Engraving of Ross

Sir John Ross (June 24, 1777 – August 30, 1856) was a British rear admiral and Arctic explorer. John Ross, Arctic explorer. ... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and can trace its origins to the British Royal Navy. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border The Arctic is the area around the Earths North Pole. ...

Ross, the son of the Rev. Andrew Ross, minister of Inch, near Stranraer, Wigtonshire, entered the British Royal Navy in 1786 as an apprentice, when he was only nine years old. He served in the Mediterranean until 1789, and afterwards in the English Channel. In 1808 he acted as captain of the Swedish Fleet, and in 1812 was promoted to commander. Stranraer (An t-Sròn Reamhar in Gaelic) is a town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and was formerly in the county of Wigtownshire. ... The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The English Channel ( French:La Manche) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Commander is a military rank used in many navies but not generally in armies or air forces. ...

Six years later, in 1818, he received the command of an Arctic expedition fitted out by the Admiralty, the first of a new series of attempts to solve the question of a Northwest Passage. This entailed going around the extreme northeast coast of America and sailing to the Bering Strait. He was also to note the currents, tides, the state of ice and magnetism and to collect specimens he found on the way. In April of that year, Ross left London with two ships, and in August reached Lancaster Sound, in Canada. 1818 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Popular Northwest Passage routes through the Canadian archipelago For the film of this name, see Northwest Passage (movie). ... Satellite photo of the Bering Strait The Bering Strait is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, the eastmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point of the American continent, about 85 km in width, with a depth of 30–50 m. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster which contains Big Ben Tower Bridge at night A red double-decker bus crosses Piccadilly Circus. ...

There he re-examined the observations William Baffin, a previous British explorer, had made two hundred years before. But Ross went no further, for he suffered from mirages that appeared as mountains at the end of the strait. He named them "Crocker Hills," and returned to England despite the protests of several of his officers. The account of his voyage, published a year later, brought to light their disagreement, and the ensuing controversy over the existence of Crocker Hills ruined his reputation. William Baffin (1584 – January 23, 1622) was an English navigator and discoverer. ...

This expedition failed to discover much that was new, and somewhat prejudiced the Arctic reputation of its leader, who attained the rank of captain on his return.

In 1829, Ross admitted he may have been wrong, and convinced one of his friends, Mr (afterwards Sir) Felix Booth, to finance a second expedition. He left in May of that year, this time on a steam ship. They sailed past Lancaster Sound to a previously unexplored area, where their ship became stuck in the ice. The crew was stranded for four years, during which they explored the regions to the west and north, with the help of local Inuits. On one of these explorations, Ross found the magnetic north pole on the Boothia Peninsula. 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A North Pole is the northernmost point on any planet. ... Boothia and Melville peninsulas, Nunavut Territory, Canada The Boothia Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. ...

In 1832, Ross and his crew abandoned their ship and walked to another shipwreck which had been abandoned by a different expedition many years earlier. A year went by before a break in the ice allowed them to leave, on that ship's longboats. They were eventually picked up by a British vessel and taken home. "This impressive experience, as well as the scientific and ethnological information gathered by Ross's team, brought him the renown that he had long sought." 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

On his return Captain Ross received gold medals from the English and French geographical societies, and various foreign orders, including a knighthood of the Pole Star of Sweden, and in the following year (1834) received a knighthood and a CB in Britain. 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1850 he undertook a third voyage to the Arctic regions, this time in search of the missing expedition party of Sir John Franklin. He did not find them. In the following year he attained flag-rank. Upon returning, he settled in Scotland, and died in London in 1856. 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Sir John Franklin (April 15, 1786 – June 11, 1847) was an English sea captain and Arctic explorer, whose fate — and that of his last expedition — was for many years a mystery. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

His publications include:

• Voyage of Discovery for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay (1819)
• Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage, including the Discovery of the North Magnetic Pole (1835)
• Memoirs and Correspondence of Lord De Saumerez (1838).

External link

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online