HMS Fury Memorial

Anchor of HMS Fury

HMS Fury was a Hecla-class bomb vessel built in 1814, captained by Constantine Richard Moorsom, she saw wartime service in an attack on Barbary pirates at Algiers in August, 1816. The ship was converted to an Arctic exploration ship in 1921. Accompanied by sister ship HMS Hecla, HMS Fury made two journeys to the Arctic under the command of Sir William Edward Parry, an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer in 1821 and 1825. She was damaged by ice while overwintering and was abandoned near 72°30’N 92°30’W on 25 August 1825 at what has since been called Fury Beach on Somerset Island, Nunavut. Parry’s account of this journey was ‘Narrative of the Attempt to reach the North Pole’ (1827). In 1827 Parry reached 82°45’N which remained for 49 years the highest latitude attained.