Portland Press Herald Glass Negative Collection

MacMillan's Expedition of 1926 was the fourth of his 26 trips to the Arctic and Subarctic regions with the schooner Bowdoin.

Naval architect William Hand designed the schooner, based upon MacMillan's specifications, and Hodgdon Brothers of East Boothbay built it.

The Grand Banks knockabout schooner was designed to withstand the rigors of Arctic ice and sea. Her spoon-shaped bow allowed her to "ride up on pack ice and crush it with her weight."

Grand Banks schools are designed without bowsprits, to reduce the possibility of taking in water in rough seas.

In 1923, the Bowdoin was outfitted for a short, flat bowsprit to carry a radio antenna.

The bowsprit snapped off in heavy seas and was replaced.