Duchess of Bedford (I)

Vessel purchased in 1906 at Victoria BC by Ejnar Mikkelsen as a base ship for an expedition to the Arctic Ocean to seek out Keenan Land. Formerly the Beatrice this vessel was renamed in honour of one of the expedition's sponsors. This vessel did not have engines installed and was the last sailing ship without engines to leave charted territory to explore for unknown lands.This voyage is commemoratedby a plaque erected at Victoria BC by the Royal Geographical Society in 1991. Mikkelsen, a Dane, was prevented from owning the vessel so this vessel was sold to the Duchess of Bedford and chartered for six shillings a year to meet the legal formalities. The vessel was supposed to have been built from a salvaged Japanese naval vessel which had been driven ashore in a storm. This vessel was built in 1879 as a schooner of 66 tons this vessel was used as a fur seal poaching vessel, a pearl fisher, an opium smuggler in the far east, and a sealer. This vessel was crushed in the ice off the coast of Alaska.

In 1907 this vessel was reported to have sprung a leak, been beached and abandoned.