Roald Amundsen: Encyclopedia Arctica 15: Biographies

Roald Engebregt ^ ch ^ Gravning Amundsen (1872-1928), was the first navigator of the Northwest Passage, first to reach the South Pole, navigator of the Northeast Passage, made the first flight to Latitude 88° N., and the first flight across the Polar Sea.

Early Life

Amundsen was born on July 16, 1872, on a small farm near the town of Sarps– borg in southeastern Norway. For five generations his ancestors had been farm– ers and sailors. Roald Amundsen's father, Jens Amundsen, sought the sea and worked his way ahead until he captained his own ship. With his two brothers and a brother-in-law he developed a flourishing shipping business that operated up to 22 sailing vessels.

When Roald was only a few months old, his father moved to Oslo (at that time Christiania) where he bought a property on the outskirts of the city. Here Roald and his three older brothers grew up, taking full advantage of the winter possibilities for skiing and skating, and spending their summers sailing and fishing. Their father was a powerful man of the stern old school who claimed full authority in his home and gave his boys some sound advice: "I had never a chance to get an education and have often felt my handicap. It is not enough to have the will to work, one must also have knowledge. I want you boys to learn more than I did." Or: "I don't want you to get into any fights. But if you have

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to fight, deal the first blow and see to it that one blow is enough."

Roald may have followed the latter advice, but not eh former. He did manage to get admitted to the University when he was eighteen, but was at the bottom of his class. He was a quiet boy who evidently considered the school as a nec– essary evil and who from the age of fifteen had made up his mind about his own future. He wanted to explore the polar regions, and his first goal would be to navigate the Northwest Passage. He had come across the accounts of the Franklin expedition and had read every book he could find about the search parties which for 20 years tried to learn the fate of Sir John Franklin and his men. The search had led to the discovery of the Northwest Passage, but no navigator had succeeded in sailing a ship through the ice-filked and treacherous waters. Here was a task that appealed to Roal's imagination, a task surpassing Nansen's cross– ing of Greenland which had set him afire. Neglecting his homework he read and re-read the great travel books from the Arctic.

He wanted to prepare himself thoroughly for his career and would have pre– ferred to go to sea in order to obtain his master's papers, because he wanted to be captain on board his own ship. However, his older brothers were already sailors, and his mother, now a widow, wanted her youngest son to stay away from the sea and study medicine.

Amundsen felt it his duty to follow his mother's wish, but he spent little time studying and much more time in hardening himself and developing a magnifi– cent physique. When his mother died in 1893, Amundsen sold his few medical books and got a berth as ordinary seaman on board the sealer Magdalena , the ship which later, renamed Danmark , was used by Mylius-Erichsen on his East Greenland expedi– tion of 1906-08. During the next following years Amundsen advanced through the grades, and in 1895 he obtained his papers as mate, and in 1900 he got his master's

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license. In later years the only title he liked to have applied to him was that of "Captain."

He gained his first extensive experience in the polar regions in 1897 to 1899 when he took part as mate in de Gerlache's Antarctic expedition with the Belgica and spent a year drifting with the ice off the Antarctic Continent, be– tween Longitudes 70° and 100° W. The western part of that region is now called Amundsen Sea. Dr. Frederick A. Cook was physician on board the Belgica . Amund– sen admired Cook's ability and initiative, and the friendship which grew up be– tween the two men lasted through life in spite of the differ ^ e ^ nt fates of the two.

The Northwest Passage

Upon his return from the Belgica expedition, Amundsen considered himself experienced enough to start preparations for realizing his boyhood dream, but first he had to get the approval of his hero, Fridtjof Nansen. Nansen not only approved the plans, but in years to come he gave advice freely whenever Amundsen asked for it and repeatedly helped to straighten out Amundsen's tangled finances.

Nansen's eminent scientific ability and his enthusiasm for expanding out scientific knowledge of Arctic must have exercised a considerable influence on Amundsen's thinking and must have strengthened his wish to get acquainted with different methods of observation so that he, though no scientist himself, could collect accurate data for others to analyze.

One important problem presented itself: relocation of the North Magnetic Pole which first had been visited in 1830 by James Clark Ross. In order to make himself familiar with magnetic measurements, Amundsen went to Hamburg where he presented his plans to Dr. G. von Neymayer, at that time the greatest expert in the field of terrestrial magnetism, and asked advice regarding instruments and

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methods of observation. Neymayer received Amundsen most cordially, encouraged him, and, during several months, instructed him in all details as to precise observations.

The next step was to search for a suitable ship. It had to be small, sturdy, and inexpensive because he hoped to finance his expedition himself and had only a small inheritance at his disposal. After thorough examination, Amundsen bought the small sloop Gjøa , only 46 tons, which had been built in 1872, the year Amund– sen himself was born, and still as sound as he. The next summer, the summer of 1901, he took the Gjøa for a cruise to the East Greenland waters, partly to get acquainted with the handling of the ship, partly to undertake oceanographic ob– servations in which Nansen was particularly interested.

