The first USS Jeannette was originally HMS Pandora, a Philomel-class gunvessel of the Royal Navy, and was purchased in 1875 by Sir Allen Young for his arctic voyages in 1875-1876. The ship was purchased in 1878 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the New York Herald; and renamed Jeannette. Bennett was an Arctic enthusiast, and he obtained the cooperation and assistance of the government in fitting out an expedition to the North Pole through the Bering Strait.