We supplied many prestigious explorers and mountaineers.
Our next few posts will cover just a few of our surprising clients.
Our next few posts will cover just a few of our surprising clients.
John King Davis
Captain John King Davis CBE (1884 – 1967) was an English born Australian Explorer and Navigator most famous for Captaining Antarctic Exploration Ships.
He was educated at Colet Court, London and later at Burford Grammar School in Oxfordshire before leaving for Cape Town in 1900 with his father. His Antarctic exploration work included being Chief Officer on Ernest Shackleton’s ship Nimrod wich he Captained back to England. He also served as Captain of the SY Aurora - pictured above. Captain John Davis bought the ship Aurora for £6000.00 for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914. The ship had previously been used on the ill-fated Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. John Davis organised the refit and was Master of Aurora and second-in-command of the expedition.
He was also second in command to Sir Douglas Mawson on the British, Australia, New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) 1929-1930. This expedition used Robert Falcon Scotts old ship the RRS Discovery.
It was good to see that Arthur Beale supplied the rope for this expedition. We still have the signed order in our archives.
His achievements were such that he became President of the Royal Society of Victoria and a Fellow of the Royal Geographicasl Society. The Antarctic base “Davis Station” was named after him as is the Davis Sea off the Antarctic Coast.
