The Bear was originally built as a sealer in a Scottish shipyard in 1873 and she worked in that bloody trade for her first decade off the coast of Newfoundland. World wide fame then came upon the Bear for many years. One of three ships organized by the U.S. Navy to rescue the ill fated Greely Arctic expedition, the Bear was the first ship to reach the few crewmen who had survived the winter of 1884. In 1885, the Bear was transferred to the Treasury Dept to begin a 41 year career on the Alaskan Patrol. Her routine duties included bringing the mail north in the spring, replenishing food and medicine in Alaskan communities, providing medical care for all people regardless of race, transporting prisoners and acting as a local court wherein the captain functioned as judge. The Bear's most famous captain "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy (1885-1894) imported reindeer from Siberia into Alaska to provide additional food supply and hides for clothing. In 1897, the Bear was ordered to attempt a first-ever winter rescue of the crews from eight whaling vessels that were trapped in the ice north of Point Barrow. Stopped by the ice on December 14, the Bear was 1600 miles distant from the whalers trapped in Arctic ice and her captain was forced to send out a rescue party with dogs and sleds. This land rescue party headed north, collected a herd of reindeer along the way and did reach the trapped whaling ships in time to save almost all crew members. Early in 1932, the Bear was rescued from her role as a floating museum in the harbor of Oakland California by the famous Antarctic explorer Richard E. Byrd who purchased her for the astoundingly small sum of $1500. The Bear then participated in two Antarctic Expeditions and was back in Boston in the spring of 1941 where she was assigned by the Navy to the Greenland Patrol during WW II. The Bear participated in the capture of a Norwegian trawler that was captured by the Germans and then sent into the North Atlantic to spy upon Allied ship movements in the North Atlantic. Decommissioned and put up for sale in 1944, the Bear was purchased by a Canadian company who wished to restore her to her former service as a sealer. But the market was falling for seal oil and skins, and work on the Bear was soon stopped. Left to rot on a Nova Scotia beach, the Bear was bought by her final owner - a Philadelphia entrepreneur who wished to convert her into a floating restaurant and museum. The restoration work completed, the Bear was to be towed to Philadelphia. On March 19, 1963 she came apart and sank in fierce North Atlantic weather, 90 miles south of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. For further information about this 'Queen of Polar Exploits" see History of the Bear

Resolution is 1596 x 1133, 266 dpi for the digital file available for commercial license. This presentation digital image derived from a real photo postcard has been slightly enhanced.. Photographer is unknown but this photo is typical of many taken during her long career on the Arctic Patrol.

Single Use, Single Project License for The Bear is $USD500.00.

Unlimited Reproduction with Assignment of Copyright License for The Bear is $USD2250.00.

Each image file will be sent in TIFF format unless another format is requested.