The ''Hero'' was a tiny sloop, just 44 tons and 47 feet long, captained by 21-year-old

Nathaniel Palmer Nathaniel Brown Palmer (August 8, 1799June 21, 1877) was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He gave his name to Palmer Land, Antarctica, which he explored in 1820 on his sloop ''Hero''. He was born in Stonin ...

of Stonington, Connecticut, and manned by a crew of four additional men ranging in age from 16 to 31. It was in the ''Hero'' that Palmer, in search of as-yet-unknown seal-hunting prospects, stumbled upon

Deception Island Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally troubled by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an acti ...

(in November 1820) and, soon afterward, first sighted the snow-clad mountains of the Antarctic coastline to the south-southeast. Palmer would soon afterward relay his signal discovery to a Russian exploration fleet, which had been sent to the distant southern waters by

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

. In honor of Palmer's ''Hero'', US

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

named a research ship for her, ''

RV Hero RV ''Hero'' was a research vessel that operated in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation between 1968 and 1984, after which she was laid up until she sank in 2017. Career ''Hero'', named after the sloop that Nathaniel Palmer sailed whe ...

''. The new ''Hero'' was a diesel-driven, 125-foot ship, equipped with sails also, which was built for doing research in the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula, from her port at

Palmer Station Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarcti ...

. She was launched from Harvey F. Gamage shipyard in South Bristol, Maine, on March 28, 1968, and sank in 2017.

References

Individual sailing vessels Sloops Ships built in South Bristol, Maine {{Ship-stub