The next two years were spent in careful selecting and testing of equipment and provisions and in the selection of the small party that could be accommodated on board the ship. It soon turned out that Amundsen's own funds were quite insuf– ficient to cover all expenses, and much against his wishes he had to ask for sup– port from various sources. He did s ^ o ^ reluctantly because he hated to talk about plans and preferred to keep away from any publicity until he had reached his goal. He retained this characteristic through life, but in later years he became too much of a public figure to stay out of the limelight. There is, however, no doubt that his reluctance to discuss plans, which was often considered a special form of conceit, had deep roots and that by inclination he was a lonely man who preferred action to words.

The financial support which Amundsen was able to obtain for his first ex– pedition was, however, inadequate, and in June 1903, when ready to sail, he found himself considerably in debt. He himself tells that when one of his creditors threatened to place Gjøa under lien until payment was made, he decided to sneak

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away after having informed his crew of his plans. According to another source, Nansen took upon himself the responsibility for the departure by promising Amund– sen that he would see to it that the creditors were satisfied. Be that as it may, the Gjøa left Oslo about midnight on June 16, 1903 — and the creditors were paid when the Northwest Passage had been conquered.

After having studied all available accounts of earlier expeditions, Amundsen had decided to try the straits between the American mainland and the southern islands of the Canadian Archipelago. With this in mind he had selected a ship of very shallow draft, because these waters are full of shoals, The Gjoøa first call– ed at Godhavn, Greenland, to take 20 dogs on board, and next at Dalrymple Rock to obtain supplementary provisions and fuel oil from Scottish whalers. From Dal– rymple Rock, Amundsen continued past Beechey Island and turned south into Peel Strait, reaching waters where no ships had ever sailed.

Storm, fire in the engine room, and near shipwreck on a submerged rock threatened to bring an early end to the journey, but by superb seamanship and quick action a disaster was avoided on each occasion.

It seems possible that the Gjoøa could have sailed through the Northwest Passage in one season, because Simpson Strait was free from ice when the eastern entrance was reached on September 9. However, the navigation of the Northwest Passage was only part of the program; the relocation of the North Magnetic Pole, and continuous recordings of the magnetic elements during at least one full year were equally important. Since the recordings preferably should be made at a distance of about 100 miles from the Magnetic Pole, Amundsen was, on approaching King William Island, on the lookout for a suitable wintering place and was delighted at the discovery of the nearly closed and completely sheltered little bay which now on all charts carries the name Gjoøa Harbor. After a careful survey of the

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bay, the Gjøa sailed into it, anchored, and stayed there for two years.

Besides Amundsen the party consisted of the following six men: Godfred Hansen, lieutenant in the Danish Navy, second in command, navigator, geologist and astronomer; Anton Lund, first mate, with much experience in navigating through ice; Peter Ristvedt, meteorologist and engineer; Helmer Hansen, second mate and also an experienced sealer; Gustav Juel Wiik, magnetician who, with Amundsen, would be responsible for the magnetic observations; and Adolf Henrik Lindstrøm, "the polar cook," who had been the cook on the second Fram expedition from 1898 to 1902 and now served on the Gjøa in the same capacity.

It was not economy alone which was responsible for Amundsen's selection of his small ship which could not accommodate a large party. The choice of vessel was also based on the one principal thesis to which Amundsen subscribed on this and every one of his subsequent expeditions: A party should be the smallest possible needed to accomplish the purpose of the enterprise. Only by adhering to this rule would it be possible to keep each man fully occupied and to make him feel that his personal effort was all-important to the success of the expedi– tion. Amundsen considered it his duty as the leader to see to it that each man always was so fully employed that no one ever had an opportunity toloaf or be– come demoralized because he felt that he wasted his time on useless assignments. On the Gjøa expedition Amundsen had little difficulty in discharging the duties of the leader because the party was so very small and was composed in such a manner that each man had to be given one or more tasks for which he must be re– sponsible.

Wiik and Ristvedt built their magnetic observatory ashore and added a shack where they lived for nearly two years, collecting a wealth of data which later the Norwegian Government took over and distributed to specialists for discussion

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and publication. The continuous meteorological observations at Gjøa Harbor added much to the knowledge of the climatology of that part of the Arctic. After two shorter trips in March 1904 for the purpose of establishing caches, Amundsen and Ristvedt started on April 6 on a sled journey to Boothia Felix Peninsula in order to take observations close to the Magnetic Pole. A series of stations was occupied, showing that the Pole in 1904 was located near the place at which James Clark Ross first found it 74 years earlier.

In the spring of 1905, from April 2 to June 25, Lieutenant Godfred Hansen, also accompanied by Ristvedt, explored the east coast of Victoria Island between Latitudes 70° and 72° N. and mapped the previously unknown coast line.

