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George W. DeLong

 
George W. DeLong

 
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George W. DeLong
 
 
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George Washington DeLong (August 22, 1844 – October 31, 1881) was a United States Navy
United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
 officer and explorer.

in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps....
 in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It has a population of 36,408 , and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River , south of Baltimore and about east of Washington D.C....
. In 1879, backed by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. , was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr..Bennett was educated primarily in France....
, owner of the New York Herald
New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924....
 newspaper, and under the auspices of the US Navy, Lieutenant Commander DeLong sailed from San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 799,183....
 on the ship USS Jeannette
USS Jeannette (1878)

USS Jeannette was originally , a gunboat in the Royal Navy, and was purchased in 1875 by Allan Young for his arctic voyages in 1875 and 1876....
 with a plan to find a quick way to the North Pole
North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface....
 via the Bering Strait
Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
.

As well as collecting scientific data and animal specimens, DeLong discovered and claimed three islands (De Long Islands
De Long Islands

The De Long Islands are an uninhabited archipelago often included as part of the New Siberian Islands, lying north east of Novaya Sibir. This archipelago consists of Jeannette Island, Henrietta Island, Bennett Island, Vilkitsky Island and Zhokhov Island....
) for the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in the summer of 1881.

The ship became trapped in the ice and eventually was crushed and sank.






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George Washington DeLong (August 22, 1844 – October 31, 1881) was a United States Navy
United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
 officer and explorer.

Biography

Born in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps....
 in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It has a population of 36,408 , and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River , south of Baltimore and about east of Washington D.C....
. In 1879, backed by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.

James Gordon Bennett, Jr. , was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr..Bennett was educated primarily in France....
, owner of the New York Herald
New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924....
 newspaper, and under the auspices of the US Navy, Lieutenant Commander DeLong sailed from San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 799,183....
 on the ship USS Jeannette
USS Jeannette (1878)

USS Jeannette was originally , a gunboat in the Royal Navy, and was purchased in 1875 by Allan Young for his arctic voyages in 1875 and 1876....
 with a plan to find a quick way to the North Pole
North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface....
 via the Bering Strait
Bering Strait

The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65? 40' north, slightly south of the polar circle....
.

As well as collecting scientific data and animal specimens, DeLong discovered and claimed three islands (De Long Islands
De Long Islands

The De Long Islands are an uninhabited archipelago often included as part of the New Siberian Islands, lying north east of Novaya Sibir. This archipelago consists of Jeannette Island, Henrietta Island, Bennett Island, Vilkitsky Island and Zhokhov Island....
) for the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 in the summer of 1881.

The ship became trapped in the ice and eventually was crushed and sank. DeLong and his crew abandoned ship and set out for Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 in three small boats. After reaching open water, they became separated and one boat was lost; no trace of it was ever found. DeLong's own boat reached land, but only two men sent ahead for aid survived. (See: William Henry Gilder
William Henry Gilder

William Henry Gilder , was an United States soldier, journalist, explorer and writer....
) The third boat, under the command of Chief Engineer George W. Melville
George W. Melville

George Wallace Melville was an engineer of the United States Navy who eventually rose to the rank of Rear admiral ....
, reached the Lena
Lena River

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean: the Ob River, the Yenisei River and the Lena. It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest drainage basin....
 delta and was rescued.

DeLong died of starvation near Mat Vay, Yakutsk
Yakutsk

kutsk is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in the Russian Far East, located about 4? below the Arctic Circle. It is the capital of the Sakha Republic , Russia and a major port on the Lena River....
, Siberia. Melville returned a year later and found the body of DeLong and his boat crew. Overall, the doomed voyage took the lives of nineteen expedition members, as well as additional men lost during the search operations.

DeLong and five of his men are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx

Located in The Bronx, Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemetery in New York City. It opened as a rural cemetery in 1863, out in "the country," in what was then southern Westchester County, New York, which was annexed to New York City in 1874....
 in The Bronx, New York.

Namesake

Two US Navy ships were named USS DeLong
USS DeLong

USS DeLong may refer to:, a torpedo boat, launched in 1900 and sold in 1920., a Wickes class destroyer destroyer, launched in 1918 and sold in 1922....
 in his honor, as were the DeLong Mountains
DeLong Mountains

The De Long Mountains are a mountain range in the North Slope Borough, Alaska of the U.S. state of Alaska. They are named after the Arctic explorer George Washington DeLong ....
 in northwest Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
.

In 1890 the officers and men of the United States Navy
United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
 dedicated a granite-and-marble monument to the memory of Lieut. George Washington DeLong and the crew of the USS Jeannette. Lieut. George Partridge Colvocoresses
George Partridge Colvocoresses

George Partridge Colvocoresses was a United States Navy Rear admiral . He was the son of Captain George Colvocoresses, the adopted son of Captain Alden Partridge, founder of Norwich University in Vermont....
 designed the monument — a cross with carved icicles hanging from it that sits atop a cairn. The -high structure is in the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery overlooking the Severn River
Severn River (Maryland)

The Severn River runs through Anne Arundel County, Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located south of the Magothy River, and north of the South River ....
.

Publications

  • DeLong, The Voyage of the Jeannette, comprising his journals, edited by his widow, Mrs. Emma J. (Wotton) DeLong (1883)
  • Michael Robinson, The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture (Chicago, 2006)
  • John Wilson Danenhower
    John Wilson Danenhower

    John Wilson Danenhower, Arctic explorer , attended local public schools, then accepted appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1866. After his 1870 graduation he served in the European Squadron aboard both the USS Plymouth and the USS Juniata ....
    , The Narrative of the Jeannette (Boston, 1882)
  • Melville, In the Lena Delta (Boston, 1885)


External links