Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Sir Richard Collinson (7 November 1811 – 13 September 1883) was an English naval officer and explorer of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the ...

Early life

He was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

, Tyne and Wear, England, then part of

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. 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 Fr ...

in 1823 at age twelve and rose in the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in 1835, commander in 1841, and captain in 1842.

China

Collinson was in command of the ''Lady Bentinck'', a vessel of 1800 tons burden and 520 horsepower, when it appeared with the ''Phlegethon'' off Chapoo in eastern China, causing a "sensation". On 1 April 1842, the British Plenipotentiary of Trade

Henry Pottinger Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet (; 3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong Kong. Early life Henry Pottinger was born at his family est ...

reported that Collinson, as commander of the ''Nemesis'' based in Chusan, had contributed to a successful skirmish with Chinese troops on the island of Taisam near

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

in February of that year. As commander of HMS ''Plover'', and with the aid of Lt

Henry Kellett Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer. Career Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...

in HMS ''Starling'', he surveyed the China coast from 1842 to 1846, producing charts upon which all successors were based.

Bering Strait

The three expeditions sent in 1848 to locate

Sir John Franklin Sir John Franklin (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. After serving in wars against Napoleonic France and the United States, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through t ...

and

Franklin's lost expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sect ...

in search of the

all failed. In 1850 Collinson was instructed to look for him in the

Canadian Arctic Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and ...

by sailing eastward from the Bering Strait and Alaska, while

Horatio Austin Sir Horatio Thomas Austin (10 March 1800 – 16 November 1865) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer. Biography Austin was born in England on 18 March 1800, the son of an official in the Chatham Dockyard. In 1828, was dispatche ...

and others would use the normal route westward through the

Parry Channel The Parry Channel ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᐅᑉ ᐃᒪᖓ, ''Tallurutiup Imanga'') is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its eastern two-thirds lie in the territory of Nunavut, while its western third (west of 110� ...

. Collinson was given HMS ''Enterprise'' and was to be accompanied by Commander

Robert McClure Vice-Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish explorer of Scots descent who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the Northwest Passage by boat and sledge, and was the first to ci ...

commanding HMS ''Investigator''. They left Plymouth in January 1850. After becoming separated off the coast of Chile the two ships became independent. (McClure got to the Bering Strait first and was frozen in on

Banks Island Banks Island is one of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago. Situated in the Inuvik Region, and part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, of the Northwest Territories, it is separated from Victoria Island to its east by the Prince of Wa ...

. When he was rescued and taken to England he became the first person to traverse the

). When Collinson reached the Bering Strait and learned that McClure was ahead of him he turned back and spent the winter in Hong Kong. He returned to Bering Strait in mid-July 1851 and sailed east along the coast. On 29 August he was off the coast of

and saw an open strait tending northeast. This was the

Prince of Wales Strait The Prince of Wales Strait is a strait in the Northwest Territories of Canada separating Banks Island to the northwest from Victoria Island to the southeast. It extends from Viscount Melville Sound in the northeast to Amundsen Gulf in the south ...

. He entered the strait thinking that he might have found the northwest passage, but after a while he saw a flagpole on a hill. Under the flagstaff was a message saying that McClure had wintered here the previous year. Collinson pushed on a little beyond McClure's maximum before he was blocked by ice. Returning south he found another message saying that McClure had passed that point only 18 days before but it did not mention McClure's plan to circumnavigate the island. He went a little further southeast and chose winter quarters at

Minto Inlet Minto Inlet is located east of Amundsen Gulf in western Victoria Island, at the southern end of Prince of Wales Strait in the Northwest Territories. It is long and between wide. The inlet is part of the historical territory of the Copper Inuit ...

. Here he found another message left by one of McClure's sledging parties. In the spring of 1852 he sent a sledge party north to Melville Island where they found tracks from an unknown traveller (these were McClure's men who were frozen in to the west.) On 5 August he was freed from the ice and went along the south coast of

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is ...

into the

Coronation Gulf Coronation Gulf lies between Victoria Island and mainland Nunavut in Canada. To the northwest it connects with Dolphin and Union Strait and thence the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean; to the northeast it connects with Dease Strait and thence Queen ...

, the easternmost point reached by a ship from the Bering Strait. He wintered at

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: ''Iqaluktuuttiaq'' Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ; 2021 population 1,760; population centre 1,403) is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settle ...

on the southeast coast of Victoria Island. In the spring of 1853 he led a sledge party to the easternmost point on the island (Point Pelly). A little later some Inuit drew them a map of the area to the east. On the map was a ship. If Collinson had not disregarded this, or had had a proper interpreter, he might have sent a sledge party east and found some of Franklin's men, if they were still alive. He returned through Bering Strait and around the Cape of Good Hope. At the cape (January 1855) he learned of John Rae's report that Franklin had been lost just to the east of where he had turned back. Collinson's reputation is lower than it perhaps should be. The problems are that McClure was always there first, and Collinson's constant quarrels with his officers and bad luck.

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen beg ...

praised him for navigating a large ship through waters that were difficult for Amundsen's small ship, ''

Gjøa ''Gjøa'' was the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Roald Amundsen traversed the passage in a three-year journey, finishing in 1906. History Construction The square-sterned sloop of 47 net register tonna ...

''. Collinson's account of the voyage was published six years after his death by his brother,

Thomas Bernard Collinson Major General Thomas Bernard Collinson (17 November 1821 – 1 May 1902) was an English military engineer of the Corps of Royal Engineers who carried out the earliest British surveys of Hong Kong, and planned roads and other early military and ...

.Heath, Philip
"Thomas Bernard Collinson (1821–1902)"
cox.net. Accessed 8 January 2023.

Later life

He was awarded the Founder's Medal by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 1858, knighted in 1875, and made an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

on the retired list in the same year. In 1862, he became an "elder brother" of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

and in 1875 became Deputy Master.

References

External links