Robert Falcon Scott Markham's first choice as leader but, having decided on him, the older man's support remained constant. There were committee battles over the scope of Scott's responsibilities, with the Royal Society pressing to put a scientist in charge of the expedition's programme while Scott merely commanded the ship. Eventually, however, Markham's view prevailed; Scott was given overall command, and was promoted to the rank of commander before "Discovery" sailed for the Antarctic on 6 August 1901. King Edward VII, who showed a keen interest in the expedition, visited the Discovery the day before the ship left British shores in August 1901,
Antarctic (ship) Antarctic (ship) Antarctic was a Swedish steamship built in Drammen, Norway in 1871. She was used on several research expeditions to the Arctic region and to Antarctica through 1898-1903. In 1895 the first confirmed landing on the mainland of Antarctica was made from this ship. "Antarctic" was a barque with three masts and equipped with a steam engine. Built in 1871 at Holmen in Drammen under the name "Cap Nor". Initially "Antarctic" was used for seal hunting around Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Greenland. During that period the ship was captained by Gullik Jensen and among others Carsten Borchgrevink served on