British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913 (eng. British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913) on the barque "Terra Nova", led by Robert Falcon Scott, had a political goal: "reaching the South Pole, in order to bring the honor of this achievement British Empire" From the very beginning, the expedition became involved in the polar race with the rival team of Roald Amundsen. Scott and four companions reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, 33 days after Amundsen, and died on the way back, spending 144 days on the Antarctic glacier. The diaries discovered 8 months after the death of the expedition made Scott “an archetypal British hero” (in the words of R. Huntford), his fame eclipsed the glory of Amundsen the discoverer. Only in the last quarter of the 20th century did the experience of Scott's expedition attract the attention of researchers who made a considerable number of critical comments about the personal qualities of the leader and the equipment of the expedition. Discussions continue to this day.
Robert Falcon Scott

The expedition on the barque Terra Nova was a private enterprise with government financial support under the patronage of the British Admiralty and the Royal Geographical Society. Scientifically, it was a direct continuation of the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904 on the Discovery ship.

The main goal of the expedition was scientific exploration of Victoria Land, as well as the western spurs of the Transantarctic Ridge and Edward VII Land. Shackleton's success in 1908 (he did not reach the South Pole by only 180 km) and Cook and Peary's statements about their conquest of the North Pole set Scott primarily with a political task - ensuring British primacy in the extreme South of the Earth.
Robert Falcon Scott

The expedition plan, announced by Scott on September 13, 1909, envisaged work in three seasons with two wintering quarters:
1. December 1910 - April 1911
Establishment of a wintering and scientific research base on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. Sending an autonomous research group to Edward VII Land or, depending on ice conditions, to Victoria Land. Geological surveys in mountain spurs near the base. Most of the team is involved in laying out warehouses for the expedition next Antarctic spring.
2. October 1911 - April 1912
The main task of the second season is a trip to the South Pole along the Shackleton route. All personnel are involved in its preparation; 12 people work directly in the field, four of them reach the pole and return back, using intermediate warehouses. Comprehensive climatic, glaciological, geological and geographical studies.
3. October 1912 - January 1913
Completion of scientific research started earlier. In case of an unsuccessful trip to the pole in the previous season, a repeated attempt to reach it according to the old plan. In an interview with the Daily Mail, R. Scott said that “if we don’t achieve the goal on the first attempt, we will return to base and repeat it on next year. <…>In short, we won’t leave there until we achieve our goal.”
Main results
The plan was carried out down to the details (minus the cost of its implementation). Scientifically, the expedition carried out large number meteorological and glaciological observations, collected many geological samples from glacial moraines and spurs of the Transantarctic Mountains. Scott's team tested a variety of modes of transportation, including motorized sleds in polar environments as well as sounding balloons for atmospheric research. Scientific research led by Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912). He continued his penguin research at Cape Crozier and also carried out a program of geological, magnetic and meteorological research. In particular, meteorological observations made by Scott's expedition, when compared with data from Shackleton and Amundsen, led to the conclusion that there is an Antarctic anticyclone near the South Pole in the summer.

The political task of the expedition was not directly fulfilled. The Norwegians spoke especially harshly about this, in particular, Roald Amundsen’s brother Leon wrote in 1913:
“...(Scott's) expedition was organized in ways that did not inspire confidence. It seems to me... everyone should be happy that you have already visited the South Pole. Otherwise... they would have instantly assembled a new British expedition to achieve the same goal, most likely without changing the method of the campaign at all. The result would be disaster after disaster, as was the case with the Northwest Passage."
However, the death of Scott and the primacy of Amundsen brought many problems into British-Norwegian relations, and Scott’s tragedy in political sense became a symbol of the heroism of a true gentleman and representative of the British Empire. Public opinion prepared a similar role for E. Wilson, who, despite everything, dragged 14 kg of fossils from the Beardmore Glacier. The presence of polar expeditions, and in the second half of the twentieth century, the stationary bases of Britain and the subjects of the British Commonwealth (Australia, New Zealand) in this sector of the Antarctic became permanent.

