The Abandonment of the Whalers in the Arctic Ocean Sept. 1871.

£5,000 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

These five lithographs tell the extraordinary story of the loss of 32 ships from the New Bedford whaling fleet near Point Belcher in September, 1871. Following the increased availability of petroleum products during the 1860s, and the resultant drop in the price of whale oil, the whaling fleets were forced farther and farther North, into ever more dangerous waters, in order to increase the weight of their catch. In 1871 the New Bedford whalers sailed northeast towards Point Barrow when very rare, but not unknown, weather conditions caused the ice to close in on the fleet in September. Only seven ships managed to escape, leaving 32 others surrounded by ice on three sides, with their only route out being through an open channel close to shore which was too shallow to allow the whalers passage. During the following two weeks the ice continued to encroach on the ships, and four whalers were crushed. With the prospect of losing the whole fleet, the captains emptied the smallest of the remaining ships, in the hope that they would ride high enough in the water to allow passage through the shallow channel, and thereby enable them to make their escape. However, the ships ran aground and the 1200 people, amongst whose number were women and children, were trapped, with only enough supplies for three months, and with no winter clothing. The Captain of the Champion wrote: “An attempt to pass the winter here would be suicidal… Looking our deplorable situation squarely in the face, we feel

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.