Point Wild
Point Wild is a headland of Elephant Island, amongst the South Shetland Islands of the British Antarctic Territory. This headland is to the east of Cape Belsham.
The headland was roughly mapped by British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition between 17 April and 30 August 1916, when a party of 22 men of the expedition wintered on the point following the loss of Endurance in the Weddell Sea.
The point was named 'Cape Wild' or 'Point Wild' after Commander John Robert Francis ('Frank') Wild of the Royal Naval Reserve (1874-1939), who commanded the wintering party on Elephant Island after Shackleton set sail to summon a rescue after the sinking of the Endurance,
Wild was a prolific British Antarctic explorer in the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. He served as Able Seaman in Scott's Discovery on the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04; was a member of British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-09 under Sir Ernest Shackleton; on the Australian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14 under Sir Douglas Mawson; then on Shackleton's ill-fated British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. After the men of the expedition reached Elephant Island and Shackleton set off in search of rescue in 1916, Wild was placed in command of wintering party. Wild was then Second-in-Command (later Commander) on the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition of 1921-22.
See also
Location
- Location map: 61°5’53"S, 54°51’39"W
References
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Point Wild