William Smith (Navigator)

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William Smith (born October 11, 1790 in Seaton Sluice , † 1847 ) was an English navigator who is considered to be the discoverer of the South Shetland Islands . He sighted and was the first to enter land south of 60 degrees south.

Life

Williams Point on Livingston Island

He was the son of the carpenter of the same name William Smith and his wife Mary, née Sharp. In 1819 Smith sailed as captain of the Williams from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso and got off course while trying to find the best possible winds for circumnavigating Cape Horn . On February 19, 1819, he sighted land at 60 ° and again at 62 ° 40 ′ west longitude , which he did not enter. He named the place after his ship Cape Williams (today Williams Point , the northeasternmost point of Livingston Island ) and the country New South Britain . In Valparaiso he reported to William H. Shirreff (1785-1847), captain of the HMS Andromache and the highest ranking British naval officer in the area, of his discovery. However, he did not believe him, but was of the opinion that Smith had seen icebergs . On the return trip to Montevideo , Smith therefore again took a southerly course and penetrated on June 15, 1819 to 61 ° 12 ′ south latitude, but was too far west to see the islands again. Because of the unfavorable conditions in the southern winter, he broke off the search.

On his third voyage, the islands came into view again on October 14th. He sailed along the coasts of Greenwich , Robert and Nelson Island and finally landed on King George Island on October 16, 1819 . He took possession of the archipelago for the British Crown and gave it the name New South Shetland . It was the first known landfall south of the 60th parallel south. Sailing further west, he reached Smith Island on October 18th . When he was back in Valparaiso on November 24th, he was able to dispel Shirreff's doubts. He chartered the Williams , placed her under Edward Bransfield's command and sent him south in December 1819 with Smith as helmsman , three midshipmen and a doctor to take a land survey of the areas discovered. After landing on King George Island and exploring the island for a week, they resumed their voyage on January 27, 1820. They sailed along the south coast of the South Shetland Islands and mapped the coastline. On January 29, Bransfield steered a southerly course under difficult weather conditions. On January 30, 1820, the expedition discovered Deception Island and later that day sighted a mountain range that ran from northeast to southwest, probably the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula , now known as the Trinity Peninsula . The Williams followed the pack ice border to Elephant Island and Clarence Island , where the expedition went ashore again.

To this day, it is debatable whether Smith and Bransfield discovered the Antarctic continent. This honor is probably due to Fabian von Bellingshausen , who had already sighted the Princess Martha coast in East Antarctica three days earlier from the corvette Vostok .

As a result of the discovery of the South Shetland Islands there was an onslaught of whalers and seal hunters . Smith took part in the exploitation of the natural resources with two ships in 1820/21 and returned - reportedly - with 60,000 seal skins , which sounds exaggerated. After his arrival in London on September 17, 1821, he discovered that his business partners had meanwhile gone bankrupt. Smith's entire charge was seized and he was also forced to file for bankruptcy. He then worked for several years as a captain in liner services between London and Harwich . In 1827, through the mediation of his friend James Weddell, he was again given command of a whaling ship, with which he went hunting in Davis Strait until 1830, with variable success . The penniless Smith applied for a poor house in 1838 . He died in 1847.

Honors

The island of Smith Island with its northernmost point Cape Smith is named after William Smith .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John Stewart: Smith, William . In: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 2, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 1441 (English)
  2. ^ A b Ian R. Stone: Discovery of South Shetland Islands . In: Beau Riffenburgh (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Antarctic , Routledge, New York and London 2007, pp. 926 f, ISBN 0-415-97024-5 (English)
  3. ↑ John Stewart: From Bellingshausen Expedition . In: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 2, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 1653 f (English)
  4. ^ William J. Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara 2003, p. 618, ISBN 978-1-57607-422-0 .
personal data
SURNAME Smith, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English navigator
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1790
PLACE OF BIRTH Seaton Sluice , Northumberland , England
DATE OF DEATH 1847