HMS Erebus was a
Hecla class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the
Royal Navy in
Pembroke dockyard,
Wales in
1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in
Hades of
Greek mythology called
Erebus.The 372-ton ship was armed with two
mortars, one 13-inch and one 10-inch. After two years in the
Mediterranean Sea, she was refitted to work in the
Antarctic. In
1840, Erebus, captained by
James Clark Ross, departed from
Tasmania for
Antarctica on
November 21 in company with
HMS Terror. In January
1841, the crew from both ships landed on
Victoria Land, and proceeded to name areas of the landscape after
British politicians, scientists, and acquaintances.
Mount Erebus, on
Ross Island, was named for the ship itself. They then discovered the
Ross Ice Shelf, which they were unable to penetrate, and followed it eastward until the lateness of the season compelled them to return to Tasmania. The following season,
1842, Ross continued to survey the "Great Ice Barrier", as it was called, continuing to follow it eastward. The two ships returned to the
Falkland Islands before returning to the Antarctic in the
1842-
1843 season. The ships conducted studies in
magnetism, and returned with oceanographic data and collections of botanical and ornithological specimens.
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