“For days and nights we were under pressure from the terrible press. The noise of the ice blocks, beating and breaking against the sides of our ship, often became so strong that it was almost impossible to talk. And then ... we were saved by Dr. Cook's ingenuity. He carefully preserved the skins of the penguins we killed, and now we made mats out of them, which we hung over the sides, where they significantly reduced and softened the impact of ice "(R. Amundsen. My Life. Chapter II).
There was, perhaps, no more "enchanted" sea route in history than the Northwest Passage. Hundreds of seafarers starting with John Cabot at the end of the 15th century. tried to find a way to Asia bypassing North America, but unsuccessfully. These attempts often ended tragically. Suffice it to recall the voyage of Henry Hudson (Hudson) in 1611 and the expedition of John Franklin in 1845. Robert McClure, one of those who were looking for Franklin, in 1851 discovered the missing western link of the waterway from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean However, for a long time no one managed to overcome the entire Northwest Passage.
As a child, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen read a book about the death of John Franklin's expedition and even then decided to become a polar explorer. He walked towards his goal confidently, knowing what he wanted and how to achieve it. This became the secret of his amazing achievements. To begin with, he entered a sailor on a sailing ship in order to go through all the steps on the way to the captain's diploma.
In 1897 Belgium organized an expedition to Antarctica. Since there were no polar explorers in Belgium itself, the expedition included scientists from other countries. Amundsen was the first navigator in it. The expedition spent some time near Tierra del Fuego, and then headed towards the Antarctic Peninsula. But there the ship got stuck in the ice, had to spend the winter, for which the travelers were completely unprepared. The fuel quickly ran out, with cold and darkness horror and despair crept into the souls of people. And also this terrible crack - the ice, like a boa constrictor, squeezed the ship. Two went mad, all suffered from scurvy. The head of the expedition and the captain were also sick and did not get out of bed. The story of the Franklin expedition could well repeat itself.
All were rescued by Amundsen and the ship's doctor, American Frederic Cook. First, remembering that there is a healthy mind in a healthy body, they hunted several seals and began to feed the sick with seal meat. And it helped: the patients recovered, their spirit strengthened. According to Amundsen, Dr. Cook, a brave and never discouraged man, became the main savior of the expedition. It was he who suggested drilling several dozen holes in the ice - in a straight line from the bow of the ship - and placing dynamite in these holes. The winter explosion gave nothing, but in the summer the ice cracked just along this line and the ship went to clean water... After more than a year's stay in ice captivity, the expedition returned to Europe.
A year later, Amundsen received a skipper's diploma. Now he could prepare for an independent expedition. He was going to overcome the Northwest Passage, and at the same time determine the position magnetic pole... For this, Amundsen bought a small single-masted yacht "Joa". If the 39-meter Fram with its 400-ton displacement was considered too small for long-distance sailing, then what to say about Amundsen's vessel 21 meters long and 48 tons displacement? But Amundsen reasoned this way: the main problems for all who tried to conquer the Northwest Passage were heavy ice, plugging spills, and shallow depths. A large ship has little chance of breaking through, unlike a yacht with a shallow draft. However, there was another reason for this choice: Amundsen did not have a significant amount at his disposal.
The Norwegian installed a 13-horsepower kerosene engine on the yacht; besides, she was equipped with sails. Having made a test voyage in the Barents Sea in 1901, Amundsen was satisfied with his ship. In June 1903, Joa went west. The team consisted of only seven people, including Amundsen himself. It's funny, but by the time he sailed, he could not pay off the creditors, so the crew made their way on board the ship at night, secretly, and just as secretly "Joa" left the port.
After the Norwegians crossed the Atlantic and entered the Baffin Sea, they stopped at Godhavn on Disko Island. Here 20 dogs were loaded on board, the delivery of which Amundsen agreed with the Danish trading company... Further, the path lay north to the camp of the Scottish whalers of Dalrymple Rock, where supplies of fuel and food were replenished. "Joa" rounded Devon Island and entered Lancaster Strait. After overcoming it, she reached the small island of Beachy. Amundsen made magnetic observations to determine the direction in which the magnetic pole was. The devices showed - on the western coast of the Butia peninsula.
