Robert F. Scott

 Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) was born in Devon on June 6, 1868, the son of a brewer and magistrate.  At age 13, he joined the training ship HMS Britannia as a Royal Navy cadet and was promoted to midshipman at age 15.  His career was routine until, in 1899, he volunteered to lead the British National Antarctic Expedition.  The Discovery Expedition, as it was better known, was a joint enterprise of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society, in close cooperation with the Royal Navy, which made the HMS Discovery available for the venture.  The ship departed England on July 31, 1901.  Almost no one on board had prior experience in polar regions.  During this expedition, Commander Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson trekked inland, coming within 530 miles of the South Pole.  They gained valuable experience, but also learned that the Antarctic was an unforgiving environment.  Another trek the following year resulted in the discovery of the Polar Plateau.  When the ship returned to Britain in 1904, Scott became a national hero.  He was promoted to the rank of Captain and King Edward VII created him a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).  Soon thereafter, Shackleton led another expedition that tried, but failed, to reach the South Pole.  Scott then proposed his own expedition to make another attempt.  The British Antarctic Expedition 1910, in the ship Terra Nova, was not officially affiliated with the Royal Navy and Scott had to be released on half-pay in order to lead it.  En route, he learned that Roald Amundsen was making an independent effort to reach the Pole.  Scott, who was never fond of dog sleds, brought motor sledges and horses to pull the supply sleds, but also planned to utilize man-hauling.  Due to difficulties with the motor sledges and horses, the expedition’s main inland supply base, One Ton Depot, was established 35 miles short of its planned location at 80°S.  On January 4, 1912, with the group at 87°34’S, Scott sent back three of the group and commenced the final trek to the Pole with four others.  They reached the Pole on January 17, only to find that Amundsen had arrived there a month earlier, leaving a tent and a letter.  The return journey proved to be overwhelming.  Two members died during the grueling trek, man-hauling the sleds while on reduced rations.  Scott and the other two remaining members made their final camp on March 19.  They were eleven miles short of One Ton Depot, but 24 miles beyond its planned location.  Scott is presumed to have died on March 29, 1912.  The bodies of the three were discovered eight months later.  The Terra Nova team, but particularly Scott, were venerated as national heroes.