Episode 2 of 2
Sighting of the Antarctic Coast
- When
- 25 January – 12 February 1840
- Where
- Coastline behind the Cook Ice Shelf
The Vincennes sighted mountains behind the Cook Ice Shelf on January 25, 1840, confirming the extent of the coastline.
On January 25, 1840, the Vincennes sighted mountains behind the Cook Ice Shelf. Similar peaks were sighted at Piner Bay on January 30. By February 12, the squadron had covered 800 miles of coastline, leading Wilkes to acknowledge the discovery.
Sources
- United States Exploring Expedition Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21
- Charles Wilkes Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.