United States Exploring Expedition sights Wilkes Land

Expedition Context. The United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842) was a surveying mission of the Pacific Ocean. Command was assigned to Lieutenant Charles Wilkes in April 1838 after senior officers refused. The squadron departed Hampton Roads in August 1838, stopping at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro before sailing from Sydney in December 1839 into the Antarctic Ocean.

Antarctic Coastline. On 16 January 1840, Henry Eld and William Reynolds aboard the Peacock sighted Eld Peak and Reynolds Peak along the George V Coast, and the expedition reported the discovery of the Antarctic continent that day. On 25 January the Vincennes sighted mountains behind the Cook Ice Shelf, with similar peaks at Piner Bay on 30 January. By 12 February the squadron had covered 800 miles of coastline, when Wilkes acknowledged they had discovered the Antarctic Continent.

Wilkes Land. The coastline sighted by the expedition was named Wilkes Land. This region includes Claire Land, Banzare Land, Sabrina Land, Budd Land, and Knox Land. The area is named after Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who commanded the expedition. The naming reflects the extent of the coastline surveyed by the squadron during their Antarctic operations.