Sir Robert McClure (1807-1873) was a British naval officer who, while searching for the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin, discovered the Northwest Passage.

Robert McClure was born in Wexford, Ireland and educated at Eton (an English private school) and Sandhurst (the British military academy). He entered the Royal Navy in 1824. He first traveled to the Arctic in 1836-1837 as mate on the Terror under the command of Sir George Back on an expedition that went to Hudson Bay and explored the Melville Peninsula. He was promoted to lieutenant on his return to England in September 1837. He then served on British ships in the Great Lakes and in the Caribbean.

In 1848 McClure was chosen to be an officer on the first ship sent out to look for the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin, serving under James Clark Ross. They returned to England in the fall of 1849 without...