Sir John Ross CB (24 June 1777 – 30 August 1856) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and polar explorer.

In September 1799 he was recalled to the Navy and appointed midshipman on HMS Weazel, which shortly joined in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.

[2] In 1818, Ross received the command of an Arctic expedition organised by the British Admiralty, the first of a new series of attempts to answer the question of a North West Passage.

In August, he entered Lancaster Sound at the north end of Baffin Island; this later proved to be the eastern gate of the Northwest Passage.

[5] The account of his voyage published a year later, brought to light their disagreement, and the ensuing controversy over the existence of Croker Mountains ruined his reputation.

[4] Its main effect was to open a route for whale ships to the northern Baffin Bay and provoke Parry to re-explore Lancaster Sound and find a major portion of the North West Passage.

The Admiralty was not interested, but he was able to convince the gin magnate Felix Booth to finance this second Arctic expedition, which began in 1829.

His ship was the Victory, a side-wheel steamer with paddles that could be lifted away from the ice and an experimental high-pressure boiler built by John Ericsson.

James Clark Ross crossed the Boothia Peninsula, and, on 1 June 1831, became the first European to reach the North Magnetic Pole.

Ross's plan was to drag the ship's boats north to Fury Beach, collect provisions there, find open water and hope to be rescued by a whaler.

This impressive experience, as well as the scientific and ethnological information gathered by Ross's team, brought him the renown that he had long sought.

In comparison with other contemporary arctic explorers, this was a feat of heroic proportions and was probably due to the fact that Ross befriended and learned from the Inuit.

"My steady and faithful friend, Mr William Thom, of the royal navy, who was formerly with me in the Isabella, beside his duty as third in command, took charge of the meteorological journal, the distribution and economy of provisions, and to his judicious plans and suggestions must be attributed the uncommon degree of health which our crew enjoyed; and as two out of the three who died in the four years and a half were cut off early in the voyage by diseases not peculiar to the climate, only one man can be said to have perished.

Mr M'Diarmid, the surgeon, who had been several voyages to these regions, did justice to the high recommendation I received of him; he was useful in every amputation and operation which he performed, and wonderfully so in his treatment of the sick; and I have no hesitation in adding that he would be an ornament to his Majesty's service.

Commander Ross, Mr Thom, and myself, have indeed been serving without pay; but, in common with the crew, have lost our all, which I regret the more, because it puts it totally out of My power adequately to remunerate my, fellow sufferers, whose case I cannot but recommend for their lordship's considerations.

The discovery of the Gulf of Boothia, the continent and isthmus of Boothia Felix, and a vast number of islands, rivers, and lakes; the undeniable establishment that the north east point of America extends to the 74th degree of north latitude; valuable observations of every kind, but particularly on the magnet; and to crown all, have the honor of placing the illustrious name of our most gracious Sovereign William IV on the true position of the magnetic pole.

In 1850, at the age of 72, Ross undertook a third voyage to the Arctic regions, this time in search of the expedition party of Sir John Franklin which had not been heard from for four years.

His knowledge of the Swedish and Danish languages saw him consulting for the government about the Baltic regions as tensions with Russia increased and his later years were spent writing.