De Long, George Washington (1844–1881)

De Long, George Washington (1844–1881) – an American polar explorer. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy (1865) and served in the US Naval Forces with the rank of lieutenant and later lieutenant commander. He conducted his first navigation on the ship “Jeannette” and studied the western shore of Alaska and the hydrological regime of Baffin Bay (1873). In 1879, he commanded the expedition on the yacht “Jeannette,” which was supported by the editor of the “New York Herald” editor James Gordon Bennett. The expedition aimed at reaching the North Pole and finding the lost expedition of N.A.E. Nordenskiold. To the northeast of Herald Island, the ship was trapped in ice and set drifting till June 1881. During this drift, Jeannette and Henrietta Islands were discovered. After the yacht’s wreck in June 1881, its crew had to drift on a block of ice and discovered Bennett Island. On three sloops, De Long set off southward; the sloop with De Long and part of his companions on board...