Harry Lewin Lee Pennell

Harry Lewin Lee Pennell was born in 1882. He was educated at Exeter School and joined the Navy as a cadet in HMS Britannia in 1898. In the following year, he went to sea as midshipman and by 1903, had been promoted to lieutenant.

In 1910, he was appointed to command the Terra Nova on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913 (leader Robert Falcon Scott). In addition to his duties as navigator, Pennell was responsible for conducting magnetic observations. An able amateur naturalist, Pennell also assisted Edward Wilson and Dennis Lillie in their studies of birds and whales. On 22 February 1911, Pennell made the first sighting of Oates Land.

Promoted to the rank of commander after the expedition, Pennell undertook the preparation of the material relating to the magnetic work. He also took steps to obtain a full and technical description of the Terra Nova for publication in the account of the expedition.

In the summer of 1914, he was appointed as commander of the battle cruiser HMS Queen Mary, but was lost with his ship at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916.

Published work, 'Voyages of the Terra Nova' by Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans and Harry Lewin Lee Pennell in, Scott's last expedition volume 2, Smith, Elder & Co. London (1913) SPRI Library Shelf (7)91(08)[1910-1913 Scott]

From the guide to the Harry Pennell collection, 1905-1914, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)