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) the ship. In the early 1890s Norwegian ship-owner Svend Foyn wanted to expand his business to the Antarctic Ocean thereby needing capable ships. Foyn then purchased "Cap Nor", made extensive repairs and after completion renamed the ship "Antarctic". From 1893 the ship was deployed to the Antarctic ocean for whale hunting. In 1897 the ship was purchased by Alfred Gabriel Nathorst for his planned expedition to Svalbard. Again extensive repairs were made prior to the expedition in 1898. In 1899 Nathorst sold the ship to Georg Carl Amdrup for his expedition to East Greenland. In 1900 Amdrup sold "Antarctic" to