Vega (ship)

S/S Vega, a Swedish steamship famous for the expedition of the Finnish-Swedish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. It was the first ship to circumnavigate Eurasia and sail through the Northeast passage.

She was a barque built in Bremerhaven 1872 and had a wooden hull measuring 150ft in length and 357 tons dw. She had a 70 hp auxiliary steam engine.

The "Vega" was originally built for whaling and seal hunting, and after the expedition she returned to her original trade. Vega was reported sunk in Melville Bay west of Greenland in 1903, sailing under the Scottish owner "Ferguson".

References

* [http://www.grm.se/nordost/hemexp/english.htm Webpage about the journey]
* "Vegas färd kring Asien och Europa" by A.E. Nordenskiöld 1880, slightly abbreviated version edited by Göran Schildt 1960.

See also

* Gjøa, the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage.
* Oscar Frithiof Nordquist, Finnish member of the expedition