On the way to the peninsula - around Somerset Island through the Peel Strait - the Norwegians faced serious trials. First, "Joa", passing an extremely difficult area, came across an underwater rock. And then suddenly a storm came. It seemed that another blow against the rocks would follow, this time fatal, but a huge wave picked up the boat and carried it across the reef. After that collision, "Joa" nearly lost the steering wheel. And one evening, when the yacht stopped at a small island and everyone was going to sleep, there was a heart-rending cry: "Fire!" The engine room was on fire.
With great difficulty, it was possible to fill the entire room with water. The happiness of the team that there was no explosion. Already at the very Boutia peninsula, the ship got into a terrible storm that lasted four days. Amundsen managed to maneuver in such a way that the "Joa" remained afloat and was not thrown ashore. Meanwhile, it was already September, and the polar night was rapidly approaching. A place for wintering was found on the southern coast of King William Island, in a quiet bay surrounded on all sides by hills. Amundsen wrote that such a bay can only be dreamed of. But not far from here were the final scenes of the tragedy with John Franklin in the lead role. By the way, the Norwegians managed to find and bury the remains of several members of the British expedition.
Everything needed, including scientific equipment, was unloaded ashore. By constructing warm house, observatories and installing instruments, the Norwegians also made rooms for dogs. Now he had to provide himself with food for the winter. They began to hunt deer and soon shot down a hundred. Amundsen noted that the members of the last Franklin expedition died mainly of hunger - and this is in places with an amazing abundance of animals and fish!
During the hunt, the travelers met Eskimos. Between them quickly established good relationship... The Eskimos as a whole tribe migrated to the Norwegians' winter quarters and settled nearby. Up to 200 people came in total. Amundsen foresaw a similar development of events and brought with him many commodities for the exchange trade. Thanks to this, he managed to collect a wonderful collection of Eskimo household items. Magnetic measurements and others Scientific research Amundsen was detained at this place for another year. And yet in August 1904 he went by boat to explore the narrow Simpson Strait, which separates King William Island from the mainland.
And in August of the next year, "Joa" moved by this strait. Until then, not a single ship had sailed in these waters. For three weeks the ship literally crawled forward, the sailors incessantly threw the lot and looked for a passage among the endless rocks and shoals. Once the keel of a ship was separated from the bottom by only one inch of water! And yet they broke through. When the sailors crossed the narrow, winding straits between the mainland and the islands of the Canadian archipelago and entered the Beaufort Sea, they saw sails far ahead. It was the American whaling ship Charl Hansson, which had come from San Francisco through the Bering Strait. It turns out that the end of the path is very close, and with it the victory! The Norwegians did not suspect that they would need another whole year to overcome the last stage. The ice grew thicker, then harder, finally on September 2, "Joa" stuck north of King Point, off the Canadian coast. The speed with which Amundsen covered the distance from King William Island to Cape King Point is striking: in 20 days "Joa" covered almost 2 thousand km, and at least a third of this way through narrow shallow straits.
In his memoirs, Amundsen wrote that long before the expedition he tried to acquire all the available literature on the Northwest Passage. Thanks to this, he was able to prepare well for the journey. At first glance at the map of the Canadian Archipelago, it seems that the most natural way from ocean to ocean - northern, through the Lancaster, Barrow, Vycount-Melville and McClure straits. However, traps await sailors along this route. In one of the books devoted to the search for John Franklin, Amundsen found an assumption, even a prophecy, that the real passage will be found by those who take a more southerly route. And so it happened.
