Yelcho (1906)

The rescue of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

After the dramatic voyage of the James Caird, Ernest Shackleton had attempted and failed three times to rescue the crew left on Elephant Island: 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.

In July 1916, Yelcho was authorised by the president of Chile, Juan Luis Sanfuentes, to escort and tow Emma to a point 200 mi south of Cape Horn. but this third attempt was also unsuccessful.

At dawn on 7 August Yelcho under the command of Captain Luis Pardo was ordered to Port Stanley 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 the small ship had to cross the 500 mi 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 and Tom Crean. After making it safely through the complex tides and channels of the west side of the Tierra del Fuego, Yelcho headed out into the Beagle Channel.

On the 27th at 11:15 am, she arrived at Picton Island, 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. 60 mi south of Cape Horn the lookout spotted the first icebergs

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.

thumb|right|Yelcho, at the left is [[Ernest Shackleton]] 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, and it was there that the prow 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 Punta Arenas.

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

References

References

1. "histamar".
2. "Yelcho". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust.
3. "Emma".
4. link. (17 February 2012 , retrieved on 17 April 2012)
5. [[Mateo Martinic]], [http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/documento_detalle.asp?id=MC0053164 ''Crónica de las tierras del sur del canal Beagle''], page 110. The station had been built short before as response to the sinking of the Norwegian ship ''Drummuir'' by British ships.
6. Alfonso M. Filippi Parada, [http://www.revistamarina.cl/revistas/2000/5/filippi.pdf Shackleton versus Pardo] {{Webarchive. link. (21 January 2019 , retrieved 15 April 2012)
7. "The SS Yelcho".
8. Website of the Chilean Navy, [http://www.armada.cl/prontus_armada/site/artic/20090709/pags/20090709172847.html Yelcho (1906)] {{Webarchive. link. (21 July 2012 , retrieved on 17 April 1906)