There were no Eskimos at Gjøa Harbor when the winter quarters were established, but in November the first visitors arrived, and from then on the contact was per– manent and evidently mutually beneficial. Amundsen and his party obtained pre– pared reindeer skins as well as complete outfits of clothing and learned how to build snowhouses. On subsequent expeditions Amundsen used the Eskimo-type cloth– ing and footgear, with some minor modifications, but neither he nor any of his companions became such experts in building snowhouses that they discarded their tents. The Eskimos, on the other hand, received needles, knives, empty tin cans, and many other useful articles from the visitors. The different groups which visited the Gjøa had all had very little contact with western civilization; they were practically lacking iron and steel and had little knowledge of firearms. Amundsen made extensive notes of their customs and brought back a large collec– tion of their various implements. Amundsen's views on cold weather clothing are stated or implied in a number of places. The essence is found in the chapter "Towards the Magnetic Pole," which is the fifth chapter of Volume I in the English– language translation of The Northwest Passage .

"We were ready to leave on the first of March. The thermometer showed −53° C (−63° F.) But through the month of February we had become so accustomed to the cold that it did not bother us much. We were also very well dressed. Some of us wore complete Eskimo costume, others partly civilized clothing. My experience is that in these parts in winter the Eskimo dress is far superior to our European clothes. But one must either use it alone or not at all. Any combination is bad. Wool underwear gathers all perspiration and will soon make the outside clothing wet. Dressed entirely in reindeer skin, like the Eskimos, and with the clothing loose enough on the body to let the air circulate between the leayers, one will, as a rule, keep the clothing dry. And, if one is working so hard that the clothing becomes damp in spite of everything, skin dries much easier than wool. Also wool clothing becomes dirty easily and looses its warmth. Skin clothing keeps nearly as well without washing. A further great advantage of skin is that you feel warm and comfortable the moment you put it on. In woolen things you have to jump and dance like crazy before you get warm. Finally, skins are absolutely wind-proof, which, of course, is a very important point."

In the summer of 1905 the Gjøa was made ready for continuing her journey and, if possible, completing the Northwest Passage. On the 13th of August she left the now ice-free Gjøa Harbor and set her course toward the unknown west. Ice, fog, and shoals endangered the progress, the sounding lead had to be used continually, and again and again there was hardly a foot of water under the keel. However, the Gjøa advanced, and on August 17 she dropped anchor at Cape Colborne, the easternmost point that had been reached in those waters by any ship that had entered from Bering Strait. The Northwest Passage was completed. A few days later, on August 26, the first ship was sighted, the Charles Hansson of San Fran– cisco, commanded by Captain J. McKenna, who was the first to congratulate Amundsen

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on his success.

Amundsen, of course, hoped to reach Bering Strait and civilization that year, but the ice conditions were bad. As early as on September 2 progress was stopped at King Point, near Herschel Island, and within a week it was evident that an– other winter had to be spent in the Arctic. During this winter the Gjøa had company in the neighborhood because no less than 12 ships had been caught at Herschel Island.

The magnetic recordings were continued at King Point and during the winter Amundsen traveled to Eagle City, in the Yukon Valley, in order to send telegrams from the expedition to the outside world. He made the trip in company with the skipper of the shipwrecked Bonanza , Captain Mogg, about whose accomplishments as a traveler by dogteam Amundsen had a very low opinion. On his return to King Point, Amundsen was met with the sad news that Wiik had taken ill and died.

By the middle of August 1906 the Gjøa could resume her journey. She reached Nome on August 31, where she was given a reception worthy of the adventurous and boisterous gold seekers who at that time were making Nome's name famous. From Nome on, the rest of the trip back to Norway was a triumphant journey that brought Amundsen full compensation for his worries and difficulties during the trying years of preparation. The Gjøa was, however, not returned to Norway. She was presented to the city of San Francisco and was in 1909 placed in Golden Gate Park. She deteriorated badly, but was restored in 1948.

Plans for Crossing the Polar Sea

During two years following the return of the Gjøa , Amundsen was engaged in writing and lecturing in order to bring his shaky finances into shape. But he hated the lecture trips on which he had to place himself in the hands of a manager

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and sell his freedom of action to a person whose publicity schemes he disliked but could not suppress. Little wonder that he soon played with a new plan, which he presented to the Norwegian Geographic Society in the fall of 1908. He proposed to use Fridtjof Nansen's ship, the Fram , in order to repeat Nansen's famous drift across the Polar Sea. The main purpose should be the repetition of the oceanographic work of Nansen, using better equipment and new and greatly im– proved instruments. Nansen had not been prepared to find the great depths which he discovered and was, therefore, not equipped with adequate sounding lines. Make– shift lines were spliced together during the expedition, but these were so awkward in use that the deep-sea oceanographic work was greatly handicapped. Furthermore, the available deep-sea thermometers and other instruments were inaccurate. By his ingenious interpretation of the imperfect observations, Nansen had been able to recognize the main features of the oceanography of the Polar Basin, but in spite of his brilliant analysis several points remained in doubt because of the deficiencies of the data. In the years after the return of the first Fram expedi– tion Nansen had himself contributed much to the improvement of instruments and methods, and by using the new technique Amundsen hoped to expand and confirm Nansen's results. Nansen was much interested in Amundsen's new plans and gave them his wholehearted support. Private and public funds were obtained and the outlook for the expedition was bright. A great deal of the public interest in the expedition was based on the assumption that Amundsen would make a dash for the North Pole, and on the confident expectation that he would succeed, thus becoming the first man to reach that coveted spot. There is no doubt that Amundsen wanted to have a try at reaching the Pole, although he never said so directly.

