bay which now bears Griffin's name

During early September further attempts were made to penetrate the ice barrier to the west

On the 12th, Rescue's rudder post was split in a storm off Griffith's Island and on the 13th the two ships, Advance towing Rescue, turned east in hopes of returning to the United States that season

On the 14th, however, they were caught, frozen, midway across the entrance to Wellington Channel. A winter of drifting began

During September and October they drifted in Wellington Channel, discovering in the process the northern peninsula of Devon Island which they named after Grinnell

In November they oscillated with the winds and currents near Beechey, and in December they drifted down Lancaster Sound

On 14 January 1851, they were carried into Baffin Bay

At the end of May, their imprisoning floe neared Davis Strait and on 5 June, the ice began to break up

Rescue repaired, parted company with Advance

On the 7th, she was free. On the 8th, Advance cleared the ice

Both ships replenished in Disko Bay and into August attempted to renew their search. But the ice was heavier than the previous year and neither ships nor men could have lasted through another winter. Scurvy had struck, but no one had died. A second winter in northern Baffin Bay would have brought a return of the disease and disaster.

The ships turned south. Advance reached New York, 30 September 1851

Rescue followed her into port 7 October

Both ships were subsequently returned to Mr. Grinnell and Advance was prepared for a second Arctic expedition

Specifications:
Displacement 91 t.
Length unknown
Beam unknown
Depth of Hold unknown
Draft unknown
Speed unknown
Complement 16
Armament none
Propulsion Sail

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
0986115501	377k	USS *Advance* (foreground) in 1850, following USS *Rescue* at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Image from p.410 of the book The frozen zone and its explorers; a comprehensive record of voyages, travels, discoveries, adventures, and whale fishing in the Arctic regions for one thousand tears. Authors Alexander Hyde (1814-1881), Abraham Chittenden Baldwin (1804-1887) joint author William Leonard Gage (1832-1889), joint author Charles W. Shields (1825-1904). Publisher Columbia Book Company, Hartford, Conn., 1874.		Robert Hurst

Rescue I
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

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Last Updated 30 May 2023