Parry's third voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage in the years 1824 and 1825

About this book

Almost immediately following his return from his second expedition to the Canadian Arctic, William Parry outfitted a third voyage to try to discover the Northwest Passage. Leaving Britain in May 1824, again with the ships HMS Hecla and HMS Fury, they sailed with the intention to pass through Prince Regent Inlet, a strait at the western edge of Baffin Island. The strait had been sighted during the first voyage in 1819 but had impassable due to thick pack ice. Unlike the unusually ice-free winter of 1819, which had enabled Parry to sail further west than any other Arctic expedition, 1824 was harsh, and ice hindered both ships. They did not reach Lancaster Sound until late in the season and although they did manage to enter Prince Regent Inlet, the ships were soon trapped by the encroaching ice. Breaking free from the ice in July 1825 the ships ventured further into the inlet but winds and ice drove HMS Fury aground. The ship was doomed and some of its provisions were transferred to the Hecla. The expedition was abandoned and Hecla returned home in October 1825.