Challenger HMS
To commemorate the centenary of the visit of H.M.S. Challenger to Tristan da Cunha, four stamps were issued by the island’s Post Office in1973.
The cruise of H.M.S. Challenger, the first steam vessel to cross the Antarctic Circle, followed that of the Lightning in 1868, and of the Porcupine, 1869-70. Capt. G. S. Nares was naval commander of the vessel, the scientific staff being under Prof. Wyville Thomson. Every kind of scientific device was supplied for sounding the depths, mapping the basins and determining the physical and biological conditions of the oceans. Some of these appliances can be seen on the left hand side of the four stamps. H.M.S. Challenger reached Santa Cruz in February 1873. Investigations were made at 362 stations. Among numerous places on the route, depicted on the 121/2p stamp, were Madeira, Canaries, West Indies Hong Kong, Japan, Valparaiso, Magellan Straits, Portsmouth, and various sub-Antarctic islands. The deepest sounding was between Admiralty Islands and Japan, 4,575 fathoms.
The ship’s laboratory is shown on the 4d stamp SG177 and H.M.S. Challenger off Tristan da Cunha is depicted on the 5p stamp SG178. The 71/2 p stamp SG179 shows the steam pinnace of H.M.S. Challenger off Nightingale Island.
