Engraving showing a dog sledge and men of the British Arctic Expedition travelling over the ice between HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', 1876. In the summer of 1875 the British Admiralty sent Captain George Nares with two ships, HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', to make an attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, a new 'furthest North' record was set, the coasts of Greenland and Ellesmere Island were charted and much scientific data gathered.