Captain Douglas Charles Clavering RN FRS (8 September 1794 – mid-1827) was an officer of the British

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 Fr ...

and Arctic explorer.

Biography

Early life and career

Clavering was born at

Holyrood House The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edi ...

, the eldest son of

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

Henry Mordaunt Clavering (1759–1850) and Lady Augusta Campbell (1760–1831), the daughter of

John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll (June 1723 – 24 May 1806), styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman. After serving as a junior officer in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succe ...

. His grandfather was

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

John Clavering, who had served as

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

, from 1774. Despite his impeccable military antecedents Clavering elected to serve in the Navy. Joining at a young age, he served as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

under Sir

Philip Broke Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, 1st Baronet (; 9 September 1776 – 2 January 1841) was a distinguished officer in the British Royal Navy. During his lifetime, he was often referred to as "Broke of the ''Shannon''", a reference to his notable comm ...

in the frigate . Clavering distinguished himself during the battle with USS ''Chesapeake'' in June 1813, and was honourably mentioned in Broke's report. He then served as a lieutenant aboard the

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' en ...

in the Mediterranean, and in 1821 was appointed commander of the sloop , on the coast of Africa. While on passage to join his ship, he struck up a close friendship with Captain

Edward Sabine Sir Edward Sabine ( ; 14 October 1788 – 26 June 1883) was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist, explorer, soldier and the 30th president of the Royal Society. He led the effort to establish a system of magnetic observatories in ...

, who was travelling to Africa to commence a series of observations on the length of the

seconds pendulum A seconds pendulum is a pendulum whose period is precisely two seconds; one second for a swing in one direction and one second for the return swing, a frequency of 0.5 Hz. Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that ...

. At Clavering's request the ''Pheasant'' was chosen to carry Sabine while making his observations. These were made at

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, the Island of São Tomé and Príncipe, St Thomas,

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins a ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In the course of the voyage Clavering also made an extensive series of observations on the direction and force of the equatorial current and the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Unit ...

. The results of Sabine's observations were published on the return of ''Pheasant'' to England, and the

Board of Longitude The Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea, or more popularly Board of Longitude, was a British government body formed in 1714 to administer a scheme of prizes intended to encourage innovators to solve the problem of finding lon ...

determined that they should be continued to the most northerly latitude which was possible to reach. For this purpose the brig HMS Griper, which had already adapted for Arctic voyages, and used in William Parry's first expedition in 1819–20, was selected, and Clavering appointed to command her on 1 March 1823.

Arctic voyage, 1823

Clavering prepared his ship at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, loading enough stores to see the ship through an entire winter, should they become trapped in the ice. The ''Griper'' set sail on 11 May, sailing across the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

, and then north along the coast of Norway, making good time as far as the

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolv� ...

islands, where calms and light airs delayed them slightly. They arrived at

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamm ...

on 2 June. Sabine set up camp ashore and made his first set of observations, which were completed by 23 June. ''Griper'' then sailed north for

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Nor ...

in the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group rang ...

archipelago, landing on 1 June and setting up a camp of tents and huts for six men, Sabine, and his instruments. Meanwhile, Clavering sailed north, until blocked by

pack ice Drift ice, also called brash ice, is sea ice that is not attached to the shoreline or any other fixed object (shoals, grounded icebergs, etc.).Leppäranta, M. 2011. The Drift of Sea Ice. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Unlike fast ice, which is "faste ...

at 80° 21' N, and returned on the 11th. While Sabine completed his observations Clavering made surveys, and his men supplemented their diet with fresh reindeer meat. ''Griper'' sailed from Spitsbergen on 23 June, and headed for the east coast of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

. After making their way through ice floes, the ship finally reached the shore on 8 July, at around latitude 74°. They sailed north-east looking for a suitable landing place, and on 10 July discovered two islands, which Clavering later named the Pendulum Islands, ( Little Pendulum Island and Sabine Island). The ''Griper'' continued north until blocked by ice. Clavering landed on an island he named

Shannon Island Shannon Island ( da, Shannon Ø) is a large island in Northeast Greenland National Park in eastern Greenland, to the east of Hochstetter Foreland, with an area of . It was named by Douglas Charles Clavering on his 1823 expedition for the Royal ...

, but realized he could go no further, so retraced his steps, and landed on the larger of the Pendulum Islands on 14 July to allow Sabine to set up camp and make his observations. The camp was located at . On the 16th Clavering set off in two boats, and with his midshipman Henry Foster, surveyed the coast between 72°30'N and 74°N, extending the 1822 observations of William Scoresby. Clavering also explored and named Loch Fyne. He observed several traces of habitation, and later made contact with a group of Northeast-Greenland Inuit. Clavering returned to the camp on 29 August to find that Sabine had almost completed his measurements. They struck camp and returned to the ship the next day. ''Griper'' set sail on 31 August, heading south along the coast through ice floes, finally reaching open sea on 13 September. On the 23rd she arrived off the coast of Norway, finally anchoring off

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

on 6 October. Sabine completed his final set of observations, and ''Griper'' set sail for England on the 13th, though gales and unfavourable winds kept her embayed until 3 December, when she finally gained the open sea. Violent gales and electrical storms delayed her further, and she eventually returned to Deptford on 19 December 1823.

Disappearance and death

In January 1825 Clavering was appointed commander of

brig-sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

on the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...

, engaged in the suppression of the slave trade. ''Redwing'' sailed from

in June 1827 and was never seen again. Wreckage washed ashore in November near Mataceney suggested that lightning had started a fire that destroyed her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clavering, Douglas 1794 births 1820s missing person cases 1827 deaths Explorers of the Arctic Fellows of the Royal Society Military personnel from Edinburgh Missing person cases in Africa People lost at sea Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812

Biography

Early life and career

Arctic voyage, 1823

Disappearance and death

See also

References