Nathaniel B. Palmer (L) is recognized as one of the first American pioneers to the seventh continent. The Palmer Station (R) is the only U.S. station on the north of the Antarctic Circle. Public Domain
Nathaniel Brown Palmer (1799–1877) was born in the southeastern Connecticut coastal town of Stonington. He was one of eight children. He was named after his father, who had been educated to practice law, but instead chose a career in shipbuilding. According to Palmer’s biographer, John Randolph Spears, the young boy “had a shipyard for a playground from the time he was old enough to run around without the care of a nurse.” Palmer was learning methods of shipbuilding before he ever attended secondary school. His destiny for the sea seemed laid out before him.
At the age of 13 (or 14 in some sources) and during the War of 1812, he became a sailor. The Royal Navy had established blockades, and it is believed that Palmer, along with many other boys, was part of crews for blockade runners (boats that would evade the blockades in order to deliver goods). There are no details about his specific involvement, although one of the ships on which he was employed was burned at New Haven, proving in just one instance how dangerous the work was. Palmer would continue to prove his willingness to expose himself to danger while at sea.
An Frigid Opportunity
Capt. Nathaniel Brown Palmer (1799–1877), American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. Public Domain
He continued working in trade as a sailor along the northeast coast until 1818. The seal trade was booming during this time and the citizens of Stonington enjoyed the wealth that came with being a sealing port. As the success of trade continued, so did Palmer’s career. By the age of 18 (or 19), he was given command of the schooner Galena. The following year, however, he chose to lower his rank to second mate in order to join a sealing expedition south of Cape Horn. It was a decision that would place his name in the record books of great explorers and, literally, on the seventh continent.
The reason for this sealing expedition was the overhunting of seal rookeries. Sealers, much like the whalers, were depleting the supply of these animals. Therefore, traders were forced to find new rookeries.
Comparatively, this far south region had rarely been navigated. The South Shetland Islands had recently been discovered, and since it was relatively untouched, the expedition sailed there. It was the first time an American vessel reached these islands.
“No adequate description of the dangers of navigation among the [islands] has ever been written or can be. To say that hundreds of icebergs and other masses of ice, including vast fields, are to be seen among and around the islands at all times does not suffice,” Spears wrote. “But if the reader can imagine those ice masses clashing together during the hurricane squalls and while [black] dense fogs and blinding snow squalls prevail; and while the drag of the currents among the reefs is added to all other dangers, perhaps the situation [Palmer faced] there will be comprehended.”
The hunt was a success, capturing nearly 9,000 seal skins. With such a great haul, it was decided to return the following year—this time with five vessels from Stonington. Due to the abilities and skill he displayed during the previous expedition, Palmer was given command of one of these vessels, the sloop Hero.
An Incidental Discovery
When the sailing vessels arrived in late 1820, it was evident that the 1819 haul was the last of its kind—at least for a while. On Nov. 12, the vessels reached the South Shetland Islands, but there were no seals to be found. Palmer and his four crew members sailed further south.
A few days later, on Nov. 17, Palmer and his crew sighted land. It was Antarctica. Some believe, or at least for a long time believed, he was the first to ever sight the land. Earlier that same year, however, Russian explorer, Fabian von Bellingshausen, and a Royal Navy officer Edward Bransfield first laid eyes on the seventh continent. At this time, however, it was not known that it was a continent. Nonetheless, Palmer was the first American to sight the land. The Antarctic Peninsula is now divided by two names: Graham Land (named after Great Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir James Graham) and Palmer Land.
The difference between Palmer and the Russian and Brit is that Palmer was a sealer looking for furs, while the other two were on scientific expeditions sponsored by their home countries. The following year, Palmer would add another discovery. He, along with British sealer George Powell, discovered and charted the South Orkney Islands.
Palmer continued in the seal trade until the 1840s when he transitioned to being a shipping merchant. His influence on cross-Atlantic shipping would be most substantial. It was during this period of time that Palmer reverted to his roots of shipbuilding. He is credited with redesigning the hull of the clipper-ship to make it even faster. When the clipper ship N.B. Palmer, named in his honor, cut a month of travel time from Boston to Shanghai in 1851, the ship (in model form) was celebrated at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition in London.
Along with Palmer Island and the N.B. Palmer clipper ship, the sailor-turned-sealer-turned-merchant-and-ship-designer has been honored throughout his life in various ways. Hero Bay in the South Shetland Islands is named after Palmer’s ship. His Stonington house has been turned into a museum. The Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House Museum was renovated to its original condition and in 1996 was established as a National Historic Landmark. The house is also home to the Stonington Historical Society. In 1992, the 308-foot Research Vessel Icebreaker Nathaniel Palmer was completed as part of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (USNSF) Antarctic Program.
In Antarctica, the NSF established the Palmer Station, which, according to the USNSF, “is the northernmost U.S. year-round research station in Antarctica, serving as a key center for marine and biological research in the Antarctic Peninsula region.”
Lastly, the United States Postal Service honored Palmer in 1988 with a 25-cent stamp.
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Dustin Bass
Author
Dustin Bass is the creator and host of the American Tales podcast, and co-founder of The Sons of History. He writes two weekly series for The Epoch Times: Profiles in History and This Week in History. He is also an author.
