# Explorers Who Failed in Their Objectives **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787 "2003-03-16T14:44:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/1 "2003-03-16T14:44:59Z")
Columbus failed to find India, and Lewis and Clarke failed to find a Northwest Passage. What other explorers are considered successful even though they failed in one of their primary objectives? I’m sure that it’s probably most of them, but who were the biggies? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/2 "2003-03-16T15:09:04Z")
Hudson. He was looking for a water route to the East (NorthWest Passage). Shackelton or however it’s spelled. Failed Antartic mission, but an amazing tale of survival. I’ll back with cites for the above this afternoon if no one else posts them. These are just off the top of my memory. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/3 "2003-03-16T15:12:16Z")
Apollo 13 is another amazing tale of survival. (Shouldn’t this be in IMHO?) ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/4 "2003-03-16T16:14:28Z")
Was Lewis and Clark really looking for a Northwest passage? I thought it was a voyage of discovery to see exactly what we had bought from France and to give an American presence in the territory. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/5 "2003-03-16T16:18:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by herman\_and\_bill \* > \*\*Was Lewis and Clark really looking for a Northwest passage? > I thought it was a voyage of discovery to see exactly what we had bought from France and to give an American presence in the territory. \*\* It was part of their objective, since popular theory held at the time that there _was_ such a passage. (There is, of course, but it’s under ice.) ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/6 "2003-03-16T16:18:42Z")
Captain Scott most likely never reached the Pole (although we can never be certain) and even if he did, he died on the way back. He’s still considered a hero though. Ponce de Leon never found the fountain of youth but he did discover Florida. Magellan failed to circumnavigate the globe by getting himself killed a short time before the mission was completed (the poor sap) but he still gets the credit. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/7 "2003-03-16T16:23:37Z")
Umberto Eco wrote a book titled _Serendipities_. In it, he discussed the paradox that because Columbus was wrong, he was right. Because his critics were right, they were wrong. Columbus had grossly miscalculated the size if the earth. The learned geographers had a fairly accurate idea of how big the earth really is. They were entirely correct that Columbus could not possibly succeed in sailing around the globe the way he had planned. Columbus’s mission was bound for failure. But nobody knew about the joker in the deck: America. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/8 "2003-03-16T16:26:14Z")
James Cook presumedly planned on surviving his explorations and reporting back to England. Frederick Cook and Robert Peary both planned on reaching the North Pole, but the evidence is they both failed. ---
**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/9 "2003-03-16T16:26:54Z")
Clarification: As I understand it, Lewis & Clark were not looking for what would be called the Northwest Passage. That term refers to a water route to the Pacific by going north of Canada (a la Hudson). Lewis & Clark, in addition to exploring the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, were pursuing an all-river route to the Pacific. L&C were traveling far south of where the Northwest Passage would be. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/10 "2003-03-16T16:40:40Z")
I don’t see how an explorer can fail if the objective is properly stated. “To explore” means to investigate or study, in other words “to find out.” An explorer is going into unknown territory and cannot possibly know what will be found. Hudson’s objective, for example, would be better stated as to “find out **whether or not** there is an all water route to the Orient.” ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/11 "2003-03-16T16:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*I don’t see how an explorer can fail if the objective is properly stated. “To explore” means to investigate or study, in other words “to find out.” An explorer is going into unknown territory and cannot possibly know what will be found. Hudson’s objective, for example, would be better stated as to “find out **whether or not** there is an all water route to the Orient.” \*\* Except that generally the explorers claim that they _do_ know what will be found. Columbus didn’t go to Ferd and Izzie and say, “Hey guys, I think China might be to the west. You want to pawn some jewels and fund my trip from which I may never return?” No, he said “To the west is China. And here’s why-” and then proceeded to show his (erroneous) calculations. In other words, he had a goal and he didn’t achieve his goal. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/12 "2003-03-16T16:50:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Simmons \* > \*\*I don’t see how an explorer can fail if the objective is properly stated. “To explore” means to investigate or study, in other words “to find out.” An explorer is going into unknown territory and cannot possibly know what will be found. Hudson’s objective, for example, would be better stated as to “find out **whether or not** there is an all water route to the Orient.” \*\* I agree, after all, just because Columbus didn’t find India, doesn’t mean that he was a screw-up. My reason for asking this, is that we tend to praise explorers for what they _accomplished_, while forgetting what it was that they set out to _find_. ---
**Author:** ![Lostboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Lostboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lostboy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/13 "2003-03-16T16:51:14Z")
Magellan never made it around the world-although a small portion of his crew did. Ponce de Leon never found the fountain of youth. There were many explorers looking for the Northwest passage or the lost city of gold-neither of course was found ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/14 "2003-03-16T16:56:44Z")
Sir John Franklin’s expedition to find the North West Passage in the 1840’s is an incredible story. Both ships and the entire party of some 120 men were never seen again (except perhaps for some reports of meetings with the local Inuit). Much mystery still surrounds the expedition and its fate. ---
**Author:** ![Drogulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Drogulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drogulus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/15 "2003-03-16T17:02:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arken \* > \*\*Captain Scott most likely never reached the Pole (although we can never be certain) and even if he did, he died on the way back. He’s still considered a hero though. > \*\* But didn’t Scott’s diary say he had found the flag Amundsen left at the pole and knew he had lost the race? He must have reached the pole if Amundsen did. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/16 "2003-03-16T17:23:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arken \* > \*\* Magellan failed to circumnavigate the globe by getting himself killed a short time before the mission was completed (the poor sap) but he still gets the credit. \*\* He gets the credit because he was the first; he just took two voyages to do it. He’d sailed east from Eurpose years before, and made it Malacca in 1511. Before he died sailing west in 1522, he crossed the line of longitude from the west he’d previously crossed from the east in 1511, the first known person to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/17 "2003-03-16T17:30:33Z")
I should clarify: On his trip to Malacca he did end up going as far east as the Moluccas, or spice islands. At least that is what his supporters claimed. This puts him further east of where he later died. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/18 "2003-03-16T18:10:15Z")
Roald Amundsen is generally credited with being first to the South Pole, but that was never his main objective. What he wanted was to reach the North Pole. (No, he didn’t get confused, he just switched poles after Peary got to the north before him.) His first attempt to fly over the North Pole failed (and maybe a second one?), but he finally flew over the pole in an Italian zeppelin which later landed at Teller, Alaska. Though he received worldwide acclaim, Amundsen is said to have considered the whole adventure a personal failure, being relegated to essentially the status of an uninvolved passenger on the airship. The Italian pilot, Nobile, considered himself solely responsible for the “feat,” and his condescending attitude during the trip and his later claims to fame earned him Amundsen’s undying hatred. In a bizarre twist of fate, Nobile tried the trip again some years later but the zeppelin crash-landed on the ice. Amundsen arose from a comfortable retirement to help rescue his old nemesis, and his airplane disappeared without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/19 "2003-03-16T18:43:03Z")
Some sources I’ve read said that Scott didn’t survey the area around the South Pole correctly and never actually got to the actual Pole, but he was in the neighborhood. Amundsen was the first explorer to successfully lead a ship all the way through the Northwest Passage ---
**Author:** ![snac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@snac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snac)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787/20 "2003-03-16T18:44:34Z")
Scott definitely did reach the South Pole. His expedition was a failure because 1) he and his men did not make it safely back and 2) he was not the first…but they did make it to the pole, which in a sense was their most basic objective. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explorers-who-failed-in-their-objectives/161787.md?page=2)