The Terra Nova expedition was initially viewed as a private initiative with very limited government support. Scott set a budget of £40,000, which was significantly higher than the budgets of similar Norwegian expeditions, but was more than half the budget of the 1901-1904 expedition. The ship's commander, Lieutenant Evans, wrote:
We would never have raised the funds necessary for the expedition if we had emphasized only the scientific side of the matter; Many of those who made the largest contributions to our foundation were not at all interested in science: they were fascinated by the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bgoing to the Pole.
As a result, national subscription, despite the appeal of the London Times, provided no more than half of the required funds. The money came in small amounts from 5 to 30 pounds. Art.:161 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made an appeal for funding for Scott, declaring:
...There is only one pole left, which should become our pole. And if the South Pole can be reached at all, then... Captain Scott is the one who is capable of this.
Scott and his wife in Altrincham while collecting donations for the expedition

However, the capital grew very slowly: the Royal Geographical Society donated 500l. Art., Royal Society - 250 f. Art. The matter moved forward in January 1910, when the government decided to provide Scott with £20,000. Art. The actual cost estimate for the expedition in February 1910 was £50,000. Art., of which Scott had 32,000 pounds. Art. The largest item of expenditure was the expedition vessel, the rental of which from a hunting company cost £12,500. Art. The collection of donations continued as it reached South Africa (the government of the newly formed Union of South Africa provided 500 pounds, Scott's own lectures brought 180 pounds), Australia and New Zealand. The expedition began with a negative financial balance, and Scott was forced, already during the wintering period, to ask the expedition members to waive their salaries for the second year of the expedition. Scott himself donated both his own salary and any kind of remuneration that would be due to him to the expedition fund. In Scott's absence in the summer of 1911, the fundraising campaign in Great Britain was headed by Sir Clement Markham, the former head of the Royal Geographical Society: the situation was such that by October 1911 the treasurer of the expedition, Sir Edward Speyer, could no longer pay the bills, the financial deficit had reached 15 thousand .f. Art. On November 20, 1911, an appeal was published to raise £15,000 for the Scott Fund, written by A. Conan Doyle. By December, no more than £5,000 had been raised, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, flatly refused any additional subsidy.

Scott's expedition plans, with comments from famous polar explorers, were published in the Daily Mail on September 13, 1909. The term "polar race" was coined by Robert Peary in an interview published in the same issue. Piri stated:
Take my word for it: the race to the South Pole that begins between the Americans and the British over the next seven months will be intense and breathtaking. The world has never seen such racing before.
By this time, of the iconic geographical objects on Earth, only the South Pole remained unconquered: On September 1, 1909, Frederick Cook officially announced that he had reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. On September 7 of the same year, Robert Peary announced that he had reached the North Pole; according to his statement, this happened on April 6, 1909. Rumors persisted in the press that Peary's next goal would be the South Pole. On February 3, 1910, the National Geographic Society officially announced that an American expedition would set sail for the Weddell Sea in December. Similar expeditions were prepared by: in France - Jean-Baptiste Charcot, in Japan - Nobu Shirase, in Germany - Wilhelm Filchner. Filchner planned a passage across the entire continent: from the Weddell Sea to the Pole, and from there along Shackleton’s route to McMurdo. Expeditions were being prepared in Belgium and Australia (Douglas Mawson together with Ernest Shackleton). For Scott, he believed that only Peary and Shackleton could be serious competitors, but Shackleton in 1910 left the implementation of plans to Mawson alone, and Peary moved away from polar research. Roald Amundsen in 1908 announced the trans-Arctic drift from Cape Barrow to Spitsbergen. During his 1910 Easter visit to Norway, Scott expected his Antarctic expedition and Amundsen's Arctic team to follow a single research plan. Amundsen did not respond to Scott's letters, telegrams, or telephone calls.
The expedition was divided into two detachments: a scientific one - for wintering in Antarctica - and a ship one. The selection of personnel for the scientific detachment was led by Scott and Wilson, the selection of the ship's crew was entrusted to Lieutenant Evans.

A total of 65 people were selected from more than eight thousand candidates. Of these, six participated in Scott's expedition on the Discovery and seven in Shackleton's expedition. The scientific team included twelve scientists and specialists. A scientific team of this type has never been on a polar expedition. The roles were distributed as follows:
Edward Wilson is a physician, zoologist and artist.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard - Wilson's assistant, the youngest member of the team (24 years old in 1910). Included in the expedition for a donation of 1000 pounds, after his candidacy was rejected in a competition.

