The Jeannette trapped in the Ice

The Jeannette, a small steamboat, sailed into the ice north of the Bering Strait in 1879 to investigate the mystery of the North Pole. The expedition, under its American Commander, George W. De Long, was sponsored by James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the New York Herald (who had sent Stanley to Africa in search of Livingstone). The Jeannette was beset by the ice in September 1879, drifting for over a year, and finally crushed in June 1881 at 77° 15'N. The crew were left on the ice-pack with three small boats. Eleven of the crew were rescued but De Long and his twenty-one remaining crew perished.

For the incident which inspired Griset's drawing, see J. Geslin, L'Expédition de La Jeannette au Pole Nord, II, Paris, 1884, pp. 51-3.