Fortuna Glacier, Tidewater glacier in Cumberland Bay, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Fortuna Glacier is a tidewater glacier in Cumberland Bay that flows northeast in two distinct branches toward the surrounding bays. The ice mass splits into a main body and an eastern arm that extends nearly to the western edge of Fortuna Bay, creating a wide expanse of white ice against the darker landscape.

Named around 1912, probably after the whale catcher Fortuna, the glacier was crossed in May 1916 by Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean during the first traverse of South Georgia, from King Haakon Bay to Stromness whaling station, after the Endurance was crushed in the Weddell Sea. In April 1982 British SAS and Royal Marines landed on it during Operation Paraquet; two Wessex HU.5 helicopters crashed in the gale, and a Wessex HAS.3 of HMS Antrim carried all 16 troops and aircrew out.

The name Fortuna was recorded around 1912, most likely taken from the whale catcher Fortuna working South Georgian waters. The glacier's two branches frame the approach to Fortuna Bay, and the name now appears on charts alongside the bay and the whaling history of the island.

Access to the glacier is possible only with specialized expedition teams reaching it by boat across Cumberland Bay in this remote corner of the world. Visitors should expect long water journeys and variable ice conditions that can change rapidly based on weather and seasonal cycles.

On 21 April 1982, a mountain troop of the Special Air Service and 42 Royal Marine Commandos were landed on the glacier in gale-force winds and extremely poor visibility, aiming to approach Grytviken from an unexpected direction. Two Wessex HU.5 helicopters crashed during rescue attempts the next day; a Wessex HAS.3 crewed by Lt Cdr Ian Stanley rescued all troops and aircrew before dark, carrying 16 people instead of its normal four. That aircraft is now at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.