T. Griffith-Taylor (Australia) - geologist. According to the contract, his stay on the expedition was limited to one year.
F. Debenham (Australia) - geologist

R. Priestley - geologist
J. Simpson - meteorologist

E. Nelson - biologist

Charles Wright (Canada) - physicist

Cecil Mears is a horse and sled dog specialist. In March 1912 he left Antarctica.

Cecil Mears and Lawrence Oates

Herbert Ponting is a photographer and cinematographer. In March 1912 he left Antarctica.

The team included many representatives of the Royal Navy (Navy) and the Royal Indian Service.
Victor Campbell, a retired Navy lieutenant, senior mate on the Terra Nova, became the leader of the so-called Northern Party in Victoria Land.
Harry Pennel - Navy lieutenant, Terra Nova navigator

Henry Rennick - Navy lieutenant, chief hydrologist and oceanographer
G. Murray Levick - ship's doctor with the rank of lieutenant

Edward Atkinson - ship's doctor with the rank of lieutenant, acted as commander of the wintering party from December 1911. It was he who examined the found remains of Scott and his companions.

The pole detachment also included:
Henry R. Bowers - Lieutenant, Royal Indian Navy

Bowers, Wilson, Oates, Scott and Evans

Lawrence Oates - Captain of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons. A pony specialist, he joined the expedition, contributing 1000 pounds to its fund.

Among the foreigners who participated in Scott's expedition were:
Omelchenko, Anton Lukich (Russia) - expedition groom. Scott calls him simply "Anton" in his diaries. Walked with the pole team to the middle of the Ross Glacier, and after the expiration of the contract returned to New Zealand in February 1912.
Girev, Dmitry Semenovich (Russia) - musher (dog driver). Scott wrote his last name in his diary as Geroff. Accompanied Scott's expedition to 84° south. sh., then with most of the expedition remained in Antarctica and participated in the search for Scott’s group.
Jens Trygve Gran (Norway) - musher and specialist skier. Included at the insistence of Fridtjof Nansen in the team after Scott's visit to Norway. Despite the lack of mutual understanding with the head of the expedition, he worked until its end.

Scott decided to use a triad of draft equipment: motor sleds, Manchurian horses and sled dogs. The pioneer of the use of ponies and motor vehicles in Antarctica was Shackleton, who became convinced of the complete practical uselessness of both.
Ponies on board the Terra Nova and on the expedition

Scott had an extremely negative attitude towards dogs; his diaries are full of complaints about the difficulties of handling these animals.
Expedition sled dogs

However, Scott, as in the campaign of 1902, relied most of all on the muscular strength and fortitude of a person. The sled performed rather poorly during tests in Norway and the Swiss Alps: the engine constantly broke down, and its own weight pushed the snow to a depth of at least a foot. However, Scott stubbornly rejected Nansen's advice and took three motor sleds on the expedition.
Motor sleigh

A significant part of the equipment was 19 short, white Manchurian horses (called "ponies" by crew members), delivered to Christchurch, New Zealand, by October 1910. 33 dogs were delivered, along with Russian mushers. Stables and dog kennels were erected on the upper deck of the Terra Nova. The fodder consisted of 45 tons of pressed hay, 3-4 tons of hay for immediate consumption, 6 tons of cake, 5 tons of bran. 5 tons of dog biscuits were taken for the dogs, while Mirz claimed that the consumption of seal meat by dogs was extremely harmful.
The British and Colonial Airplane Company offered an aircraft to the expedition, but Scott refused the experience, saying that he doubted the suitability of aviation for polar exploration.
"Terra Nova"

"Terra Nova" in the port

Scott hoped to use radiotelegraphy to communicate between the research teams at the main McMurdo base and Edward VII Land. A study of this project showed that radio transmitters, receivers, radio masts and other equipment simply would not find a place on Terra Nova due to their bulkiness. However, the National Telephone Company provided Scott with several telephone sets for the McMurdo base for promotional purposes.
The main supplies of provisions were received in New Zealand and were gifts local residents. Thus, 150 frozen sheep carcasses and 9 bovine carcasses, canned meat, butter, canned vegetables, cheese and condensed milk. One of the weaving factories produced special hats with the emblem of the expedition, which were presented to each of its members along with a copy of the Bible.
Scott and his wife in New Zealand. Last joint photo. 1910

