The Challenger Expedition: Exploring the Ocean's Depths

On 21 December 1872, HMS Challenger set sail from Portsmouth, England, to begin a global voyage of deep-sea exploration, unique for the scale of its ambition and scope. Made possible by technological and scientific developments, extensive international cooperation and supported by a team of researchers and naval officers, the expedition was part of a concerted nineteenth-century drive to map the ocean floors and search for life in the abyss. By the time the ship returned to Britain in 1876,...