USS Nightingale-- Part 8: Arctic Exploration and Loss of In 1893

But, the Nightingale's career wasn't over.  Not yet anyway.  She entered another phase.

This tome it was Arctic exploration.  From 1865 to 1867, she served as the flagship of the Western Union  Telegraph Expedition exploring  British Columbia, Alaska and Siberia with the plan of  laying telegraph cable across the Bering Strait.

Captain C.M. Scammon, U.S.R.M. Chief f Marine, commanded the Nightingale

The Nightingale, described as a fine, large clipper ship, carried two small flat-bottomed steamers on her deck from San Francisco.  One was intended for exploration of the Yukon River in Russian America, and the other for the Anadyr Bay.

After the Arctic Expedition, the Nightingale remained in the merchant service until she foundered in the  North Atlantic Ocean on 17 April 1893.

But, wait, there's one more thing about this ship.

Next Post.  --Old B-Runner

CSS Shenandoah Continues Her Voyage-- Part 1: Getting Iced

JUNE 1-13, 1865:  Before burning the Abiagail, Lt. Waddell obtained a stove from her cabin, one of the many items that had not been provided when the Shenandoah hastily left Liverpool the previous autumn.  He needed it for the ensuing days as he navigated along the frozen shores of Siberia.

"I continued as far as the Chi-jinskiki Bay, but found it so full of ice the steamer could not be entered. I then stood along the land of eastern Siberia as far as Tausk Bay, when she was forced away by ice, and I left for Shantaski Island, but I found ice in such quantities before we reached the 150 degrees meridian of east longitude that she was forced to the southward finding ice in almost every direction and apparently closing on her.

"The situation carried anxiety of  mind, and I solved the seamanship problem before us.  The scene was cold, the mercury several degrees below zero, the ice varied in thickness from fifteen to thirty feet and, although not very firm, was sufficiently so to injure the Shenandoah if we were not very careful.  I wanted to reach Shantarski Island (called by whalers Greer Island) for there is fishing there and in the bays southwest of it."

Mighty Cold Weather.  --Old B-Runner