"A very interesting point in geography": The 1773 Phipps Expedition towards the North Pole

... Phipps' voyage of 1773 ... lasted only for one season, and did not attain the North Pole. It was, nevertheless, of considerable historical and scientific interest and deserves greater recognition than merely being known as the expedition on which young Nelson tried to shoot the polar bear. The voyage has sometimes been called a failure, but when one considers the matter, it was bound to fail. It was not until two centuries later, in our own time, that a ship navigated the ice of the central polar basin to reach the North Pole. ...