Terra Nova sailed from Cardiff on July 15, 1910. Scott was not on board: desperately struggling to finance the expedition, as well as with bureaucratic obstacles (the barque had to be registered as a yacht), he boarded his ship only at South Africa.
Team "Terra Nova"

Terra Nova officers and Robert Scott

Bark arrived in Melbourne on October 12, 1910, where a telegram was received from Roald Amundsen's brother Leon: “I have the honor to inform the Fram is heading to Antarctica. Amundsen."

The message had the most painful effect on Scott. On the morning of the 13th, he sent a telegram to Nansen asking for clarification, Nansen replied: “I’m not aware of the matter.” At a press conference, Scott said that he would not allow scientific results to be sacrificed for the sake of the polar race.
Members of Scott's expedition

Local newspapers wrote: Unlike some researchers, who seem to be bending under the burden of what awaits them, he is cheerful and cheerful. He goes to Antarctica in the mood of a man who is about to have a pleasant date.
If in Australia and New Zealand the press and public followed the progress of the expedition with close attention, then in London Scott’s plans were completely crossed out by the excitement around the case of Dr. Crippen.
"Terra Nova" before sailing

On October 16, the Terra Nova sailed for New Zealand; Scott remained with his wife in Australia to settle matters, sailing from Melbourne on October 22. He was met in Wellington on the 27th. By this time, Terra Nova was receiving supplies at Port Chalmers.
Loading supplies

The expedition said goodbye to civilization on November 29, 1910.
On December 1, "Terra Nova" fell into the zone of a strong squall, which led to great destruction on the ship: bags of coal and gasoline tanks poorly secured on the deck acted like battering rams. We had to throw 10 tons of coal off the deck. The ship began to drift, but it turned out that the bilge pumps were clogged and were unable to cope with the water continuously drawn by the ship.
December 24, 1910

As a result of the storm, two ponies died, one dog choked in the floodwaters, and 65 gallons of gasoline had to be dumped into the sea. On December 9, we began to encounter pack ice, and on December 10, we crossed the Antarctic Circle.

It took 30 days to cross a 400-mile strip of pack ice (in 1901 it took 4 days).
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (pipe in hand) with his crew aboard the Terra Nova during the second expedition (1910-1912)

A lot of coal was spent (61 tons out of 342 on board) and provisions. On January 1, 1911, they saw land: it was Mount Sabine, 110 miles from Victoria Land. Scott's expedition reached the Ross Islands on January 4, 1911. The wintering place was named Cape Evans in honor of the ship's commander.
First of all, 17 surviving horses were landed ashore and two motor sleighs were unloaded, and provisions and equipment were carried on them. After four days of unloading work, on January 8, it was decided to put into operation the third motor sled, which fell through the fragile ice of the bay under its own weight.
By January 18, the expedition house, measuring 15 × 7.7 m, was roofed. Scott wrote:
Our home is the most comfortable place you can imagine. We have created for ourselves an extremely attractive refuge, within the walls of which peace, tranquility and comfort reign. The name “hut” does not fit such a beautiful dwelling, but we settled on it because we could not think of anything else.
Interior of the officer's quarters of Scott's hut. Photo by Herbert Ponting. From left to right, Cherry-Garrard, Bowers, Oates, Mears, Atkinson

The house was made of wood, with dried seaweed insulation between two layers of planks. The roof is made of double roofing felt, also insulated with sea grass. The double wooden floor was covered with felt and linoleum. The house was lit with acetylene torches, the gas for which was produced from carbide (Day was in charge of the lighting).

To reduce heat loss chimneys were stretched across the entire room, but during the polar winter the temperature in the house was maintained no higher than +50 °F (+9 °C). One interior space was divided into two compartments by provision boxes in which supplies that could not withstand frost, such as wine, were stored.

