Editing Nathaniel Palmer

{{Short description|American naval explorer and seal hunter (1799–1877)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Nathaniel Brown Palmer
| image       = Nathaniel Palmer.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1799|08|08}}<!-- {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| birth_place = [[Stonington, Connecticut]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1877|06|21|1799|08|08}}<!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = 
| monuments   = [[Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House]], [[Palmer Station]], [[Palmer Land]], [[Palmer Archipelago]], [[N.B. Palmer (clipper)]], [[Nathaniel B. Palmer (icebreaker)]]
| other_names = "Captain Nat"
| known_for   = 22-year-old "Captain Nat" and his men were the first Americans to discover the [[Antarctic Peninsula]]. Later, he was active in the design of the first [[clipper ships]].
| occupation  = [[Seal hunting|Sealing captain]], explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer
}}

'''Nathaniel Brown Palmer''' (August 8, 1799 – June 21, 1877) was an American [[Seal hunting|seal hunter]], explorer, sailing captain, ship designer, and a whale hunter. He gave his name to [[Palmer Land]], [[Antarctica]], which he explored in 1820 on his [[Hero (sloop)|sloop ''Hero'']]. He was born in [[Stonington, Connecticut]], and was a descendant of [[Walter Palmer (Puritan)|Walter Palmer]], one of the town's founders.<ref name="howgego">
{{cite book
 | last = Howgego
 | first = Raymond
 | author-link = Raymond John Howgego
 | title = Encyclopedia of Exploration (Part 2: 1800 to 1850)
 | url = http://www.antarctic-circle.org/encyclopediaentries.htm
 | year = 2004
 | publisher = Potts Point, NSW, Australia: Hordern House
 }}</ref>

==Sealing career and Antarctic exploration==
During the 1810s the hides of [[Antarctic Ocean]] seals were highly valued as items for trade with [[China]]. Palmer served as second mate on board {{ship||Hersilia|1819 ship|2}}{{'}}s first voyage, during which she became the first American vessel known to reach the [[South Shetland Islands]]. As a skilled and fearless seal hunter, Palmer achieved his first command at the early age of 21. His vessel, a diminutive [[sloop]] named {{ship||Hero|sloop|2}}, was only {{convert|47|ft|m}} in length. Palmer steered southward in ''Hero'' at the beginning of the Antarctic summer of 1820&ndash;1821. Aggressively searching for new [[Pinniped|seal]] [[Rookery|rookeries]] south of [[Cape Horn]], on November 17, 1820, Palmer and his men became the first Americans and the third group of people to discover the [[Antarctic Peninsula]].  Larger ships skippered by [[Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen]] and [[Edward Bransfield]] had reported sighting land earlier in 1820. Along with English sealer [[George Powell (mariner)|George Powell]], Palmer also co-discovered the nearby [[South Orkney Islands]] archipelago.

==Merchant marine career and development of the clipper ships==
After concluding a successful sealing career, Palmer, still in the prime of life, switched his attention to the captaining of fast sailing ships for the transportation of express freight. In 1843, Captain Palmer took command of {{ship||Paul Jones|1843 ship|2}} on her maiden voyage from [[Boston]] to [[Hong Kong]], arriving in 111 days. In this new role, the Connecticut captain traveled many of the world's principal sailing routes.  Observing the strengths and weaknesses of the ocean-going sailing ships of his time, Palmer suggested and designed improvements to their [[hull (watercraft)|hulls]] and [[rigging]]. The improvements made Palmer a co-developer of the mid-19th century [[clipper ship]].