But back to "Joa", captured in ice captivity. The most offensive thing was that the Northwest Passage had already been passed. And Amundsen decided to inform the world about his accomplishment. All that was required was to get to some telegraph station. But the nearest one was 750 km away, behind a mountain ridge with a height of 2750 m. They set off at the end of October on sledges pulled by dogs. In a terrible frost, they reached the Yukon River, and on December 5 they reached Fort Egbert, the terminus of the military telegraph line. Amundsen wrote about a thousand words, which were immediately sent. But it was in those days that the wires on the line burst from frost! It took a week to fix the problem, after which Amundsen received confirmation that the telegrams had reached the addressees. In response, he received hundreds of congratulations.
In February 1906, the traveler left Fort Egbert and set out on dog sleds along the trading stations back to Joa. In July, the ice receded, and the Norwegians reached Cape Barrow without incident, passed through the Bering Strait and arrived in San Francisco in October. Shortly before that, in April 1906, the city was severely damaged by the famous earthquake, the most destructive in the history of the United States. Amundsen donated his yacht to the city to commemorate the conquest of the Northwest Passage.
The tremendous stress and wear and tear were not in vain for the traveler: in the first weeks after the end of the voyage, everyone took him for a 60- or 70-year-old man, although in fact he was only 33 years old.
3043FIGURES AND FACTS
The main character
Roald Amundsen, great Norwegian polar explorer
Other actors
Frederick Cook, American polar explorer, physician
Time of action
Expedition route
From Europe across the Atlantic to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, then westward in narrow straits between the mainland and islands
Target
Overcoming the Northwest Passage, scientific research
Meaning
For the first time in history, managed to bypass North America from the north
Name ten famous Norwegians, Nansen will immediately appear - a tall blue-eyed blonde, a polar explorer, Nobeliath as a savior of nations, a politician, a person who is difficult to reproach for anything. The list will certainly be supplemented by Amundsen, a traveler and polar explorer, who continued Nansen's endeavors and was the first to conquer the South Pole, flew in an airship over the North Pole and made a sea passage both in the Northeast and Northwest ways.
The passion for travel in the Norwegians was awakened by the Viking forefathers. An ingenious interweaving of legends and sagas carried the glory of these brave men through the centuries, and since then almost every Norwegian has a desire to explore something mysterious, inaccessible, complex ... Geographical position Norway originally envisioned sea travel in the northern direction, where the most attractive - especially in the late XIX - early XX century. - saw the frozen expanses of the North Pole.
Of the two great Norwegian ice explorers, Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, the latter is the more controversial figure. When Amundsen found out that Robert Scott was going to conquer the South Pole, he, contrary to the guild ethics, rushed in front of the Scotsman and became the first person to reach the absolute south. Scott arrived at the goal a little later and died in the snow, shaken by the loss. Scientific world condemned the Norwegian and decided to consider both Scott and Amundsen as pioneers. Indeed, compared to eternity, the difference of 36 days is insignificant.
For Nansen, things were not so dramatic. He was well-behaved, pleased those around him. Born in 1861, studied to be a zoologist. While still at university, Nansen made his first trip to the Arctic Ocean. Then there will be several more polar expeditions. Sports training came in handy for the future scientist and politician. Several times Nansen became the champion of Norway in cross-country skiing.
In 1888, before leading an expedition to Greenland, he became a doctor of science. And from the expedition he returned famous, having made a pedestrian transition with five companions from east coast Greenland to the west. In the 1890s he continued dangerous ice campaigns. Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, Jackson Island - for contemporaries this was equal to the first flights of astronauts. In the north and now there is no sugar, but in those years it was very difficult without modern technology. When Nansen sailed on his ship "Fram", the project of which he specially developed for Arctic expeditions, he was seen off as on a scaffold. But these expeditions, culminating in the miraculous return of the heroes, laid the foundations new science, physical oceanography and seriously raised the shares of Nansen personally. The hero-sailor won worldwide recognition and reputation, which he later had a chance to use for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of our compatriots. In 1922 he received Nobel Prize the world. Nansen died on May 13, 1930 at his estate near Oslo. According to the will, his body was cremated, and the ashes were scattered over the Oslofjord.
