The steam barque Bloodhound was built as Yard No.53 in their Panmure shipyard at Dundee by Alexander Stephen & Sons for Newfoundland sealing operations.

[3] The ship was rigged as a 3-masted barque and her Greenock Foundry Company auxiliary compound steam engine generated 312 indicated horsepower and drove a single screw propeller.

[3] In 1874, the Admiralty were seeking a suitable exploration vessel for the 1875 British Arctic Expedition, and considered Bloodhound ideally suited.

[7] Spring 1876 saw considerable activity by sledge charting the coasts of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, but scurvy had begun to take hold, with Alert suffering the greatest burden.

By 11 May, having made slow progress, they reached their greatest latitude at 83° 20' 26"N.[8] Suffering from snow blindness, scurvy and exhaustion, they turned back.

[1] The 1901 research vessel, built for the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904), incorporated many of the features of Discovery, as well as taking her name.