Palmer, Nathaniel Brown

Palmer, Nathaniel Brown, 1799–1877, American sea captain and antarctic explorer, b. Stonington, Conn. While on a whaling voyage (1820–21) in the South Shetlands, he commanded the Hero on an exploring trip to the south and came back with a report that he had sighted land. Hence the name Palmer Land for the peninsula later named Graham Land by the British and known as Palmer Peninsula, Graham Land, or Graham Coast. On this expedition Palmer also discovered the South Orkney Islands. He was well known as a commander and designer of clipper ships.

---

Palmer, Nathaniel Brown “Captain Nat” (1799–1877) explorer, sea captain; born in Stonington, Conn. He went to sea at age 14 and in 1820 was probably the first to discover the Antarctic Peninsula, long known as Palmer Land. He became a packet captain and commander of clipper ships (1833–50). He was one of the first members of the New York Yacht Club (1845) and he owned 17 yachts.

---

Palmer, Nathaniel Brown 

Born Aug. 8, 1799, in Stonington; died June 21, 1877, in San Francisco. American explorer and sealer.

While commanding the sloop Hero in November 1820, Palmer approached the Antarctic mainland at the island of Trinity. With G. Powell, he discovered the South Orkney islands in 1821 while aboard the ship James Monroe. Palmer’s name has been given to an archipelago near the extreme northwest of the Antarctic peninsula and to a section of the coast adjacent to the Orleans Strait (Palmer Coast). In the USA, the entire Antarctic Peninsula is sometimes called Palmer Land.