Near the house there was a hill where meteorological instruments were located, and two grottoes were dug in a snowdrift nearby: for fresh meat (frozen lamb from New Zealand became moldy, so the team ate canned food or penguins), in the second a magnetic observatory was installed. Stables and premises for dogs were located next door, and over time, when the pebbles on which the house was built caked, fumes from the stables began to seep into the house through the cracks, the fight against which had not the slightest success
Meanwhile, in Britain, Scott's expedition became a successful advertising product

Robert Falcon Scott- British explorer of Antarctica, captain of the Royal Navy. He made two Antarctic expeditions, during the second of which he reached the South Pole.

Robert Scott came from a family of hereditary sailors. Born in 1868 on the outskirts of the port city of Plymouth. Until the age of ten, the boy was educated at home; at the age of 13 he entered the navy. cadet school, thereby starting a naval career. Scott was humble, ambitious and diligent, so he studied well, and upon completion of his studies he made a good military career. Already in 1889 he received the rank of lieutenant. In the mid-1880s, a significant event occurred in the life of the young officer: he met Clement Markham, a polar research enthusiast and future president of the Geographical Society of Great Britain. Robert Scott was prompted to agree to Markham’s proposal to go on an Antarctic expedition by extreme need: he became the sole breadwinner for his mother and unmarried sisters. Therefore, the possibility of promotion if the expedition was successful seemed an attractive option to Scott.

The first British Antarctic expedition began in 1901. It is better known as Discovery (named after the ship). The British, inexperienced in polar exploration, consulted experienced Norwegians, in particular Fridtjof Nansen, about equipment. Scott's detachment landed on the coast of the Ross Sea, where they built a base and tried to penetrate deep into the continent. Exhausted extreme conditions, people were forced to return. They did not reach the South Pole 850 kilometers, lost one person and several dogs. The explorers explored parts of the Polar Plateau, the Edward VII Peninsula, the Ross Barrier and the coastal mountains. Upon arrival in Great Britain (1904), the expedition members were greeted as heroes.

Scott's popularity brought him into the highest circles of society; his books about the journey were wildly successful. Scott received the rank of commander, received a lot of awards, got married and began to hatch plans to reach the South Pole.

The Tera Nova expedition (1910-13) generally achieved its goal - on January 17, 1912, a detachment of five people led by Scott reached the South Pole, but 33 days later than Roald Amundsen's expedition. On the way back, all members of the detachment died. They were discovered by other expedition members who did not wait for Scott to return to the coastal base.

The activities of Robert Scott raised the morale of the nation (the world was on the eve of the First World War), and the commander himself was considered for a long time national hero.

Robert Falcon Scott(eng. Robert Falcon Scott; June 6, 1868, Plymouth - ca. March 29, 1912, Antarctica) - captain of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, polar explorer, one of the discoverers of the South Pole, who led two expeditions to Antarctica: Discovery (1901-1904) and "Terra Nova" (1912-1913). During the second expedition, Scott, along with four other expedition members, reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, but found that they were several weeks ahead of the Norwegian expedition of Roald Amundsen. Robert Scott and his comrades died on the way back from cold, hunger and physical exhaustion.

Before his appointment as director of Discovery, Scott had followed a conventional career as a peacetime naval officer in Victorian England, when opportunities for promotion were very limited and ambitious officers sought any opportunity to distinguish themselves. Becoming the head of the expedition, Scott had the chance to build an outstanding career, although he had no particular passion for polar exploration. Having taken this step, he inextricably linked his name with Antarctica, to which he remained invariably devoted for twelve years. recent years of your life.

After his death, Scott became a national hero in Britain. This status remained for him for over 50 years and was documented in numerous memorials throughout the country. In the last decades of the 20th century, the history of the Terra Nova expedition underwent some reassessment; the attention of researchers focused on the causes of the catastrophic ending that cut short the lives of Scott and his comrades. In the eyes of the public, he turned from an unshakable hero into the subject of numerous controversies, during which thorny issues about his personal qualities and competence. At the same time, modern researchers assess Scott's figure as a whole positively, emphasizing his personal courage and perseverance, admitting miscalculations, but attributing the end of the expedition mainly to an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, in particular, unfavorable weather conditions.

