Penola (John Riddoch Rymill 1905-1968)

[john sefton]

John Riddoch Rymill 1905-1968

The British Graham Land Expedition ship Penola spent the first winter in the safe haven of Boat Bay on Galindez Island, one of the several Argentine Islands. The expedition hut was built on Winter Island and the narrow Channel between the two islands was called Stella Creek, after Penola's tender. A rope bridge linked the two islands. In order to move the whole expedition south into Marguerite Bay in the spring of 1935-36, the Penola was released from her mooring in Boat Bay by cutting a channel through the confining ice with ice saws, the subject of the stamp design.

Expeditions: Cambridge University Expedition to Canadian Arctic, 1929, British North East Greenland Expeditions 1930-33, British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37. Discoveries: George VI Sound, the expedition showed that the Antarctic Peninsula was part of the Antarctic Mainland.

Penola, Length 103 feet, beam 24 feet, 130 grt. Built Brittany, 1905 as a fishing schooner, with twin screws driven by two 50 hp Junkers Diesel engines. Converted to a private yacht 1930's. Polar Voyages: British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37. Sank following collision off Isle of Bute, Scotland, 1940.
BAT 2008 SG?
Detail from BAT Philatelic