Great Britain. H. M. S. Challenger Voyage Reports

Scope

“The Challenger Expedition of 1872-76 was the first great voyage of oceanographical exploration. In forty-one months from December 1872 to May 1876 the wooden steam corvette HMS Challenger visited all the oceans of the world, with the exception of the Arctic. The vessel and crew were provided by the Admiralty, and the naval command was given to Captain (later Sir) George Strong Nares. The scientific staff was supervised by Charles Wyville Thomson (knighted in 1876), a Scottish naturalist and student of marine invertebrates. The expedition was charged to determine deep sea physical conditions including depth, temperature and ocean currents. Charting, surveying and biological investigations were also carried out… At the end of the expedition the Challenger Office was set up there (at Edinburgh University). The Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger was issued in fifty volumes between 1850 and 1895…. The Challenger Papers contain sheets of plates illustrating various marine life forms, and original drawings of marine life forms; engravings, lithographs, photographs, etc. of marine life forms; drawing and engravings of Challenger equipment; and statistical material, graphs, charts and maps.” Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives Reference