| First owner |
First port of register |
Registration date |
| Benjamin Leigh Smith, London |
Peterhead |
12/06/1880 |
| Other names |
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| Subsequent owner and registration history |
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| Vessel history |
In first voyage to the Arctic, EIRA reached Franz Joseph Land and later returned.
14/6/1881 sailed Peterhead on second voyage, for Franz Joseph Land and Novaya Zemlya but was not seen after July.
In summer 1882 the Peterhead whaler HOPE was chartered for a rescue voyage. |
| Remarks |
Auxiliary screw steam exploration yacht, designed for Arctic
Oak hull, sheathed with ironbark timbers
First steamer built at Peterhead |
| End year |
Fate / Status |
| 1881 |
Sank 21/08/1881 |
| Disposal Detail |
21/8/1881, near Cape Flora, Franz Joseph Land, heavily damaged by floating ice and sank. Crew abandoned with the boats and reached land at Cape Flora, 79°56'N 49°E, where they remained through the winter, surviving on polar bear and walrus meat. There were no casualties.
On 21/6/1882 the crew left Cape Flora and sailed/rowed 1000 miles in the ship's boats, reaching Matotchkin Straits, Novaya Zemla where they found the rescue vessel HOPE and two other vessels.
The crew, including B L Smith, arrived Aberdeen 20/8/1882 in HOPE
A wreck believed to be of EIRA was found during a Russian survey of Cape Flora in August 2017, and confirmed as such in 2018. |
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