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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --
Ah Sam, Seaman, USN
Ah Sam, who was born in China, was a cook and cabin steward
on the 1879-1881 Jeannette
Arctic expedition. In September 1881, following the ship's
sinking and her crew's subsequent trek across the Arctic pack
ice and stormy seas, he was one of the fourteen men who landed
on the northern end of the Lena River Delta, Siberia. All but
two of this party, weakened by exposure and lack of food, died
during the following weeks. Ah Sam was one of the last three to
succumb, at the end of October or the beginning of November 1882.
His body was found with those of the expedition's commander, Lieutenant
Commander George W. DeLong
and its surgeon, James M. Ambler.
This page features all the views we have related to Jeannette
expedition crewman Ah Sam.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 92153
"Finding the Bodies of Captain De Long and his Companions."
Chief Engineer George Melville discovers the bodies of Lieutenant
Commander George DeLong, Passed Assistant Surgeon James M. Ambler
and Seaman Ah Sam, in the Lena River Delta, Siberia, on 23 March
1882. The three men had died in October or early November 1881.
Woodcut engraved by George T. Andrew after a design by Captain
Gronbeck, copied from "The Voyage of the Jeannette ...",
Volume II, page 857, edited by Emma DeLong, published in 1884.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 126KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 92152
"Plan of the Last Camp, Showing the Position in which the
Bodies were Found."
Plan of the final camp of Lieutenant Commander George DeLong
and his men from the Arctic exploration ship Jeannette,
in the Lena River Delta, Siberia. All members of the party perished
there in October-November 1881. Their bodies were found the following
March.
Copied from "The Voyage of the Jeannette ...", Volume
II, page 854, edited by Emma DeLong, published in 1884.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 325 pixels |
 |
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Page made 19 January 2004