Elisha Kent Kane received his medical degree in 1843 and joined the U.S. Navy as a surgeon. A few years before, he contracted rheumatic fever, which left permanent damage. He served in Africa, where he contracted a lingering fever that further damaged his health. He returned to the United States and served with distinction in the Mexican War.

Transferring to the U.S. Coast Survey in 1850, Kane first went with Lt. E.J. DeHaven in the first Grinnell expedition to seek information on the lost British Arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin. Nothing was found. In May 1853, Kane commanded the Advance with the same mission. He passed through Smith Sound to new waters not before described, which now are known as Kane Basin. The brig became frozen in ice. It traveled 1,200 miles through icy waters and arrived halfway down the west coast of Greenland in August 1855.