How a cargo brig became a vessel of transformation: the story of the USS Advance, the Grinnell Expeditions, and the enduring themes of discipline, ordeal, and brotherhood.

Elisha Kent Kane entered the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin, but returned as something else: one of America’s most unlikely heroes. Frail in body yet formidable in discipline, Kane helped transform a rescue mission into a story of national ambition, scientific discovery, and endurance in the ice.

A 1915 cornerstone speech and a 1917 letter from explorer Donald B. MacMillan reveal a surprising connection between Advance Lodge No. 635 in Queens, Dr. Kane, and the brig Advance.