SY Aurora was a 580-ton barque-rigged steam yacht built by Alexander Stephen and Sons Ltd.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,713 |
12 Facts About SY Aurora
2.
Between the years 1876 and 1910, Aurora made the annual trip from Dundee, Scotland to St John's, Newfoundland to take part in the whale and seal hunt in the North Atlantic.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,714 |
3.
In 1884, along with other whalers in the area SY Aurora made an attempt to rescue the controversial Greely Expedition, and her captain James Fairweather assisted with a repair to the US relief ship Bear.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,715 |
4.
On 2 December 1911 SY Aurora departed from Hobart, Australia for Macquarie Island, where a radio relay station was established.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,716 |
5.
SY Aurora left the island on 25 December, arriving at Cape Denison on 8 January 1912, where the main base was built.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,717 |
6.
SY Aurora departed on 19 January, heading west to find a location for the western base, which was eventually sited in what is known as Queen Mary Land, on 1 February 1912.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,718 |
7.
In December 1912, SY Aurora returned to Cape Denison to find that the sledging expedition of Mawson, Xavier Mertz, and Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis was overdue.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,719 |
8.
SY Aurora arrived in Commonwealth Bay on 3 December 1913 and left on 25 December.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,720 |
9.
In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton tasked SY Aurora to help set up supply depots along the route for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,721 |
10.
SY Aurora remained trapped in the ice for the better part of a year, drifting some 1600 nautical miles.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,722 |
11.
SY Aurora was last seen in 1917, when she departed Newcastle, New South Wales, bound for Iquique, Chile with a cargo of coal.
| FactSnippet No. 2,059,723 |