George Frederick Mecham (14 November 1827 – 17 February 1858) was an Irish naval officer and explorer who participated in the search for Franklin's lost expedition.

Life

George Frederick Mecham was born in 1827 at

Cove of Cork Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour a ...

, Ireland. He joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1841 and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 8 March 1849. As a lieutenant he served from 1850 to 1852 in under Erasmus Ommanney and from 1852 to 1854 in under Henry Kellett, both of whom were searching for

the lost expedition ''The Lost Expedition'' (russian: Пропавшая экспедиция, Propavshaya ekspeditsiya) is a 1975 Soviet drama film directed by Venyamin Dorman. Plot The film takes place in 1918. The expedition, consisting of two people engaged in ...

of Sir John Franklin. Mecham was the first European to discover Prince Patrick and Eglinton Islands in 1853, both of which he charted in the spring of that year. He was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 21 October 1854 and commanded the paddle sloop on the west coast of Africa from 1855 to 1857, and the paddle sloop in the Pacific from 1857. Mecham died of bronchitis on 17 February 1858 at

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mecham, George 19th-century Royal Navy personnel 1827 births 1858 deaths Explorers of Canada Explorers of the Arctic Irish Arctic explorers People from Cobh Royal Navy officers Deaths from bronchitis