Editing HMS Alert (1856) (section)

=== Arctic exploration (1874–1876) ===
[[File:HMS Alert (1856) pushed aground by ice.jpg|thumb|left|HMS ''Alert'' pushed aground by ice, Radmore Harbour, 1875–1876 (''[[Illustrated London News]]'', 1876)]] [[File:Orthographic projection centred over Alert Nunavut.png|thumb|left|An orthographic projection showing the location of [[Alert, Nunavut]]]]
In 1874, ''Alert'' was taken in hand for conversion to the role of Arctic exploration. Her single-expansion engine was replaced with an [[R and W Hawthorn|R & W Hawthorn]] [[Compound steam engine|compound-expansion engine]], it was re-boilered to {{convert|60|psi}}, her armament was reduced to four guns and her hull was strengthened with felt-covered iron. Above the waterline it was sheathed with teak, and below it, Canadian elm and pitch-pine. The modifications caused her displacement to increase to 1,240 tons.<ref name=WL/>

The [[British Arctic Expedition]] was commanded by Captain [[George Strong Nares]], and comprised ''Alert'' (Captain Nares) and {{HMS|Discovery|1874|2}} (Captain [[Henry Frederick Stephenson]]). The expedition aimed to reach the [[North Pole]] via [[Smith Sound]], the sea passage between [[Greenland]] and Canada's northernmost island, [[Ellesmere Island]]. Contemporary geographers proposed that there could be an [[Open Polar Sea]], and that if the thick layer of ice surrounding it were overcome, access to the North Pole by sea might be possible. Ever since [[Edward Augustus Inglefield]] had penetrated Smith Sound in 1852, it had been a likely route to the North.

Despite finding heavier-than-expected ice, the expedition pressed on.<ref name="cc">{{cite web|url=http://www.cavillconnections.co.uk/discovery.htm|title=1875–76 Arctic Expedition at Richard Cavill's website|access-date=2008-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722135433/http://www.cavillconnections.co.uk/discovery.htm|archive-date=22 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Leaving ''Discovery'' to winter at [[Lady Franklin Bay]], ''Alert'' pressed on a further {{convert|50|nmi}} through the [[Robeson Channel]], establishing her winter quarters at Floeberg Beach.<ref name=cc/> Spring 1876 saw considerable activity by sledge, charting the coasts of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, but [[scurvy]] had begun to take hold, with ''Alert'' suffering the greatest burden.<ref name=cc/> On 3 April the second-in-command of ''Alert'', [[Albert Hastings Markham]], took a party north to attempt the Pole. By 11 May, having made slow progress, they reached their greatest latitude at 83° 20' 26"N.<ref name=NMM>{{cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/archive/catalogue/record.cfm?ID=MRK|title=Biography of Albert Markham at the National Maritime Museum|access-date=2008-11-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609001603/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/archive/catalogue/record.cfm?ID=MRK|archive-date=9 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Suffering from snow blindness, scurvy and exhaustion, they turned back.

The expedition was rewarded on its return; Nares was knighted, Markham was promoted to captain.<ref name=CCG>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/USQUE_Alert|title=HMS ''Alert'' at the Canadian Coastguard website|access-date=2008-11-16}}</ref> The geography of northern Canada and [[Greenland]] is dotted with the names of those connected with the expedition: [[Nares Strait]], [[Nares Lake]], [[Markham Ice Shelf]], [[Ayles Ice Shelf]], and [[Mount Ayles]]. The northernmost permanently inhabited place on earth, the settlement of [[Alert, Nunavut|Alert]] at the northern point of Ellesmere Island, was named for the ship.

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