Description

Destruction of the Whaling Fleet in the Arctic Ocean. Four Views: - 1. General view of fleet in the ice 2. Abandoning barks George, Gayhead, and Concordia 3. Rendezvous at Icy Cape 4. Arctic and Progress receiving crews of the wrecked ships, 1871.

Depicts the The Whaling Disaster of 1871, an incident off the northern Alaskan coast in which a fleet of 33 American whaling ships were trapped in the Arctic ice in late 1871 and subsequently abandoned. It was a catastrophe for the the American whaling industry. Several vessels and captains are named below each image.