The fact that the public was more interested in the spectacular aspects of the expedition than in its laborious scientific work became evident in the early

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summer of 1909 when the news spread, first that Frederick A. Cook and then that Robert E. Peary had reached the North Pole. It is well known that the controversy that arose lasted for many years in spite of the fact that Cook's fraud soon was exposed. Let us digress a moment. Amundsen and Cook were, as already mentioned, shipmates on de Gerlache's Antarctic expedition with the Belgica in 1897-1899, and during this expedition Amundsen had formed a very high opinion of Cook's ability and energy. Amundsen, therefore, believed in Cook when he announced that he had reached the North Pole, and it was difficult for Amundsen to admit that his old friend had committed a flagrant fraud. Even after this had been proved, Amundsen stuck to his personal friendship, and as late as in the early spring of 1926 he visited Cook at Fort Leavenworth, where Cook served time for his manipula– tions with oil stock. The visit caused a great deal of criticism and was inter– preted as proof that Amundsen still recognized Cook as the first to reach the North Pole. Amundsen was so aggrieved by the reporters' interpretation that he refused to make any statement, but shortly afterward, when he and Byrd both were preparing to start from Kings Bay, Spitsbergen, Byrd by plane and Amundsen by dirigible, Amundsen declared that he did not care to start first in order to reach the Pole before Byrd, because "Peary was there first."

The South Pole

Peary's attainment of the North Pole on April 6, 1909, led to a complete change in Amundsen's plans for his contemplated drift across the Polar Sea. The interest in his expedition dropped off, the contributions ceased, and it appeared hopeless to equip the Fram for five years. Also, he felt that to maintain his name as explorer he had to accomplish a sensational feat. Without informing more than three of his closest [: ] associates, he decided to try to reach the

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South Pole. When the Fram left Norway in June 1910 the official plan was that s he should sail around Cape Horn, continue north through the Pacific and enter the Polar Sea through Bering Strait in the summer of 1911, but from Funchal, Madeira, Amundsen announced that he was instead heading for the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea in order to try for the South Pole.

Amundsen's message reached Captain Robert Scott as he was ready to leave New Zealand in order to establish a base in McMurdo Sound, about 350 miles to the west of the Bay of Whales and to attempt the attainment of the South Pole from there. Severe criticism was directed against Amundsen on the basis that he entered a race against Scott, but it has gradually been admitted that Amund– sen could not be blamed for attempting to reach the South Pole by a different route than that selected by Scott and using a different technique. Amundsen, with four companions, reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, Scott on January 18, 1912, but Scott and his brave comrades succumbed on the return journey.

The Northeast Passage

As soon as Amundsen was back in civilization, he resumed his plans for the drift expedition across the Polar Sea. The Fram which took him and his party on board again in 1912, went first to Hobart, Tasmania, from where Amundsen sent his first brief report. From Hobart the ship continued to Buenos Ai ^ r ^ es for overhaul and for supplementing her equipment in order to return to the Pacific and sail north to Bering Strait. In 1913, when Amundsen was lecturing in the United States, it was suggested to him that the Fram might be permitted to go as the first ship through the Panama Canal, and Amundsen, who was anxious to take advantage of this opportunity, ordered the Fram to Colon. She arrived there on October 4, 1913, but after having

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waited in vain for two and a half months, she had to be directed back to Buenos Aires in order to go around Cape Horn and proceed to San Francisco. The bottom of the ship had, however, become so badly fouled by marine growth that the trip to Buenos Aires took far too long a time to make it possible for the Fram to reach San Francisco early enough in 1914 in order to continue to Bering Strait that summer. Instead Amundsen decided to let the Fram return to Norway and start from there in 1915, following the north coast of Siberia to the east, as Nansen had done in 1893. The Fram arrived at Horten, Norway, on July 16, 1914, only two weeks before the outbreak of World War I, which temporarily upset Amundsen's plans. These plans were still more upset by the fact that during the stay in the tropics the hull of the Fram had become so infected with dry rot that it was damaged beyond repair.

At this point it is worth while observing that Amundsen had long contem– plated the use of airplanes in arctic exploration, thus pioneering a develop– ment which later on revolutionized arctic work. Already in 1909, when he was making his first preparations for the drift expedition, he had negotiated with one of the early aviators about participation in the enterprise, and in 1914 he had brought a Farman plane in the United States and shipped it to Norway where he himself obtained ^ a ^ certificate as pilot and where at the outbreak of the war he gave it to the Norwegian Government.

The world war and the hopeless condition of the Fram led to a new post– ponement of Amundsen's plans, but not to abandonment. Amundsen invested his accumulated funds in shipping stock, doubled his capital, and had, in 1916, enough money to contract for the building of a new ship and to finance the long-postponed drift expedition. His new ship was launched on June 7, 1917, and was named the Maud after the Queen of Norway. The Maud was designed by

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the yachet-builder Chr. Jensen and was built along lines similar to those of the Fram , but was even more bowl-shaped. She had an over-all length of 120 feet and a beam of 40 feet, and in any vertical section, lengthwise or athwart ship, the shape of the hull was part of a circle. From the outer side of the ironwood ice-sheating to the inner side of the inner sheating the sides were nearly three feet thick. Inside the hull was strengthened with vertical and inclined staunchions, tied together and tied to the deck beams with naturally grown knees of oak. Her shape made her an excellent ship when jammed by the ice and subjected to heavy pressure, but in the open sea she rolled like a wash basin.

