The Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913

The Terra Nova Expedition, officially called the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. In 1910, it was led by the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott who embarked on an ambitious expedition to Antarctica, aiming to explore uncharted wastelands, conduct scientific studies and above all else, become the first person to reach the South Pole. Robert Scott wished to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery expedition to the Antarctic from 1901 to 1904. He also had competition to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole. He and four of his companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, where they found that the Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had preceded them by 34 days. Scott's entire party died on the return journey from the pole; some of their bodies, journals, and photographs were found by a search party eight months later.

Geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor and meteorologist Charles Wright look out towards the Terra Nova from inside an ice grotto.

The expedition “Terra Nova”, named after its supply ship, was a private venture, financed by public contributions and a government grant. It had further backing from the Admiralty, which released experienced seamen to the expedition, and from the Royal Geographical Society. The expedition's team of scientists carried out a comprehensive scientific programme, while other parties explored Victoria Land and the Western Mountains. An attempted landing and exploration of King Edward VII Land was unsuccessful. A journey to Cape Crozier in June and July 1911 was the first extended sledging journey in the depths of the Antarctic winter.

The Terra Nova. (IMAGE: UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/UIG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

For many years after his death, Scott's status as tragic hero was unchallenged, and few questions were asked about the causes of the disaster which overcame his polar party. In the final quarter of the 20th century the expedition came under closer scrutiny, and more critical views were expressed about its organization and management. The degree of Scott's personal culpability and, more recently, the culpability of certain expedition members, remains controversial.

Men and sled dogs on the Terra Nova, bound for Antarctica. (IMAGE: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

The scientific contributions of the expedition were long overshadowed by the deaths of Scott and his party. The 12 scientists who participated—the largest Antarctic scientific team of its time— made important discoveries in zoology, botany, geology, glaciology, and meteorology. The Terra Nova returned to England with over 2,100 plants, animals, and fossils, over 400 of which were new to science. Discoveries of the fossil plant Glossopteris – also found in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and India – supported the ideas that the climate of Antarctica was formerly warm enough to support trees, and that Antarctica was once united to the other landmasses. Before the expedition, glaciers had only been studied in Europe. The meteorological data collected was the longest unbroken weather record in the early twentieth century, providing baselines for current assessments of climate change. In 1920, former Terra Nova geographer Frank Debenham and geologist Raymond Priestley founded the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, which houses the greatest library of polar research.

Able seaman Mortimer McCarthy at the wheel of the Terra Nova. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Ship's surgeon George Murray Levick skins a penguin on the deck of the Terra Nova. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

An Adélie penguin wanders across the pack ice in the Ross Dependency. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

“No one can say that it will have only been a Pole-hunt.... We want the scientific work to make the bagging of the Pole merely an item in the results.” -CHIEF SCIENTIST DR. EDWARD WILSON

Men arrange supplies at the camp on Cape Evans, with active volcano Mt. Erebus in the background.

“The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected.... Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without the reward of priority. Well, it is something to have got here.” -DIARY OF ROBERT FALCON SCOTT, JANUARY 17, 1912

Capt. Lawrence Oates tends to the ponies in their stables aboard the Terra Nova.

Chief Scientist Dr. Edward Wilson with Nobby the pony. The ponies were brought to haul sledges but proved ill-suited to the Antarctic climate and terrain.

A dog team rests by an iceberg. (IMAGE: HERBERT G. PONTING/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

“Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. R. Scott. Last entry. For God's sake look after our people.” -DIARY OF ROBERT FALCON SCOTT, MARCH 29, 1912

The Terra Nova anchored in McMurdo Sound. (IMAGE: THE PRINT COLLECTOR/PRINT COLLECTOR/GETTY IMAGES)

An Adélie penguin defends its nest from photographer Herbert Ponting at Cape Royds, Ross Island.

Chris the sled dog listens to a gramophone. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Petty Officer Edgar Evans. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Men heat up a meal on a camp stove. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Expedition cook Thomas Clissold leads an Emperor penguin by a rope. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Dr. Edward Wilson in a sledging outfit.

An expedition member enjoys a can of beans at camp.

Capt. Scott and other expedition members pose at camp after returning from the depot-laying expedition.

Dog handler Cecil Meares and Capt. Lawrence Oates cook blubber for the dogs.

Capt. Scott, at the head of the table, celebrates his 43rd birthday.

Geologist Frank Debenham grinds stone samples. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Photographer Herbert Ponting in his makeshift darkroom. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

A sledging party. c. 1912 (IMAGE: HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Apsley Cherry-Garrard looks on as Michael the pony rolls in the snow. (IMAGE: HERBERT PONTING)

Capt. Scott writes in his diary in his quarters. Pictures of his wife and son adorn the wall behind him.

A man stands atop the Matterhorn Berg with active volcano Mt. Erebus in the background.

Men in "The Tenements." Henry Robertson Bowers, Lawrence Oates, Cecil Meares and Edward L. Atkinson lie on bunks, while Apsley Cherry-Garrard stands on the left.

Anton Omelchenko stands at the end of the Barne Glacier on Ross Island.

Dog handler Cecil Meares at the piano in the hut.

Capt. Scott outfitted for his push to the South Pole.

Capt. Scott leads a sledging party on a bid to reach the South Pole before Amundsen.

A frostbitten Charles Wright at camp after returning from the Great Ice Barrier as part of the first support party aiding Scott's push to the South Pole.

Dr. Wilson, Capt. Scott, Capt. Oates, Henry Bowers and Edgar Evans pose at the South Pole.

Capt. Scott and the polar party discover a tent left behind by Amundsen, who had reached the South Pole a month earlier.

Expedition members return to New Zealand on the Terra Nova after finding the bodies of Scott and the other victims.