Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger…Narrative. Vol. I. First Part

1885

Expedition Reports Q115 C4 1872

London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

The HMS Challenger expedition, which set off late in 1872, was instrumental in laying the foundation for the modern science of oceanography. The expeditionary team travelled over 70,000 nautical miles on the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Led by chief scientist Professor Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (d. 1882), the crew measured ocean depths, temperatures, currents and tides and discovered over 4000 new species. Fifty volumes of data were subsequently published. Here is an image of the lower deck and hold of the converted British Navy corvette, Challenger. All but two of the guns had been removed and areas that were formally used to store warship supplies were turned into laboratories and workrooms.