Arco Polar Expeditions: Difference between revisions

[[File:1891 Landings.png|thumb|The 4 shore landings and inland exploration forays (I-IV) as made by John Howland during the 1891 Arco Polar Expedition. ]]

This was the first expedition undertaken by [[Arcerion]] to the Arctic, leaving in February of 1891 from the Songun port of [[Chester-on-Moore]], the voyage not being entirely completed until late 1892. Led by [[Walter Hetherington]], assisted by the soon-to-be-famous John Howland, it was primarily aimed at an initial survey and geographic mapping of the Arctic peninsulas to the East of Northern Crona, jutting out into the [[Albion Sea]]. During this expedition, Hetherington and Howland performed the first full oceanographic and coastal surveys of the Northern Albion Sea. It also discovered two islands [[Elizabeth Island]] and [[Gibson Island]]. Elizabeth Island, named for Hetherington's first daughter, was discovered during the initial entrance into the Northern reaches of the Albion Sea. Gibson Island was named after a member of the expedition who died after succumbing to cold-weather exposure injuries sustained while exploring the island. During the 1891 expedition, four separate landings and explorations were made by John Howland, the two aforementioned islands, as well as a pair of shore trips onto two separate peninsulas. The expeditions themselves were marked by harsh conditions due to the Arctic weather.  

The government sponsored expeditionary research in much of the Cronan Interior for safari-style forays into the continent, however serious maritime navigational exercises and missions had not been accomplished at this point by any Cronan nations. As such, the government contacted the Geography and Survey Department at the [[Carnish Anglican University]] in [[Kurst]], Arcerion for a proposal on how they could feasibly explore the Arctic Circle. The head of the department at the time, Walter Hetherington, began recruiting from several sources. Scientific expertise was acquired from the university as well as several architecture and engineering firms in Kinnaird and Kurst. For experience in colder climates and experts on mountaineering and long-distance patrolling, he requested volunteers from [[Arcer Army|Chester Fusliers]] and [[Arcer Army|Arcerion Easthampton Borderers]], a pair of infantry regiments that had particular expertise fighting rebel and guerilla forces in Arcerion's Southeastern mountains. Of these was a former Captain with the Easthampton Borderers, [[John Howland]], By far the most important selection however was the maritime and naval experience, of which Arcerion had limited beyond the Malentine and Songun Seas. Several merchantmen saw profitable opportunities, and career naval officers themselves saw this as a way to stake their claim and make their mark in the annals of the [[Arcer Navy|Arcerion Naval Service]]. As such, dozens of sailors and seamen from Chester-on-Moore and Kurst volunteered for the task. With the personnel assembled and beginning preparations in Chester-on-Moore, the government purchased a pair of sailing ships had to be procured. The Navy had no suitable ships for cold-weather sailing, and as such a pair of ships that had already been commissioned for the Navy were retrofitted during the construction and converted to Arctic exploration vessels. The three-masted Barquentines, named ''Chester'' and ''Emily'', would each host a compliment of forty men and the requisite supplies for travel to the Arctic circle. Training and supplies continued to be procured and conducted until February of 1891, when the expedition set off.

With an initial stop in [[The Cape|Cape Town]], the expedition then set off for the [[Kiravia|Kiravian]] port of Sirana, following this with a resupply stop in the [[New Archduchy|Republic of New Archduchy]]. By this point, the journey had been ongoing for several months, with the final pre-Arctic resupply stop made at the Kiravian colony of Xepramonta.

Setting off at the end of May, the expedition made it around another peninsula and discovered another island. It was here that Nathan Gibson would become the first Arcer to die in the Arctic. John Howland again led an expedition ashore onto the island, but on their second night a snowstorm destroyed much of their camp and supplies. Over a day's travel away from the moored ships, they struggled back across rocky and snow-swept terrain back to the ''Chester'', many of the members suffering from frostbite and hypothermia. Nathan Gibson passed away the next day, which greatly affected morale. Walter Hetherington named the island in his honour, and they conducted a burial on the shore nearby, the gravesite which is still there to this day, constructed of local rocks and with a large cross hewn out of stone and secured with rope. The expedition continued, moving across the sea to the final part of the coastline where they sent another shore party for a longer stint, Howland leading one of two parties, both returning within a week to the coast to be recovered.  

