George W Clark served on the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 (Senior commander Charles Wilkes) as midshipman onboard the sloop of war Vincennes, later transferring to the Peacock . With a fleet of six vessels, the expedition was commissioned on a world voyage of hydrography and exploration that included forays into the Southern Ocean. On 19 January 1840 Clarke onboard Peacock was one of several to sight land on Antarctica. The expedition was the first to delineate a substantial length of Antarctic coastline, enough to establish that immediately behind lay a landmass of continental size. The published charts of the expedition were the earliest to use the term Antarctic Continent. After the expedition Clark achieved the rank of passed midshipman in 1844 and resigned from the Navy in 1846.
From the guide to the George Clark collection, 1841-1842, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
