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) continued towards Paulet Island; on the way the ship once again was trapped in pack ice on January 3, 1903. On February 3 the ship again broke free but was now damaged and leaking. Captain Larsen now intended to beach "Antarctic" on Paulet Island, but the ship was too damaged and sank about off the coast on February 12, 1903. In November all crewmembers (including Carl Skottsberg, Johan Gunnar Andersson, José María Sobral and Frank Wilbert Stokes) were rescued by the Argentine corvette "Uruguay" captained by Julián Irízar. When Nathorst heard about the ship wrecking he commented "seems to me