HMS Hecla (1815) - Arctic Exploration

Arctic Exploration

In early 1819 she was converted to an Arctic exploration ship and made three journeys to the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, and made one attempt on the North Pole, all under Lieutenant William Edward Parry or Commander George Francis Lyon, and spent many winters iced in without serious damage.

On the first journey, from May 1819 until December 1820 Hecla was commanded by Parry. She and her companion ship, the gun brig Griper, reached a longitude 112°51' W before backtracking to winter off Melville Island. No ship was able to travel so far west again in a single season until 1910, when Joseph-Elzéar Bernier reached Cape Dundas on Melville Island. The second year, the two ships reached longitude 113°46' W before returning to England.

On her second expedition, from May 1821 until November 1823, Hecla was under Lyon's command while Parry led the overall expedition from her sister ship Fury. The furthest point on this trip, the perpetually frozen strait between Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia, was named after the two ships: Fury and Hecla Strait.

Ice conditions frustrated Hecla's third expedition to the Canadian Arctic, which took place from May 1824 to October 1825, again in the company of Fury. Hecla was again under the command of Parry, who now was a captain. Fury was badly damaged at Prince Regent Inlet and had to be abandoned.

In 1827, Parry used Hecla for an unsuccessful attempt to reach the North Pole from Spitsbergen by boat, reaching 82°45' N. Following this voyage, Hecla was withdrawn from Arctic service.

Commander Thomas Boteler was appointed captain of Hecla in December 1827. She then was engaged in surveying the West African Coast in 1828-31. After Boteler's death in November 1829, Commander F. Harding became her captain.