Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76, under the command of Captain George S. Nares and the late Captain Frank Tourle Thomson, R.N. Prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson and now of John Murray

1880-95

Expedition (Special Collections) Q115 C4 1872

[Edinburgh]: Printed for H.M. Stationery Office

Pythonaster murrayi - Starfish

Under the captaincy of George Strong Nares and from 1874, Captain Frank Tourle Thomson, HMS Challenger sailed from Portsmouth on 21st December, 1872. Challenger, a steam corvette, had been refitted to include zoological and chemical laboratories and photographic and naturalist history workrooms. Led by University of Edinburgh Professor, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, this scientific expedition made a trip of around 70,000 nautical miles over three years. Stopping at islands in the Atlantic, the Indian and the Pacific Oceans and visiting the West Indies, India, Australia and New Zealand, the expeditionary party made observations and recorded data on a wide range of topics such as ocean temperatures, currents and tides; chemistry, biology, botany and zoology.