During the winter 1917 to 1918, Amundsen equipped the Maud for a five years' journey, obtaining provisions from the United States by special license. On July 18, 1918, the Maud sailed from Vardö, Norway, carrying a party of nine. The number was increased to ten when a Russian-Norwegian engineer was added during the Maud's stay at Khabarovo. The party included Helmer Hansen (captain) who had been with Amundsen through the Northwest Passage, Oscar Wisting (first mate) who also had been to the South Pole, and among the three tenderfeet was Dr. H. U. Sverdrup, in charge of scientific work.

The Maud expedition met with many difficulties. In September 1918 pro– gress was stopped some 10 miles to the east of Cape Chelyuskin, where the Maud stayed one full year. The year was used for carrying out scientific observa– tions and for charting the most northern peninsula of the continent.

In the summer of 1919 the ice did not break up around the Maud , and only on September 12, after blasting and advancing foot by foot, did the ship suc– ceed in reaching open water, in which she could continue to the east. Two men were left behind, Tessem and Knudsen. These two had volunteered to return to

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Port Dickson with the records of the winter's work. They retained a number of dogs and provisions for a year and could themselves decide whether they wanted to start their travel in the fall or wait until next spring. They decided to leave in the fall, but failed to reach their destination.

The Maud proceeded to the east, but the season was too late to penetrate to the north and start the drift. An attempt at turning away from the coast to the east of the Now Siberian Islands failed, and, on September 21, 1919, all progress along the coast was again stopped. A second winter quarters had to be established on the open coast of Ayon Island, about 600 miles to the west of Bering Strait. During the winter Sverdrup left the ship and stayed for eight months among the reindeer Chukchi.

In July 1920 the Maud continued toward the east and reached Nome on July 28. Thus, Amundsen completed the Northeast Passage, which for the first time had been navigated by A. E. Nordenskiöld on the Vega in 1878 to 1879 and for the second time, in 1914-15, by the two Russian icebreakers, Taimyr and Vaigatch , the latter sailing from east to west.

In Nome Amundsen announced that all his companions could consider them– selves free to leave the expedition, which already had been two years in the Arctic without having started its actual task, the drift. Four of the remain– ing eight in the party decided to return to Norway, and, since no new men could be found in Nome, the Maud left Nome withonly four men on board, including Amund– sen. His plan now was to return to the Siberian coast, take some natives on board and, if possible, start the drift; but the ice conditions were worse than ever, and after a hopeless struggle in which the propeller shaft of the Maud was damaged, it became necessary again to establish winter quarters, this time only 25 miles from the place where the Vega stayed in 1878-79.

During the winter Amundsen decided that next year he would leave it to Wisting and Sverdrup to have another try at the drift if they were willing, and that he himself would return to his old plans for the use of airplanes in the Arctic. Consequently, in the summer of 1921, the Maud was sailed to Seattle for repairs and left again for the Arctic in June 1922 with a crew of eight, including a native boy from Siberia. This time the Maud finally suc– ceeded in getting away from the coast. The ice closed around her to the east of Wrangel Island, but she was not carried across the Polar Sea as had been hoped. After two years she got out of the ice to the north of the New Siberian Islands and, according to Amundsen's directions, she tried to return to Bering Strait, but had to spend one more winter on the coast near the Bear Islands off the mouth of the Kolyma River. She and her crew finally returned to Seattle in October 1925, with a wealth of observations which made the expedition a scientific success.

Difficulties

During the years 1922-25, Amundsen had carried on and had experienced the bitterest disappointments, but also the most spectacular triumph of his varied life. In 1922 he had bought a Junker plane which the Maud took to Point Hope, Alaska, where it was transferred to the Holmes which unloaded it at Wain– wright. Amundsen,with Oscar Omdal as his aviator, hoped to fly from Wainwright to Spitsbergen in the spring of 1923; but, when spring came, it was impossible to get the plane off the ground with the necessary supply of gas, and the plan had to be given up.

