This was the first of three expeditions by Parry for the purpose of discovering a route from Greenland to the Bering Strait - the so called 'Northwest Passage' and he achieved a good part of this on the voyage in 1819-20. Travelling in the ships HMS Hecla and HMS Griper, Parry was able to map large parts of the coastline on this, his most successful expedition, gaining significant renown as a result. Apart from contributing significantly to the route of the Northwest Passage, Parry also advanced the experience and techniques of wintering in the arctic, which had previously proved so extremely treacherous to Europeans.