Pourquoi Pas? (Charcot)
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 6:05 pm
Over the centuries, Polar Regions have been a source of fascination to explorers. Jean-Baptiste Charcot was one of them. Put in Charcot’s own words, the vast expanses of ice had “a strange luring effect” on him. The irresistible calling became combined with scientific interest. Jean-Baptiste Charcot was convinced that “doing something useful” was necessary above all else.
The son of Jean Martin Charcot, the great Salpêtrière hospital doctor and the inventor of modern neurology, Jean-Baptiste, was born 15th July 1867 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the outskirts of Paris. He completed medical studies and set up his own surgery, which he had a tendency to forget about, preferring cruises in cold countries, for instance to the Faeroe Isles and Iceland. He tried his hand at scientific observation and felt that this was where his calling lay. The divorce from his first wife gave him the excuse he needed to break all links with his country. Jean-Baptiste Charcot fulfilled his dream in 1903 when he set forth for Antarctica on a threemasted schooner, Le Français. The mission met with considerable success: 1,000 kilometres of coasts mapped out, 75 cases of notes, measurements and collections destined to the French national Natural History Museum.
Charcot married once more, this time to Meg Cléry in 1907.
Dr. Charcot's second expedition to the Antarctic was in the Pourquoi Pas? a wooden, barque-rigged screw-steamer, built by Gautier of St. Malo, to the design of a British firm of naval architects. She proved to be one of the best Polar ships ever built. The vessel was equipped with electric light, superb scientific equipment, and carried 14 small boats designed to perform various specialised tasks. Her crew numbered 22, and there were eight scientists on board, each of whom had his own private cabin and workroom. The spacious, lofty messroom contained 18 bunks, the petty officers having a messroom and cabins to themselves. The Pourquoi Pas? was laid down in September 1907, and was completed on May 18, 1908. Her white hull, rounded section, and lofty funnel made her familiar to everyone In St. Malo. She was 139.7ft. x 31.2ft. x 15.4ft. The vessel left Cherbourg, after coaling, on August 31, 1908, and returned to Le Havre on June 3, 1910. She did not visit the Antarctic again, but made a series of oceanographical cruises and annual visits to Greenland, the last of which took place in July 1936.
On September 15, she left Reykjavik, Iceland, and that night ran into a gale. At 5.15 the following morning she twice struck a submerged rock but managed to get clear only to be driven on to a reef about 1.5 miles from land. Apart from one man all the crew perished. Dr. Charcot was last seen on the bridge of his vessel after he had given orders to abandon ship.
He was to be the first Frenchman to walk on the eastern coast of Greenland in 1925. Captain Charcot is remembered as a talented explorer, appreciated for his sincere kindness, his availability and his respect for nature.
Various web sites.
FSAT SG24, 94,214/5 Brit Ant SG74a Falk Dep SG36 Greenland SG?
The son of Jean Martin Charcot, the great Salpêtrière hospital doctor and the inventor of modern neurology, Jean-Baptiste, was born 15th July 1867 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the outskirts of Paris. He completed medical studies and set up his own surgery, which he had a tendency to forget about, preferring cruises in cold countries, for instance to the Faeroe Isles and Iceland. He tried his hand at scientific observation and felt that this was where his calling lay. The divorce from his first wife gave him the excuse he needed to break all links with his country. Jean-Baptiste Charcot fulfilled his dream in 1903 when he set forth for Antarctica on a threemasted schooner, Le Français. The mission met with considerable success: 1,000 kilometres of coasts mapped out, 75 cases of notes, measurements and collections destined to the French national Natural History Museum.
Charcot married once more, this time to Meg Cléry in 1907.
Dr. Charcot's second expedition to the Antarctic was in the Pourquoi Pas? a wooden, barque-rigged screw-steamer, built by Gautier of St. Malo, to the design of a British firm of naval architects. She proved to be one of the best Polar ships ever built. The vessel was equipped with electric light, superb scientific equipment, and carried 14 small boats designed to perform various specialised tasks. Her crew numbered 22, and there were eight scientists on board, each of whom had his own private cabin and workroom. The spacious, lofty messroom contained 18 bunks, the petty officers having a messroom and cabins to themselves. The Pourquoi Pas? was laid down in September 1907, and was completed on May 18, 1908. Her white hull, rounded section, and lofty funnel made her familiar to everyone In St. Malo. She was 139.7ft. x 31.2ft. x 15.4ft. The vessel left Cherbourg, after coaling, on August 31, 1908, and returned to Le Havre on June 3, 1910. She did not visit the Antarctic again, but made a series of oceanographical cruises and annual visits to Greenland, the last of which took place in July 1936.
On September 15, she left Reykjavik, Iceland, and that night ran into a gale. At 5.15 the following morning she twice struck a submerged rock but managed to get clear only to be driven on to a reef about 1.5 miles from land. Apart from one man all the crew perished. Dr. Charcot was last seen on the bridge of his vessel after he had given orders to abandon ship.
He was to be the first Frenchman to walk on the eastern coast of Greenland in 1925. Captain Charcot is remembered as a talented explorer, appreciated for his sincere kindness, his availability and his respect for nature.
Various web sites.
FSAT SG24, 94,214/5 Brit Ant SG74a Falk Dep SG36 Greenland SG?