Returning to Norway in 1923, Amundsen found himself at the lowest possible ebb in his career. He had hoped to raise funds for an airplane expedition to

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start out from Spitsbergen, but found himself blocked in every direction. From the public point of view the Maud expedition was a failure, and, further– more, it was considered that Amundsen should have stayed with the ship instead of trying ventures which were called stunts that were unworthy of being taken seriously. All sorts of rumors were circulated reflecting not only upon Amund– sen'[] intentions as a serious-minded explorer, but also upon his morals. On top of all that Amundsen found his finances in a hopeless tangle. On previous occasions he had often been close to bankruptcy, perhaps because he was so engrossed in his undertakings that he always was convinced that somehow the funds would be forthcoming. He had gotten away with his optimistic calcula– tions because help had come when ot was most needed, but in 1923 there was no help in sight. His debt had increased steadily, partly because some of his trusted friends had been far too optimistic in their dispositions. His only asset, the Maud , was drifting with the ice to the north of Siberia, and no one knew if she would ever return. The most disgraceful blow was directed by his own brother who had lent him money and who now feared that everything would be lost. When the brother demanded payment, Amundsen had to let himself be de– clared bankrupt. Amundsen might have been careless in financial matters but to acknowledge bankruptcy was to him equivalent to admitting that he had been guilty of criminal conduct. The bankruptcy was a blemish on his name which had to be removed, and he would not rest until he had paid the last penny of his debt.

The Flight to 88° North

In 1924, Amundsen again went lecturing to the United States, but there the interest in his activity had also faded. Discouraged to the point of despair,

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he figured out that at the rate he was going he would need 60 more years to accumulate enough money to pay his debts and finance his new expedition. But a miracle happened. Lincoln Ellsworth called him on the phone at his hotel, introduced himself as a person Amundsen had met in France in 1917, told that he was interested in arctic exploration, and offered to assist in financing a flight from Spitsbergen. Amundsen accepted the offer with enthusiasm, and thus an intimate cooperation and a warm friendship started.

Two Dornier-Wal flying boats, N-24 and N-25, were purchased and taken to Spitsbergen, where they started from the fast ice in King's Bay in Latitude 79° N. on May 21, 1925, each carrying three men. The plan was to fly to the vicinity of the North Pole and return by a slightly different route in order to explore geographically the region to the north of Spitsbergen. The chances were that one would see nothing but ice, but ascertaining that no land existed would in itself be a valuable contribution.

Before the planes reached the northern islands off Spitsbergen, the fog shrouded the land, and for two hours the planes ^ ^ continued their course above the fog banks. When the fog was left behind, nothing but the monotonous sea ice could be seen. The first lanes were observed in the very early morning of the 22nd and shortly afterwards, as Amundsen's plane, N-25, was circling to look for a place to go down for checking of position, one of the motors failed and it became necessary to land. Both places were brought down, but N-24 was damaged and had to be abandoned. The N-24, commanded by Ellsworth, went down less than a quarter mile from the N-25, but the ice was so broken up and treacherous that only on the fifth day did Ellsworth and his two companions, Dietrichson and Omdal, reach the Amundsen party. When struggling over the ice with heavy loads both Dietrichson and Omdal fell through, but were saved by Ellsworth's heroic effort.

The N-25 was still in great danger because the temperature was so low that ice formed rapidly on the lanes and because the ice was in constant motion and might at any time crush the frail craft. Combining their efforts, all six men succeeded in hauling the N-25 to comparative safety on a thick ice floe. Now they had the choice between trying to get the one plane in the air or aban– doning it and attempting to work their way across the ice to the coast of Green– land, 400 miles distant. Their chances of reaching Greenland were slim indeed, for which reason Amundsen decided to make every possible effort to prepare a runway on the ice and take off from that. For three weeks the men toiled on short rations and with inadequate tools. Lanes opened and floes parted. Again and again they had to save the plane from almost certain disaster and to see their work ruined. Finally, on June 6, Riiser-Larsen and Omdal found a floe large enough for the take-off and on the next day the weary men went to work with new zeal. Clearing a runway by shoveling the soft snow away was a back– breaking task, but Omdal had a bright idea: "Let us stamp the snow down." And so the six men stamped up and down for four days. A frost on the 14th of June helped to harden the surface, and on the next day the weather cleared and the desparate attempt had to be made. All unnecessary gear was left behind, and with the six men on board and fuel for an eight hours' flight Riiser-Larsen gave the motors all they could take. The N-25 gained speed, rose, and some eight hours later the pilot brought her safely down on the water off the north coast of Spitsbergen. The men were soon picked up by a sealer, which took them to King's Bay, where, to their amazement, they found a flotilla of small ships and a couple of planes ready to start a large-scale search for them.

During the journey along the coast of Norway, Amundsen and his companions were everywhere greeted by flying flags and cheering crowds, and the enthusiastic

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receptions reached their climax when the men arrived in Oslo on July 5. The city went wild. Amundsen had previously returned from expeditions which had rendered far greater results, but never from one which had appealed to the public in a greater measure. What a contrast to the sneers which met him only a year earlier!

The First Flight Across the Polar Sea

Even now Amundsen did not intend to rest on his laurels. He had one more task to accomplish: the crossing of the Polar Sea. The possibility of using a dirigible had been discussed during the stay at King's Bay before the departure on the flight of 1925, and on that occasion Riiser-Larsen had drawn Amundsen's attention to the Italian airship N-1 which appeared particularly well suited. In August 1925 the designer, Colonel Umberto Nobile, arrived in Oslo for a con– ference with Amundsen and Riiser-Larsen, at which general agreement was reached as to the purchase of the dirigible. Ellsworth helped in financing the enter– prise, contra^ct^s were signed, and Nobile was engaged as captain of the airship. Extensive preparations were made, including the building of mooring masts at Oslo and Vardö and the construction of a large shed at King's Bay. All was accomplished on schedule, and on May 7 the N-1, now named Norge , reached King's Bay.