Early years

Childhood

Robert Falcon Scott was born on June 6, 1868. He was the third of six children in the family and was the eldest son of John Edward and Hannah (nee Cuming) Scott of Stoke Damarel, Devonport, Plymouth, Devon.

The family had strong military and maritime traditions. Robert's grandfather was a ship's purser who retired in 1826. He acquired the Outlands estate and a small Plymouth brewery. Three of his sons served in the British Indian Army, the fourth became a ship's surgeon in the navy. And only John, the fifth son, did not begin a military career due to poor health and remained to help his father. When John was 37 years old, his third child was born - Robert Falcon Scott. Two years later, another boy was born - Archibald, followed by two girls.

John Scott at that time received income from the Plymouth brewery, which he inherited from his father. Years later, as Robert began his career as a naval officer, the family suffered a serious financial setback and John was forced to sell the plant. However early years Robert spent his time in full prosperity.

As some researchers note, "Scott was no different good health, was lazy and sloppy, and never missed an opportunity to play funny tricks when playing with friends,” but he was “polite, friendly and had an easy-going character.” In keeping with family tradition, Robert and his younger brother Archibald were destined for careers in armed forces. Robert was educated at home until he was nine years old, after which he was sent to the Hampshire boys' school Stubbbington House School. After some time he was transferred to preparatory educational institution named after Forster so that young Cohn could prepare to take the entrance examination to the naval academy. It was located aboard the old sailing ship HMS Britannia, moored at Dartmouth. In 1881, having passed these exams at age 13 and becoming a cadet, Scott began his naval career.

On June 6, 1868, a man was born whose name later became known throughout the world and forever entered the history of Antarctic exploration. We are talking about Robert Scott, the famous English explorer of the South Pole, a man who gave his life to explore the new continent.

Making a Hero

The life path of the future navigator was determined from childhood. It was difficult for a boy born into a family where from generation to generation the lives of men were connected with the navy to avoid such a fate. Therefore, even despite the fact that young Robert was not in excellent health, was too hot-tempered and not very neat, at the age of 9 he was still sent to study at Stubbbington House School - a school training future sailors, and already at 13 years old began his naval life.

Robert Scott - Navy Cadet

At the beginning of Robert Scott's career, there were incomprehensible situations about which documents, and therefore history, are silent, but this did not prevent him from rising to the rank of torpedo officer. However, not everything was so smooth in the life of his relatives. In 1884, the father went bankrupt, and a few years later the family lost its main breadwinner. His mother and sisters remain in the care of Robert and his younger brother Archibald. But in 1898 he died and younger brother, therefore, caring for loved ones fell entirely on the shoulders of the young officer.

It is likely that this played a certain role in the choice of further life path Roberta. He was consumed by two goals - to advance in his career and earn enough money for his family, and a happy meeting with Clement Markham helped the officer achieve them. This man was in search of a navigator who would risk leading the expedition, and Robert did not miss his chance.

Expedition led by Robert Scott

Thanks to his agreement to participate in the expedition, Robert receives a new rank - commander. Thus began his rapid rise to fame. In addition, he was under the patronage of Clement Markham, who by that time was already the president of the Royal Geographical Society.

Although Robert Scott knew nothing at all about polar life, he was still determined to explore Antarctica, and in order to get an idea of ​​​​the upcoming conditions of the expedition, the young captain even went to Norway to meet with Nansen.

And so the Discovery ship, on which Robert was going to go to Antarctica, was loaded with all the necessary equipment, and on March 21, 1901, the expedition set off. Many believed that sending the ship under the command of Robert was a mistake, because he not only did not know what Antarctica was like, but also did not know how to handle the equipment he took on the journey. However, the lot fell, and the ship, under the leadership of Scott, set off to conquer new horizons.

During the year of the expedition, the coast of Victoria Land was explored. Then, when Discovery crossed the Ross Ice Barrier, the crew was lucky enough to discover Edward VII Land. The journey was complicated by hunger and scurvy, but the commander still did not stop, but successfully passed the eastern edge of the Ross Glacier, leaving thousands of kilometers behind. In the final months of 1903, the team stumbled upon an Antarctic oasis. The final 500-kilometer route of the expedition ran along the Victoria Land plateau, and already in September 1904 the team arrived home in England.

