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Drat! Nipped Again!

When a ship finds itself in a situation where ice is forcibly pressing on both sides, it is said to be "nipped".

While searching for the Northwest Passage, more than 30 vessels were severely nipped - they were trapped and spent winters in the Arctic. Several were crushed or disappeared altogether.

Henry Hudson's ship "Discovery" spent the winter of 1610-11 in the ice of James Bay. By spring, his crew were so snarly they mutinied and set him adrift in a lifeboat. He was never found.

William Parry's ships the "Hecla" and the "Griper" were stuck in 1821 - becoming the first Royal Navy ships to winter in the North American Arctic.

Sir John Ross and his crew were stranded in 1829 (for four winters) when the "Victory", his paddle-wheeled vessel, was crushed.

Sir John Franklin's ships, the "Terror" and the "Erebus" were beset by ice and deserted in 1848. They have never been found.

• The Canadian RCMP vessel St. Roch spent two winters in the Arctic while making the first west-east trip through the Northwest Passage (1940-42).

• While searching for the Franklin Expedition, the British ship HMS Resolute got stuck in the ice. The crew abandoned it and returned to England.

• Getting frozen in the ice at high latitudes was so predictable, that Fridtjof Nansen designed a crush-resistant ship. Once frozen in, it was hoped the moving ice cap would eventually take it to the North Pole.

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Library: Arctic, Boats/Ships/Subs
Exploration, Explorers, Franklin Expedition
Links: Arctic, Boats & Ships
Franklin Expedition, Northwest Passage
Arctic Maps & Weather Reports


Double-click any unlinked word DICTIONARY: Just "double-click" any unlinked word on this page for the definition from Merriam-Webster's Student Electronic Dictionary at Word Central.
Arctic Library ARCTIC LIBRARY & GLOSSARY: Check this section for an index of the rest of the things you really need to know about the Arctic.
All sorts of Arctic Maps ARCTIC MAPS & WEATHER REPORTS: Maps of the Northwest Passage, explorers' routes, iceberg sources, Nunavut, the Arctic by treeline, temperature...
Links to related sites. ARCTIC LINKS: Even more information! Links to sites related to the Arctic and "Iceberg: the Story of the Throps and the Squallhoots".
A Guide to Arctic Sunrise and Sunset GUIDE TO ARCTIC SUNRISE & SUNSET: How much sunlight or darkness is there in the Arctic on each day of the year?

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