The ''Yelcho'' was built in 1906 by the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

firm Geo. Brown and Co. of

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, on the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

for towage and cargo service of the Chilean ''Sociedad Ganadera e Industrial Yelcho y Palena'',

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

. In 1908 she was sold to the Chilean Navy and ordered to

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...

as a tug and for periodic maintenance and supply of the lighthouses in that region. __TOC__

The rescue of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

After the dramatic voyage of the ''James Caird'',

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

had attempted and failed three times to rescue the crew left on

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

: the ships ''Southern Sky'' (loaned by the English Whaling Co, 23–31 May 1916), ''Instituto de Pesca N°1'' (loaned by the Government of Uruguay, 10–16 June 1916) and ''Emma'' (a sealer, funded by the British Club, Punta Arenas, 12 July – 8 August 1916) all failed to reach Elephant Island. Yelcho

In July 1916, ''Yelcho'' was authorised by the president of Chile,

Juan Luis Sanfuentes Juan Luis Sanfuentes Andonaegui (; 27 December 1858 – 16 July 1930) was President of Chile between 1915 and 1920. Sanfuentes was the son of writer and politician Salvador Sanfuentes Torres and Matilde Andonaegui. Orphaned at an early age and ...

, to escort and tow ''Emma'' to a point south of

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

. but this third attempt was also unsuccessful. At dawn on 7 August ''Yelcho'' under the command of Captain

Luis Pardo Luis Alberto Pardo Villalón (20 September 1882 – 21 February 1935) was a Chilean Navy officer who, in August 1916, commanded the steam tug to rescue the 22 stranded crewmen of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, , part of the Imper ...

was ordered to

Port Stanley Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...

in order to tug ''Emma'' and the British explorers back to Punta Arenas to make a fourth attempt. The Chilean government offered ''Yelcho'' although she was totally unsuited for operations in Antarctic waters. With no radio, no proper heating system, no electric lighting and no

double hull A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

the small ship had to cross the of the Drake's Passage in Antarctic winter. On 25 August 1916 at 12:15 am, she sailed bound for Elephant Island with 22 men under command of Pardo, carrying Shackleton,

Frank Worsley Frank Arthur Worsley (22 February 1872 – 1 February 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer who served on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of ''Endurance''. He also served in the Royal ...

and

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

. After making it safely through the complex tides and channels of the west side of the

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

, ''Yelcho'' headed out into the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

. On the 27th at 11:15 am, she arrived at

Picton Island Picton, Lennox and Nueva () form a group of three islands (and their islets) at the extreme southern tip of South America, in the Chilean commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. Locat ...

, where she bunkered 300 sacks of coal (a total of 72 tons were in the ship) from the Puerto Banner Naval Station. The process was completed within only 12 hours and on 28 August at 3:30 pm she weighed anchor and left for Elephant Island. south of

the lookout spotted the first

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

s At 11:40 am on 30 August, the fog lifted and the camp on Elephant Island was spotted, and ''Yelcho'' immediately entered the bay. Within an hour, in two trips of a small boat, all the Elephant Island party were safely aboard ''Yelcho'', which sailed for Punta Arenas. file:Shackleton-Pardo-Yelcho.JPG, ''Yelcho'', at the left is

and Luis Pardo Villalón at the right The 23 crew of ''Yelcho'' at the rescue was:

Aftermath

After the successful rescue mission of 1916 the name ''Yelcho'' has been given to streets and ships of Chile, particularly to Chile's southernmost city

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Port Williams") is a city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the Capital city, capital of Antártica Chilena Province, the Chilean Antarctic Provin ...

, and it was there that the

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull (watercraft), hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the f ...

of the ''Yelcho'' has been preserved and was prominently displayed as a tribute to Captain Pardo's ship and crew until 2020, when a new monument, featuring a statue of the officer and part of his vessel, stands to commemorate the courageous rescue on the waterfront of the southern port of

. In 1945, the ship was decommissioned and used as tender in the

Petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have ...

School of the Chilean Navy. On 27 January 1958 ''Yelcho'' was retired by decree 190 and in 1962 sold to ASMAR under terms of Law 14.564 (5 May 1954) for 300,000 CLP.Website of the Chilean Navy
Yelcho (1906)
, retrieved on 17 April 1906

References

{{Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1906 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Auxiliary ships of the Chilean Navy

The rescue of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Aftermath

See also

References