SS Vega was a Swedish barque, built in Bremerhaven, Germany in 1872. The Vega was the first ship to complete a voyage through the Northeast Passage, and the first vessel to circumnavigate the Eurasian continent, during the Vega expedition. Initially a troubled enterprise, the successful expedition is considered to be among the highest achievements in the history of Swedish science.
Construction Though a sailing ship, the Vega had a 60 hp auxiliary steam engine. The hull was of wood measuring 150 ft. in length (45.72 m), a capacity of 357 DWT.
Arctic exploration Constructed as a whaler, the vessel was acquired and rebuilt for Arctic exploration by Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld with financial assistance from King Oscar II of Sweden and others.Aho, Marie, A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection included in the Unesco Memory of the World Program, Tietolinja News (National Library of Finland), January 1999 On 22 June 1878 the ship set out from Karlskrona, Sweden through the Northeast Passage around the north coast of Eurasia. Blocked by ice on 28 September of that year only 120 miles (200 km) short of the Bering Strait marking the eastern end of Asia, the ship was not freed until 18 July 1879. Two days later East Cape was passed, and Vega became the first ship to complete a voyage through the Northeast Passage. Returning by way of the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Suez Canal, Vega also became the first vessel to circumnavigate the Eurasian continent.
Whaling and sealing After the expedition Vega returned to her original trades of whaling and seal hunting. The ship was reported sunk in Melville Bay west of Greenland in 1903, sailing under the British owner Ferguson of Dundee.
Images
See also Gjøa, the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage Oscar Frithiof Nordquist, Finnish member of the expedition Cape Vega and Vegafonna, named after this ship Vega gull (Larus vegae) discovered on the Northeast Passage voyage and named after the ship
References
Further reading Vegas färd kring Asien och Europa by A.E. Nordenskiöld 1880, slightly abbreviated version edited by Göran Schildt 1960 (in Swedish).
External links As extensive website about Vegas voyage (in Swedish)] Two photographs by Alexander Wilson, showing "Vega" in Dundee Harbour, 1903 (in Dundee Central Library) Expedition Vega 2013, ´s search expedition for the wreck of Vega in August 2013.