Capt. Palmer purchased the Capt. Loper house in 1836, in Stonington, Connecticut. The Loper family were primarily whalers out of East Hampton, Long Island. Capt. Jacob Loper had four sons who brought whaling to Nantucket, Massachusetts; the Delaware Bay, southern New Jersey; and, Stonington, Connecticut. The composite character of Ismael in ''[[Moby Dick]]'' is based on events in the life of one of his children, who was the only survivor of an 1835 sinking off Japan, in which all were lost but young James Loper, who floated upon a coffin for a week. In the Capt. Loper House library Capt. Palmer found many old maps, including two of the coastline of Antarctica, made by the Lopers while working with The [[Dutch East India Company]]. The Loper family invented "[[All Found]]", which meant that berth and food were not deducted from sailors' pay, insuring eager crews for Capt. James Loper. Escaping slaves likewise signed on as each sailor was paid the same rate. All African-Americans with the last name of "Loper" can trace their lineage back to this time, taking their last name from the Dutch Loper family. Between 1852 and 1854 Capt. Palmer built his home in Stonington which is today known as the [[Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House]].  The house is of a transitional style combining elements of the [[Greek revival]] and Victorian [[Italianate]] styles.  It was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1996 and is now the headquarters of the [[Stonington Historical Society]].

Palmer closed his sailing career and established himself in his hometown of Stonington as a successful owner of clipper ships sailed by others.  He died in San Francisco June 21, 1877, at the age of 77.

==Legacy in the Antarctic and beyond==
[[Palmer Land]], part of the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as the [[Palmer Archipelago]], were named in his honor.

The Antarctic science and research program operated by the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] continues to recall Palmer's role in the exploration of the Antarctic area.  [[Palmer Station]], located in the seal islands that Palmer explored, the clipper ship {{ship||N.B. Palmer|clipper|2}} (built by [[Jacob Aaron Westervelt]]) and the Antarctic icebreaker [[Nathaniel B. Palmer (icebreaker)|RV ''Nathaniel B. Palmer'']] are named after Captain Palmer.
  
[[Hero Bay]], in the South Shetland Islands, is named for Captain Palmer's sloop ''Hero'', one of the vessels of the [[Benjamin Pendleton|Pendleton]] sealing fleet from Stonington which visited the islands in 1820–21.

Also named after Palmer's sloop ''Hero'' is [[Hero Rupes]], an [[escarpment]] which was discovered in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mercury in 1973.

On September 14, 1988, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring Nathaniel Palmer.

[[File:CNPBHwithsign.JPG|thumb|200px|right|[[Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House]], Stonington, Connecticut]]
[[File:CNPHBHrear.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House, rear view with [[widow's walk]] (the lookout on the roof)]]
His home in Stonington, the [[Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House]], was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1996.
According to the records of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Connecticut, he was initiated in 1826 by the Loper family. His record of membership ends in the year of his death and was reported at a special meeting of Asylum Lodge of Masons in Stonington, CT No. 57 on June 29, 1877, a Seafarer's Lodge. The Masonic Service Association of North America published a Short Talk Bulletin in March 2007 that is Vol. 85 No. 3 which details his history and attests to his membership in the Masonic Fraternity.

==See also==
*[[History of Antarctica]]
*[[Houqua (clipper)|''Houqua'']], innovative early [[clipper|clipper ship]] which Capt. Nat helped design
*[[Paul Jones (1843 ship)|''Paul Jones'']], ship which N.B. Palmer sailed on its maiden voyage
*[[N.B. Palmer (clipper)|''N.B. Palmer'' (clipper)]], named after Capt. Palmer
*[[Capt. Nathaniel B. Palmer House]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book
  | last = Spears
  | first = John Randolph
  | author-link = John Randolph Spears
  | title = Captain Nathaniel Brown Palmer: an old-time sailor of the sea
  | publisher = The Macmillan Co. 
  | year = 1922
  | location = New York
  | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LPwlAAAAMAAJ
  | quote = n.b. palmer.
  | oclc = 1834630}}

==External links==
*[http://www.south-pole.com/aspp100.htm Account of Nathaniel Palmer's sighting of Antarctica]

{{Clipper ships}}
{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Nathaniel}}
[[Category:American explorers of Antarctica]]
[[Category:19th-century American explorers]]
[[Category:Boat and ship designers]]
[[Category:Sea captains]]
[[Category:Sealers]]
[[Category:1799 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Stonington, Connecticut]]
[[Category:South Orkney Islands]]