The expedition concluded as the ships sailed South, successful in their voyage despite the loss of one of their members. They made the same ports of call upon their return, and upon their return to Arcerion, stopped for brief respite in Chester-on-Moore before a receiving parade in Kurst. The scientific data and navigational charts were methodically studied and used to plan the expedition of 1893, which was again to be led by Walter Hetherington. The impact culturally was incredibly significant. Walter Hentherington and John Howland became household names in Arcerion, and the Carnish Royal Family send a letter of congratulations to the Arcer Parliament congratulating the nation on its expedition, even going so far as extending the invitation to Hetherington to visit Carna to be received by the Crown Regent.  

=== Expedition of 1893 ===

Capitalizing on the success of the 1891 expedition, the [[Government of Arcerion|Confederate Parliament]] authorized the raising of a second expedition to take place the following year. Preparations however, were considerably more rushed and this would result in catastrophe. The schooner ''Emily'', still not fully repaired, was not chosen to again participate as one of the ships in the expedition. ''Chester'' was to be accompanied a new schooner, ''Forthright'', as well as one of the Naval Service's new frigates, ''Archer''. The Navy was keen on testing the frigate's ability to operate far beyond the Songun as if this was successful it could use it as precedent for additional ships to be constructed. The ships finished preparations not even a full year after the 1891 expedition's return, departing in the summer of 1893.  

They followed a similar route, making resupply stops at ports of call in the Cape, Kiravian colonies, and the New Archuchy, but instead of focusing on the Northern Albion Sea, the expedition intended to head farther East, closer to [[Kiravia]], as this stretch of coastline had limited survey and geographical assessments done by even the Kiravians. The main miscalculation here was the poor lack of accountability for the weather's impact. Previosuly, the departure with the turn of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere meant that the temperature was more permissive to the explorers upon their arrival in April/May of 1891. For this expedition however, the summer departure as well as farther distance meant that the October/November arrival brought with it considerable storms and seas which the ''Forthright'' struggled in. After a storm in October South of Gibson Island whilst transiting Eastwards, the ''Forthright'' lost a mast, its fall crushing two members to death. The loss in propulsion and confusion during the storm required a stop, not too far from the fourth landing in the 1891 expedition, until the mast could be repaired. The hard seas and this delay mean that the expedition arrived at their survey locations in mid-November. With the daily average temperature around -10°C. Only two landings were conducted, one by Hetherington himself for three days, and a second, longer expedition by Howland for nine days. During this time Howland made use of his previous military experience to lead a dozen men the furthest inland at that point that any non-indigenous person had ever went into the Arctic. Using sleds and snowshoes, they made it 46km inland before reaching a halfway point they determined was sufficient and heading back to the ''Chester''.  

The return to Arcerion was considerably less enthusiastic as the brave adventurers had lost so many of their own, and the government was incredibly hesitant to now continue funding these expeditions. However the Arco Transpolar Investigatory Commission was setup by the Foreign Office in conjunction with the Naval Service to investigate the sinking of the ''Forthright'', and found that rushed preparations, poorly trained and equipped crew, and a lack of experienced Arctic sailors had led to the demise of the ''Forthright''. However, from this, the government began to work on codifying the requirements for future expeditions should the appetite arise again, and recommended that much more time and effort be invested into future expeditions in order to minimize unnecessary loss of life. Hetherington, in his memoirs, stated that the loss of the ''Forthright'' was entirely preventable, and only a mad frenzy to foster another successful expedition had led to the deaths of almost thirty men.  

=== Expedition of 1899 ===

=== Howland's Expedition ===

=== Expedition of 1918 ===

== Deaths and Shipwrecks ==

=== Casualties ===

*Nathan Gibson, 26, Expedition of 1891. Exposure. Buried on Gibson Island.  

*Lochlan Robinson, 22, Expedition of 1893. Crushed to death by a falling mast. Buried at Sea.   

*Cayden Hall, 29, Expedition of 1893. Crushed to death by a falling mast. Buried at Sea.   

=== Shipwrecks ===

* ''Forthright'', Schooner. Expedition of 1893. Lost with all hands (27) in the Albion Sea.  

== Cultural Impact ==

== Modern Arcer Arctic Expeditions ==

[[category:Arcerion]]

[[Category:IXWB]]