Byrd had already arrived in King's Bay in order to attempt a flight to the North Pole in the Josephine Ford . Many persons wondered if there might develop a race between the dirigible and the airplane and if Byrd and Amundsen would both ^ j ^ ealously hasten their last preparations in order to get off first. Ac– tually there was no rivalry, and Amundsen was happy because Byrd successfully carried out the flight to the Pole on May 9, two days before the start of the

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Norge . This attitude of Amundsen is in part to be explained by the stand he had taken on the old Peary-Cook controversy. As previously stated, Cook had been the physician on board the Belgica in 1897-99, and on this expedi– tion a warm friendship had developed between Amundsen and Cook. When Cook in 1910 claimed that he had reached the North Pole, Amundsen immediately ac– cepted Cook'r report and subsequently, when Peary had submitted his records showing that he had reached the North Pole on April 9, 1909, and when Cook's story had been shown to be false, Amundsen repeatedly avoided any expression of opinion. In Seattle, in 1921, he was, for instance, asked at the Faculty Club of the University of Washington if he thought that Peary or Cook had reached the Pole. His reply wasL "That is a question I shall leave for his countrymen to decide." In February 1926, Amundsen visited Cook at Fort Leaven– worth when Cook was serving a term for mail fraud, and after the visit report– ers again asked the old question, but got an evasive reply, which might be interpreted as implying that Amundsen did not believe that either of them had been at the Pole. In March 1926 the writer met Amundsen in New York. At that time Byrd had announced his plan for a flight from Spitsbergen and had seen Amundsen to ask his advice. In conversation with Amundsen the writer got the definite impression that he would be happy if Byrd's flight could take place before his own, because then the Peary-Cook controversy would be finally settled. If Byrd reached the Pole first, no step would be taken to raise new doubts as to the validity of the claim by his countrymen Peary, but should Amundsen pass the Pole first, the question might again come up and Amundsen would have to take a stand in the matter. Amundsen did not at all wish this to happen, and there can be no doubt that he was sincere when on May 9 he congratulated Byrd on his success.

On May 11 the Norge lifted her great bulk from the snow-covered slope at King's Bay and set her course for Point Barrow, Alaska, by way of the North Pole. The party on board number 16 men, and included Wisting, Amundsen's com– panion from the journey to the South Pole and the Maud . In the early hours of May 12 the Pole was reached, where flags of three nations were dropped, those of Norway, the United States, and Italy.

Between the North Pole and Point Barrow the route cut the largest unexplored region of the Arctic, passing over what Stefansson had called the "Pole of in– accessibility," which Amundsen preferred to refer to as the "Ice Pole." In 1911 the expert on tides, Rollin A. Harris, of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, had advanced the hypothesis that large land masses should lie in that very region. His conclusions based on an examination of the available tideal observations, but during the Maud expedition, on which comprehensive records of tides and tidal currents were obtained, it was found that Harris had reasoned from incomplete data and that, contrary to his opinion, the character of the tide on the coasts of Siberia and Alaska indicated waters of great depth within the unknown region.

During the flight of the Norge the latter conclusion was confirmed, al– though the airship flew partly through fog and clouds and, therefore, did not observe the ground continuously. The fog and clouds caused for some time so much icing that the situation appeared critical, partly because of the added weight and partly because of the danger of the hull of the airship being torn to pieces by chunks of ice thrown off the propellers. Some holes were knocked in the cover, but could be repaired, and the Norge got out of the fog without having suffered serious damage.

In the morning of May 13, 46 hours after the start, land was sighted, which turned out to lie just west of Point Barrow. The next 24 hours were the most trying on the trip. The main purpose had been accomplished, and the exhaustion

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and lack of sleep made itself fully felt. Still, it was necessary to reach farther south, preferably to Nome, but navigation was difficult owing to poor radio communications, reduced visibility, and, when the clouds broke, lack of landmarks in the monotonous northern landscape. Repeatedly the course had to be changed, but on May 14, 72 hours after the departure, the Norge landed safe– ly at Teller, Alaska, about 60 miles from Nome.

On the return trip to Norway through the United States, Amundsen and his companions were again hailed by thousands, and arriving in Oslo they were given a cheering reception, equalling that in 1925. Amundsen had brought with him the Norwegian glag that the Norge had flown across the Polar Sea. When he had to speak to the thousands who were gathered to greet him, he said: "Many have asked me what has spurred me to start out again and again." Unfolding the flag he went on: "Here it is. This flag has always spurred me on." Everyone know– ing Amundsen also knows that he did not use an idle phrase, and that love for and pride of his country was part of his being.

