| Interesting
facts |
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Wilkes
set out for the Pacific and Antarctica
with six ships on 18 August 1838
on the United States Exploring
Expedition (USEE). |
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Wilkes was not popular with his
crew. He was considered too strict
and the crew felt he drove them
too hard. |
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He
decided to split his six ships
once they had all reached Tierra
del Fuego on the South American
coast. Not long afterward, the
Sea Gull was wrecked in
a storm with no survivors. |
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During
the Antarctic winter Wilkes took
his remaining ships to the Pacific
where they mapped coastlines and
collected samples for scientific
study. They visited the Paumoto
Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, the Marshalls
and Hawaii. |
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In
January 1840, the Peacock,
the Porpoise and the Vincennes
(with Wilkes on board) sighted
Antarctica. An officer on the
Peacock captured an emperor penguin.
When pebbles were discovered in
its stomach they took this as
more proof that they had come
very close to the Antarctic mainland. |
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The
Porpoise had an encounter
on 30 January, 1840 with another
ship in Antarctic waters. This
was the Astrolabe, captained
by the French explorer Dumont
d'Urville. The ships came within
shouting distance of each other
but they ignored each other completely,
did not exchange any greetings
and sailed off in different directions.
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Some
of Charles Wilkes's claims of
discoveries in the Antarctic were
questioned later as his measurements
were inaccurate due to polar refraction
(an effect similar to a mirage
in the desert, which makes objects
look closer than they really are)
and he was court martialled in
1842 for illegal punishment of
seamen during the USEE. |
