Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Palmer
Nathaniel Brown Palmer
Born August 8, 1799(1799-08-08)
Stonington, Connecticut
Died June 21, 1877(1877-06-21) (aged 77)
Monuments Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, Palmer Station, Palmer Land, Palmer Archipelago, N.B. Palmer (clipper), Nathaniel B. Palmer (icebreaker)
Nationality American
Other names "Captain Nat"
Occupation Sealing captain, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer
Known for 22-year-old "Captain Nat" and his men were the first Americans to discover the Antarctic Peninsula. Later, he was active in the design of the first clipper ships.

Nathaniel Brown Palmer (8 August 1799 – 21 June 1877) was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut.[1]

Contents

Sealing career and Antarctic exploration

During the 1810s the skins of Antarctic Ocean seals were highly valued as items for trade with China. As a skilled and fearless seal hunter, Palmer achieved his first command at the early age of 21. His vessel, a diminutive sloop named the Hero, was only 47 feet (14 m) in length. Palmer steered southward in the Hero at the beginning of the Antarctic summer of 1820–1821. Aggressively searching for new seal rookeries south of Cape Horn, on 17 November 1820, Palmer and his men became the first Americans and the third group of people to discover the Antarctic Peninsula. Larger ships skippered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Edward Bransfield had reported sighting land earlier in 1820. Palmer also helped discover the nearby South Orkney Islands archipelago.

Merchant marine career and development of the clipper ships

After concluding a successful sealing career, Palmer, still in the prime of life, switched his attention to the captaining of fast sailing ships for the transportation of express freight. In 1843, Captain Palmer took command of the Paul Jones on her maiden voyage from Boston to Hong Kong, arriving in in 111 days. In this new role, the Connecticut captain traveled many of the world's principal sailing routes. Observing the strengths and weaknesses of the ocean-going sailing ships of his time, Palmer suggested and designed improvements to their hulls and rigging. The improvements made Palmer a co-developer of the mid-19th century clipper ship.

Palmer closed his sailing career and established himself in his hometown of Stonington as a successful owner of clipper ships sailed by others. He died in 1877, at the age of 78.

Legacy in the Antarctic and beyond

Palmer Land, part of the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as the Palmer Archipelago, were named in his honor.

The Antarctic science and research program operated by the U.S. government continues to recall Palmer's role in the exploration of the Antarctic area. Palmer Station, located in the seal islands that Palmer explored, the clipper ship N.B. Palmer (built by Jacob Aaron Westervelt) and the Antarctic icebreaker RV Nathaniel B. Palmer are named after Captain Palmer.

Hero Bay, in the South Shetland Islands, is named for Captain Palmer's sloop Hero, one of the vessels of the Pendleton sealing fleet from Stonington which visited the islands in 1820-21.

Also named after Palmer's sloop Hero is Hero Rupes, an escarpment which was discovered in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mercury in 1973.

Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, rear view with widow's walk

His home in Stonington, the Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.

Notes

  1. ^ Howgego, Raymond (2004). Encyclopedia of Exploration (Part 2: 1800 to 1850). Potts Point, NSW, Australia: Hordern House. http://www.antarctic-circle.org/encyclopediaentries.htm. 

See also

Online reading

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nathaniel Palmer — Nathaniel Brown Palmer Nathaniel Brown Palmer (Stonington, Connecticut, 1799 Stonington, 1877) fue un capitán ballenero estadounidense, considerado como co descubridor de la Antártida. Contenido …   Wikipedia Español

  • Nathaniel Palmer — Nathaniel Brown Palmer (* 8. August 1799 in Stonington in Connecticut; † 21. Juni 1877 in San Francisco) war ein US amerikanischer Seemann, der im Auftrag der United States Navy reiste. Er zählt zu den ersten drei Menschen, die jemals die An …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nathaniel Palmer — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Palmer. Nathaniel Brown Palmer Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nathaniel Brown Palmer — (* 1799 in Stonington in Connecticut; † 1877) war ein amerikanischer Seemann, der im Auftrag der United States Navy reiste. Er zählt zu den ersten drei Menschen, die erstmals die Antarktis gesehen haben; unter diesen war er auf jeden Fall der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Palmer (surname) — Palmer is a surname.Family name name = Palmer imagesize= caption= pronunciation = meaning = a pilgrim to the Holy Land, named from the palm worn to signify the journey region = England origin = Anglo Saxon related names = footnotes = [… …   Wikipedia

  • Palmer-Archipel — Gewässer Südlicher Ozean Geographische Lage …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Palmer Archipelago — Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula of the British Antarctic Territory. It extends from… …   Wikipedia

  • Nathaniel B. Palmer (icebreaker) — Icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, serving the National Science Foundation. Career (US) …   Wikipedia

  • Palmer — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Sur les autres projets Wikimedia : « Palmer », sur le Wiktionnaire (dictionnaire universel) Palmer peut faire référence à Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Palmer Land — the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula. * * * ▪ Antarctica       broad southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, about 400 miles (640 km) east of Peter I Island (in the Bellingshausen Sea), claimed by Britain as part of the British… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”