In the rays of the desired glory

The successful expedition did not go unnoticed: Scott's courage and determination in the expedition received well-deserved praise and he gained the desired fame that he aspired to. Upon returning home, the officer was promoted to rank and began serving in the navy as captain 1st rank. His mother personally felt the greatness of her son's feat when she was presented with the Queen's Medal before his arrival. Gold medals from geographical societies from different countries only further demonstrated the fact that Robert Scott had become a recognized explorer. The captain’s fame followed him as he “travelled” around the country as a hero, but the navigator himself said: “We have made many discoveries, but compared to what remains to be done, this is nothing more than a scratch on the ice.”.

Everything worked out well in the navigator’s personal life. Gaining universal recognition and fame contributed to Robert's acquaintance with his future wife. At one of the informal receptions, he met Kathleen Bruce, a talented young artist and sculptor who studied with Rodin himself and was familiar with many of the creative elite of his time - Isadora Duncan and Picasso were among her good friends.

Despite Kathleen’s popularity with men, although she was ready to break off the relationship because of the constant primacy of the sea and service with Robert, she still gave preference to him among all the suitors. In September 1908, they got married, and a year later Robert became the father of a baby, who was named Peter, in honor of the tomboyish Peter Pan, the hero of the famous book by James Barry, who was one of the best friends of the polar explorer. But no matter how attached the young captain was to his family, he was still attracted by the unexplored lands of Antarctica, and already on the eve of the birth of his son, he announced the preparations for a new Arctic expedition.

Robert Scott's last expedition

The Terra Nova expedition was divided into two stages: Northern and Southern. But already on the first trip the team started having problems. An acute shortage of food and coal led to disagreements between members of the expedition. In addition to all this, some of the equipment (in particular, the motor sleigh) was out of order. However, Robert was not going to deviate from his plans, and in November 1911 the second stage of the expedition began.

However, Scott's calculations did not coincide with reality. This led to the fact that the motor sleighs were broken, the horses were shot, and the people themselves dragged the loaded sleighs. But still, on January 3, 1912, the team reached the finish line, which for some participants was the last.

Robert Scott and four other people went to the very main path this expedition. On January 17, two weeks later, the group reached its goal - the South Pole, but was already ahead of it, and the Scott expedition, being in second place, paid too much for it high price. The return trip was accompanied nervous shock, lack of physical strength and products. Adding to this exhaustion of the team was severe cold and lack of oxygen. All these factors played against Scott's expedition. As a result, without reaching the main base, the entire team died.

On the day of his death, March 29, Robert Scott wrote his last note: “Every day we planned to go to the warehouse, which was 11 miles away, but the snowstorm continued to blow behind the tent. I don’t think we can hope for the best now. We will endure until the end, but we are weakening, and death, of course, is close. It's a pity, but I don't think I can write anymore. For God’s sake, don’t leave our loved ones!”

One can speak about life, and especially about the last expedition of Robert Scott, with a quote from the poem “Ulysses”: “Fight, search, find and don’t give up”. This is exactly how Captain Scott lived. He was a fighter and could not replace the conquest of new horizons by sitting quietly with his family in the comfort of his own home, which he wrote about in a farewell letter to his wife shortly before his death, nevertheless indicating that he had to pay too high a price for his thirst for travel and he He will no longer be able to personally tell his son about his travels. But the great polar explorer did not know how to give up, and his name will forever remain in the history of travel as a symbol of desperate courage.

“Then Ivan Pavlych started talking about Captain Tatarinov, and, lowering my voice a little so that Katya wouldn’t hear, I told some details that were not mentioned in the press…. The letter to Maria Vasilievna was first written: “To my wife,” and then corrected: “To my widow.” Did you recognize the quote? Of course - “Two Captains”. And Veniamin Kaverin did not invent the letter with the uneven pencil inscription. Only the captain's name was different: Robert Falcon Scott. The third captain is real.

Here it is - wild, like no other land on earth, unprecedented and untrodden."

God Almighty, what a terrible place! Could there be anything more terrible than this silent, wind-whipped infinity?

