Melsom Rocks

Melsom Rocks rise to about 100 feet above sea level to the west of Penguin Point on the coast of Coronation Island and north of Despair Rocks, all amongst the South Orkney Islands in the British Antarctic Territory.

The rocks were probably sighted by Powell and Palmer in December 1821. They were charted by Sørlle in 1912-13, and named after Kapitein Henrik Govenius Melsom (1870-1946): Melson was the Norwegian Manager of the Thule Whaling Company, who employed Sørlle as Gunner in Paal in 1912-13, and in 1925-26, off the South Orkney Islands and South Shetland Islands, operating the whale factory ship Lancing (under Kapitein Hans P. Hansen), the first ship to be fitted with a slipway for hauling whales to the deck. The rocks were recharted by Discovery Investigations in 1933.

Location

• Location map: 60°30’0"S, 46°10’59"W

References

• Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Melsom Rocks