It’s not often noted that Commodore Wilkes, was the commander of the US Exploring Expedition of 1838 - 1842 which first discovered Antarctica was a continent, mapped hundreds of islands in the So Pacific (some of the charts they made were still in use in WWII) and mapped large areas of the Puget Sound. They also collected thousands of specimens of flora and fauna which became the beginning of the Smithsonian Institutions collections.
I just finished reading an excellent account of this epic circumnavigation in “the Sea of Glory” by Nathaniel Philbrick. Very readable.
This is interesting news to me. I linked your reply to today’s NYT post on Twitter so my ACW buds there can see it.