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Book/Printed Material Jeannette inquiry. Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Forthy-eighth Congress.

About this Item

Title

  • Jeannette inquiry. Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Forthy-eighth Congress.

Summary

  • This volume is a compilation of the testimony and supporting documentation gathered by the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives in the course of its inquiry into the loss of the USS Jeannette in the Arctic in 1879-81 and the subsequent fate of the ship's crew. The Jeannette left San Francisco on July 8, 1879, under the command of Lieutenant George Washington De Long. Its mission was to try to reach the North Pole via an ice-free polar sea that some geographers theorized might exist. The ship entered the Arctic Ocean on August 29; on September 6 it became stuck in pack ice north of the Chukotka Peninsula and began drifting in a northwesterly direction. On January 19, 1880, the ship began leaking badly as it was crushed by the ice. With great effort the crew managed to save the vessel as it continued to drift in the vicinity of Wrangel Island, which was first sighted on October 20. The Jeannette finally sank on June 12, 1881. The crew abandoned ship and began heading southward, dragging boats, sleds, and provisions over the ice. By September 12, the men had reached the open water, where they launched the ship's three boats and headed toward the Siberian mainland. One boat was commanded by De Long, another by Chief Engineer George W. Melville, a third by Lieutenant Charles W. Chipp. On the first day the boats were separated in a gale. Chipp and his men were never seen again. De Long and his 13 men made landfall at the northern mouth of the Lena River on September 17 and started on foot for a settlement on the river delta, which they never reached. Melville and his men made landfall at the eastern mouth of the Lena River on September 19, where they met three native Yakuts who helped them to survive and to reach a native village. As Melville and several men began a search for De Long, other members of his crew continued on to Yakutsk, which they reached on December 20. Telegrams were sent to Saint Petersburg and from there to Washington relaying the sensational news that some members of the crew of the Jeannette were still alive. Russian search teams found the bodies of De Long and his men near the Lena River delta on March 23, 1882. They also recovered De Long's log, which revealed that he and his companions had died of starvation and exposure during the last days of October 1881. On June 10, 1882, the United States Navy abandoned its search for Chipp's boat, which was never found. The volume contains the transcript of testimony by the witnesses called before the committee, including Melville and Emma De Long, Lieutenant De Long's widow, excerpts from the logs and journals kept by several of the men, and the texts of extracts from letters, telegrams, and notes submitted to the committee. World Digital Library.

Names

  • United States. Congress. House. Committee on Naval Affairs.

Created / Published

  • Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1884.

Headings

  • -  Collins, Jerome J.,--1841-1881
  • -  De Long, George W.--(George Washington),--1844-1881
  • -  Jeannette (Ship)

Notes

  • -  Investigation of alleged unfair treatment of Jerome J. Collins by Lieut. G.W. De Long on the Jeannette Arctic Expedition.
  • -  Members of the subcommitte: Hon. Huch Buchanan, Hon. William McAdoo, and Hon. Charles A. Boutelle. H.H. ALexander, official stenographer.
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
  • -  Also available in digital form.

Medium

  • 2 p. l., 1046 p. 23 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • G700 1879 .A25

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 07036809

OCLC Number

  • 6650983

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • pdf

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On Naval Affairs. Jeannette inquiry. Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Forthy-eighth Congress. Washington, Govt. Print. Off, 1884. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/07036809/.

APA citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On Naval Affairs. (1884) Jeannette inquiry. Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Forthy-eighth Congress. Washington, Govt. Print. Off. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/07036809/.

MLA citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On Naval Affairs. Jeannette inquiry. Before the Committee on Naval Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Forthy-eighth Congress. Washington, Govt. Print. Off, 1884. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/07036809/>.