HMS+Challenger+Expedition

The //HMS// //Challenger// Expedition was the first voyage taken to study the ocean. The trip lasted from 1872 to 1876 and the crew travelled around the whole world to learn about the marine environment. This was the first step in the birth of oceanography. The ship itself was originally a warship used by the Royal Navy in England. Dr. C. Wyville Thomson wanted to research the ocean so he suggested to the Royal Society of London ask the British government for a ship to use for research in 1870. The British government allowed it so they had the warship removed of its 17 guns and replaced with labs, workrooms, and storage space. Thompson and John Murray led the expedition with a crew of 216 members along with 21 naval officers including Captain Nares. The ship sailed off from Portsmouth, England on December 24, 1872 to start on the voyage.
 * Getting Started**

After it left England, the //Challenger// went to North America, deported onto the South Atlantic then continued around the Cape of Good Hope which was on the southern tip of Africa. Following that, it went to the south of the Indian Ocean, crossing the Antarctic Circle and then sailing to Australia and New Zealand. Next, the //Challenger// headed to the Hawaiian Islands then to Cape Horn followed by the tip of South America which is close to Antarctica. Afterwards, they sailed through the Atlantic to return to England in 1876 on May. Overall, they have traveled 127,000 km. and traveled for 1,000 days.
 * The Voyage Itself**

There were only 144 crew members when the //Challenger// returned from its voyage in 1876 since 7 members died 5 of them left when Captain Nares did, 26 members got stuck in hospitals or couldn’t continue the voyage and several deserted at any of the ports the ship stopped at. The scientists on board had used the labs to study subjects from the ocean especially marine life. Some include //Hemiaster phillipi, Euplectella subearea along with some of Haeckel’s// plankton such as Dinoflagellates, Foraminifera, Radiolarians. Along with that, they have collected data on temperature, currents, water chemistry, and ocean floor deposits. With so much data, they were able to create a 50 volume series on all that data on the ocean along with information about fascinating people encountered by the crew, 4,717 species of marine life, and the discovery of the Marianas Trench which was 8,200 meters below sea level. Without this expedition, oceanography would have never been born.
 * After the Voyage**

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