After the flight with the Norge , Amundsen declared that he would no longer take active part in exploration, but would always be at disposal to anyone who might wish to benefit from his experiences. He wanted to live in private peace at his beloved home outside of Oslo, the home which one of his friends and ad– mirers had bought from his bankrupt estate and had placed at Amundsen's dis– posal for life. However, he did not immediately find the peace he was looking for. There arose an unfortunate conflict between him and Nobile, who consider– ed himself co-leader of the Norge expedition, whereas according to contracts he had been the paid captain of the airship. In his autobiography Amundsen de– nounced Nobile's attitude and took opportunity to give vent to some of his bitterness against other persons who had hurt him or whose opinions he was violently opposed to.

The Last Flight

Amundsen's autobiography whirled up some dust, and before this had set– tled, Nobile had started an expedition of his own with a sister ship of the Norge , the Italia . After a successful flight from Spitsbergen toward Northern Land and back, the Italia started for a flight to the North Pole. The Pole was reached on May 23, 1928, but on the return trip the Italia was forced down and wrecked. No accurate information was available as to where the disaster had happened, but rescus operations had to be started right away. Amundsen placed himself at disposal, hoping to be given charge of the rescue operations to be undertaken by the Norwegian Government, but airplanes had to be used, and the only suitable planes in Norway belonged to the Norwegian Navy. It was con– sidered that these could not be commanded by a civilian, and to Amundsen's great disappointment Lieutenant Riiser-Larsen, his companion in 1925 and 1926, was put in charge instead of himself. Amundsen was still eager to take part in the search, and when asked he gladly agreed to go to Spitsbergen with a French plane of the Latham type, flown by Gilbaud.

But Amundsen had one great worry left: as yet his debt from the unfortunate years 1923-23 had not been paid in full. He had proposed to sell his many gold medals in order to cover the last remaining amount, and before he left Oslo to join the Latham, his last world to his attorney was: "Make me a free man." Be– fore leaving Tromsö he got word that the Historical Museum of Oslo had been un able to buy his collection for an amount which would barely cover the last sum needed to give his creditors the remainder of their money. Amundsen was again a free man.

Experts agreed that the Latham was not ideal for the purpose, but time was

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short. Wisting and Dietrichson should both have gone with Amundsen, but there was space for only one of them and the choice fell on the aviator, Dietrichson. On June 18, the Latham left Tromsö. For a few hours the plane remained in radio contact with Tronsö, but then silence followed. When the plane failed to reach Spitsbergen at the calculated hour, it was feared that it had been forced down at sea and that Amundsen and his companions were lost. Extensive search opera– tions were undertaken, but only some wreckage of the plane was found. No one knows exactly how Amundsen met death, but all that needs to be known is that he closed his career in an attempt to rescue a fellow explorer.

Appraisal

Amundsen said of himself that he never became an arctic explorer, because since he was fifteen years old all his thoughts and his energy had been directed toward one goal - the expansion of our knowledge of the polar regions. Circum– stances made it necessary for him to change plans and make detours, but after he had sailed through the Northwest Passage, his one all-absorbing idea, from 1908 to 1926, was to cross the Polar Sea and reach the North Pole. The attain– ment of the South Pole was incidental.

Amundsen was not a scientist and he never claimed to be one. He was in– terested in securing accurate information wherever he traveled and in giving specialists opportunities to carry out observations on his expeditions, but he cared little for their conclusions and even less for their theories. When he talked about men of science he had met, he would stress their personal character– istics and not their scientific attainments.

Thoroughness in planning, meticulous attention to details, and nearly fussy orderliness combined with bold initiative laid the foundations for Amundsen's success. To this should be added his ability to select suitable companions and

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to gain their unqualified confidence in his leadership. In selecting his men, he apparently looked for one particular characteristic: resourcefulness. When the preparations were still in progress, he might ask a question about a diffi– cult task or give a man an impossible assignment. If he got the answer "It can't be done," he was through with the man then and there, but if the man later on returned to the matter and explained h^ow^ he had tried to tackle the problem, A undsen was satisfied even if the result was absolutely negative.

On his expeditions Amundsen required of his men a punctuality and order– liness corresponding to his own. During the Maud expedition, he himself worked as cook for two years with the members of the party alternating as mess boys. Never was the galley more shining with a designated spot for every pot and spoon and with every utensil in its proper place. He established a strict daily routine broken by festive occasions during which he more than anyone else knew how to create a congenial atmosphere. His men loved him.

Amundsen's trouble with his finances stood in sharp contrast to his meticu– lous orderliness in all details, probably because to him money was a necessary evil of no independent value. To this must be added that, like many other great explorers, he believed in his own mission, and when funds were not forthcoming from expected sources he was likely to ascribe this to lack of appreciation or even to take it as a personal affront. His belief in himself was his greatest strength without which he could not have attained his goals, but this belief com– bined with his great sensitivity was also a weakness which in course of the years made him a bitter and lonely man. Occasionally he was misused by publicity seek– ers and such instances made him suspicious toward anyone who approached him. He had to pay a high price for his success: his faith in human nature. Still, among his few personal friends he was the most warm-hearted, hospitable, generous, and

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charming person.

Few men have during life followed a single line with greater perseverance and greater success. The glory of his death together with the brilliancy of his many achievements have forever placed Amundsen in the foremost rank of the great explorers.

Harald U. Sverdrup

Roald Amundsen: Encyclopedia Arctica 15: Biographies