HMS Fury (1814)

HMS "Fury" was a "Hecla"-class bomb vessel. Built in the 1810s, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816. Later, she was converted to an Arctic exploration ship.

The "Fury" made two journeys to the Arctic under the command of William Edward Parry. Both voyages were made in company with her sister ship, HMS "Hecla".

Her first Arctic journey in 1821 was Parry's second in search of the Northwest Passage. The furthest point on this trip, the perpetually frozen strait between Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia, was named after the two ships: "Fury and Hecla Strait".

On her second Arctic trip, "Fury" was commanded by Henry Parkyns Hoppner while Parry, in overall command of the expedition, moved to "Hecla". This voyage was disastrous for the "Fury". She was damaged by ice while overwintering and was abandoned on 25 August 1825 at what has since been called Fury Beach on Somerset Island. Her stores were unloaded onto the ice, and came to the rescue of many Arctic explorers over the next few decades.

External links

* [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval_History/Index.html Naval History of Great Britain]
* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=91098 Volume I of Parry's "Voyages"]
* [http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=91097 Volume II of Parry's "Voyages"]