The Balaena in the Antarctica
WG Burn-Murdoch 1892-93
This painting is by W.G Burn-Murdoch, assistant on the Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892-93. The wooden whaling-barque "Balaena" was, by quite a considerable margin, the largest of the four ships on the Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892-93. The three smaller ships were "Active", "Diana", and "Pole Star". "Balaena" had been built in 1872 as "Mjolnar" at Drammen in Norway, and had a registered tonnage of 260, gross tonnage of 417, length of 141 feet, beam of 31 feet, and draught of 16 and a half feet, with an auxiliary steam engine of 65 horse-power. Her sides were 32 inches thick, and supported by massive beams to withstand the crushing force of ice. It was on this ship that the naturalist/surgeon Dr. William S. Bruce and his assistant W.G. Burn-Murdoch were accommodated during the expedition.
