SS Vega (1872)

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.

The Vega, painting by Jacob Hägg
History
Name	SS Vega
Port of registry	Sweden
Launched	1872, in Bremerhaven
Owner	Ferguson
Port of registry	Dundee, United Kingdom
Acquired	1903
Out of service	1903
Fate	Missing in Melville Bay, Greenland
General characteristics
Class & type	Steamship
Tonnage	357 DWT
Length	150 ft.
Propulsion	Sails, 70 hp auxiliary steam engine
Sail plan	Barque

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.^[1][2] 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.^[1] Returning by way of the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Suez Canal,^[3] 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

• 
  Vega monument in Stockholm
• 
  Return of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld with the Vega to Stockholm on April 24, 1880
• 
  Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld with the Vega, by Georg von Rosen
• 
  Bath in Kusatsu i by Vega expedition member Olof Sörling [sv] during S/S Vega's stay in Japan September–November 1879

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