Nathaniel Brown Palmer (1799 – 1877) was a seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut. During the 1810s the skins of Antarctic Ocean seals were highly valued as items for trade with China. As a skilled and fearless seal hunter, Palmer achieved his first command at the age of only 21. His vessel was a diminutive sloop named the Hero, only 47 feet (14 meters) in length. 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... ... The Town of Stonington, Connecticut is located located in New London County, Connecticut in the southeastern corner of the state. ... The Southern Ocean is the body of water encircling the continent of Antarctica. ... A sloop-rigged J-24 sailboat A sloop (From Dutch sloep) in sailing, is a vessel with a fore-and-aft rig. ...

Palmer steered southward in sloop Hero at the beginning of the Antarctic summer of 1820–1821. Aggressively searching for new seal rookeries south of Cape Horn, on November 17, 1820, young "Captain Nat" and his men became the first Americans to discover the Antarctic Peninsula. Palmer was the captain of the third vessel, the Hero, to sight the continent of Antarctica, after much larger ships skippered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Edward Bransfield earlier in 1820. Palmer also helped discover the nearby South Orkney Islands archipelago. Families Odobenidae Otariidae Phocidae Pinnipeds (fin-feet, lit. ... Cape Horn from the South. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Antarctic Peninsula map Booth Island and Mount Scott flank the narrow Lemaire Channel on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. ... A portrait of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (also known as Russian: ; Faddey Faddeyevich Bellinsgauzen) (September 20, 1778–January 13, 1852) served as a naval officer of the Russian Empire and commanded the second Russian expedition to circumnavigate the globe. ... Edward Bransfield (1785 – 1852) was a master in the Royal Navy and arguably the discoverer of the continent of Antarctica. ... The South Orkney Islands (Spanish: Islas Orcadas) are a group of sub-antarctic islands situated at latitudes 60°50 to 60°83 S, and longitudes 44°25 to 46°25 W in the Southern Ocean. ...

After concluding a successful sealing career, Palmer, still in the prime of life, switched his attention to the captaining of fast sailing ships for the transportation of express freight. In this new role, the Connecticut captain traveled many of the world's principal sailing routes. Observing the strengths and weaknesses of the ocean-going sailing ships of his time, Palmer suggested and designed improvements to their hulls and rigging. The improvements made Palmer a co-developer of the mid-1800s clipper ship. A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... // Invention of the Jacquard loom in 1801. ... For other uses, see Clipper (disambiguation). ...

Palmer closed his football career and established himself in his hometown of Stonington as a successful owner of clipper ships sailed by others. He died in 1877, aged 78. Palmer Land, part of the Antarctic Peninsula, was named in his honor, as well as the Palmer Archipelago. Map of Antarctica Palmer Land () is that portion of the Antarctic Peninsula which lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. ... Palmer Archipelago or Antarctic Archipelago or Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula extending from Tower Island in the north to Anvers Island in the south, lying northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Gerlache...

The Antarctic science and research program operated by the U.S. government continues to recall Palmer's role as a co-discoverer of Antarctica. Palmer Station, located in the seal islands that Palmer explored, and the Antarctic icebreaker RV Nathaniel B. Palmer are named after Captain Palmer. His home in Stonington, the Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996. ... Palmer Station Palmer Station, located on Anvers Island (), is Antarcticas only U.S. station north of the Antarctic Circle. ... Icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, serving the National Science Foundation The Nathaniel B. Palmer is a large icebreaker in the service of the US National Science Foundation. ... Capt. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ...

See also

History of Antarctica Antarctica has no indigenous population, and so the human history of Antarctica does not begin until the 19th century, when the continent was first seen. ...

External links

• Account of Nathaniel Palmer's sighting of Antarctica