The polar difference in impressions is clear. The delight of Roald Amundsen, who finished first at the South Pole. And the cruel disappointment of Robert Falcon Scott - after a difficult journey to the Pole, he saw the Norwegian flag on it. Generally speaking, Amundsen did not aspire to Antarctica. He was beckoned North Pole. But he did not make it there in time - the Americans Cook and Piri were ahead. Then Amundsen changed his geographical orientation. And thus - as it happened - he pronounced the death sentence on Robert Scott.

Experienced Amundsen chose the starting point more successfully, calculated the route better and was a month ahead of the English expedition.

“I can’t say - although I know it would sound much more impressive - that I achieved the goal of my life,” Amundsen later wrote, “That would be too obvious and outright fiction.” I’d rather be honest and say straight out that, in my opinion, no one has ever stood at a point diametrically opposed to the goal of his aspirations in such a full sense of the word as I did in this case.”

On December 14, 1911, a red flag with a blue cross hoisted over the South Pole and enriched English speech the expression “to see the Norwegian flag”, that is, to fail. Navy officer Robert Falcon Scott did not dream of the North Pole. And he was no stranger to Antarctica: behind his gilded epaulettes was an Antarctic expedition on the wooden barque Discovery. She examined the coast of Antarctica in the Ross Sea region and discovered Antarctic oases, that is, areas not covered with ice on Victoria Land.

On July 15, 1910, the barque Terra Nova set sail from Cardiff with the ambitious goal of conquer the South Pole for the glory of the British Empire. Scott boarded it in South Africa - delayed by bureaucratic obstacles. In January 1911, the expedition landed on the shores of Antarctica, named its wintering place Cape Evans in honor of the ship's captain, and spent almost ten months laying warehouses and conducting reconnaissance.

Two Russians worked side by side with the English guys - groom Anton Omelchenko and musher Dmitry Girev, the first of our compatriots to set foot on the shores of Antarctica. Robert Scott knew that the Fram with Amundsen's crew on board was heading to Antarctica. But he hoped that he would win the polar race.

Three groups set out from Cape Evans. Evans-Lieutenant on October 24 on the latest motor sleds, Scott on November 1 on Manchurian ponies, and Mirz on dogs. But... the motor sleigh broke down, the ponies became exhausted and had to be shot, the dogs were sent back to the base camp. When 150 miles remained to the target, 7 people from the escort group left the main expedition.

Five of us went to the pole: doctor-artist Edward Wilson, namesake of the lieutenant, sailor Edgar Evans, captain of the dragoon regiment Lawrence Oates, lieutenant of the Indian Navy Henry Bowers. And the oldest is Navy Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

On January 16, two days before the finish, Scott and his companions realized that they were following in the footsteps of the Norwegians. But until the last minute they hoped for a miracle. It did not happen: the Norwegian flag fluttered at the South Pole. A note and a letter were found in the tent under the flag. The note was addressed to Scott: " ...since you will probably be the first to visit this area after us,” and a letter to King Haakon of Norway in case Amundsen and his companions died on the way back.

Robert Scott took the letter and note. Then they will be found near his body, and this will serve as proof that Roald Amundsen was the first to conquer the South Pole. For the rest of his life, the winner could not forgive himself for his triumph:

I would sacrifice fame, absolutely everything, to bring him back to life,” the Norwegian polar explorer was killed.

We... hoisted our poor, insulted Union Jack and took pictures - all this in the cold."

And they set off on the way back - it turned out to be the way to Golgotha. The exhausted and morally crushed expedition was finished off by the “tin plague.” Now every seventh grader knows this about her. But Scott and his companions did not know that in the cold the tin with which the cans of fuel were sealed would collapse, and the hope for warmth would flow away along with the contents.

He lay in the ice tent without any hope and with the last of his strength he traced the paper with a pencil:

Thursday, March 29. Since the 21st there has been a continuous storm from the WSW and SW. On the 20th we had enough fuel for two cups of tea and enough dry food for two days. Every day we planned to go to the warehouse, which is 11 miles away, but the snowstorm continues behind the tent. I don’t think we can hope for the best now. We will endure until the end, but we are weakening and death, of course, is close. It's a shame, but I don't think I can write anymore. R. Scott." Captain Scott managed to write a letter to Kathleen. He began it with the words: "To my widow."