1910 9th December
Antarctic Pack Ice Entered
Terra Nova enters the Antarctic pack ice and begins a prolonged struggle through heavy floes.
Antarctic exploration · permanent subject timeline
Southern Ocean Storm and Pack Ice
The difficult final approach to Antarctica in December 1910. This page combines historical context with 8 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database Terra Nova archive.
Historical context
Southern Ocean Storm and Pack Ice: overview and significance
What happened?
After leaving New Zealand, Terra Nova encountered a severe Southern Ocean storm and then a prolonged passage through heavy Antarctic pack ice. The overloaded vessel suffered flooding and lost valuable time before reaching the Ross Sea.
Why was it important?
The storm and pack-ice delay consumed fuel, strained the ship and pushed the expedition's Antarctic arrival later into the season. These early difficulties affected logistics before the shore programme had begun.
World History Database records
Southern Ocean Storm and Pack Ice timeline
The records below are selected from the 89-record Terra Nova archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1910
1910 30th December
Antarctic Pack Ice Cleared
Terra Nova clears the prolonged pack-ice barrier after about twenty days of slow progress.
1910 30th December
Terra Nova Clears Pack Ice
Terra Nova finally emerges from prolonged pack ice near Antarctica.
1910 December
Pack Ice Delay
Terra Nova battles heavy pack ice in the Ross Sea.
1910 December
Pack Ice Navigation
Pennell helps navigate Terra Nova through the difficult Antarctic pack during the three-week delay.
1910 December
Severe Southern Ocean Storm
Terra Nova encounters a severe storm while sailing south from New Zealand.
1910 December
Terra Nova Storm Damage
The overloaded ship suffers flooding and serious difficulties during the storm.
1910
Pack Ice Delay
On its journey from New Zealand to the Antarctic, Terra Nova was trapped in pack ice for 20 days far longer than other ships had experienced, which meant a late-season arrival.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database Terra Nova records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
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