Roald Amundsen was born in 1872 into a family of a ship owner and from his youth dreamed of polar exploration. Nevertheless, yielding to the insistence of his mother, he entered the medical faculty of the university, which he dropped out in 1893, immediately after her death. Joining a ship as a sailor, Amundsen sailed on various ships for several years and gradually grew to a navigator. In 1897-1899, he took part in the Belgian Antarctic expedition, the participants of which, due to mistakes in preparation and during its implementation, were forced to spend a 13-month winter. This hard lesson came in handy for Amundsen in the preparation of his own Arctic expedition. In 1903 - 1906, on a small yacht "Joa" Amundsen with six satellites explored the Northwest Route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. However, this was only a prelude to the main goal - the South Pole.
Launched in the summer of 1910 on the famous ship Fram, the expedition arrived in Antarctica on January 13, 1911. Having built the base and carefully preparing for the transition, in October 1911, five people, led by Amundsen, set off on dog sleds to the South Pole and reached it on December 14, 1911. Subsequently, Amundsen made several more trips to the north and died while participating in the rescue of the expedition of Umberto Nobile on June 18, 1928. He was never found.
Initially, Amundsen planned to reach the North Pole, but after receiving news of the conquest of the pole by Frederick Cook, and later by Robert Peary, he decided to reach the South Pole. When Scott arrived in Melbourne on October 12, 1910, a telegram from Madeira was awaiting him. It was short and to the point: “Let me tell you, the Fram is on its way to Antarctica. Amundsen. " Amundsen's expedition landed in Antarctica simultaneously with the expedition of the English traveler Robert Scott, but managed to reach the South Pole 36 days earlier.
The Norwegian set off on the decisive trip to the South Pole on October 20. And Scott only on November 2, 1911. Amundsen's path was shorter, although somewhat more difficult in terms of relief. The climb turned out to be difficult. mountain range... But on the flat terrain, the dogs easily dragged the sled, and people only held on to the ropes tied to them, sliding on skis. Before storming the pole, both expeditions prepared for the winter. Scott could boast of more expensive equipment, but Amundsen took into account every little detail in his equipment. The English and Norwegian units were equal in number of people - five people each. The motor sledges of the British quickly went out of order, long before the Pole, they had to shoot the exhausted ponies. The people themselves dragged the sled. It turned out that the British even neglected skiing, while for the Norwegians it was a familiar means of transportation. Scott's expedition was left without fuel: it leaked from the iron vessels through poorly soldered seams.
On December 14, 1911, Amundsen reached the South Pole. The British were still walking with miracles of fortitude, but very slowly. Only on January 18, 1912, they arrived at the pole and were no longer surprised when they saw the flag of Norway there. The way back turned out to be beyond the power of Scott and his comrades. Terrible frosts and wind did their job. They often went astray and starved. March 29, 20 km from grocery warehouse, Robert Scott made the last entry in his diary: “Death is at hand. For God's sake, take care of our loved ones! " The bodies of three polar explorers, including Robert Scott, were discovered in November 1912. At the site of Scott's first wintering, a cross was erected with the words "Fight and seek, find and not give up."
In 1936, a museum dedicated to the history of Norwegian polar expeditions was opened in Oslo, on the Bygdoy peninsula. Its main exhibit is the ship "Fram", completely restored, on board and inside which tourists from all over the world climb!
Welcome to Norway, a country of pioneers and travelers!
Roald Engelbreggt Gravning Amundsen (born July 16, 1872 - died June 18, 1928) is a polar explorer from Norway.
What Roald Amudsen discovered
The first in the world to reach the South Pole (December 14, 1911). The first person (with Oscar Wisting) to visit both geographic poles of the planet. He was the first in the world who was able to pass the North-West Passage from Greenland to Alaska, later he made the transition to the North-East Way (along the coast of Siberia), for the first time closing the round-the-world distance beyond the Arctic Circle.
One of the pioneers of the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel. He died in 1928 in search of the missing expedition of Umberto Nobile. He has received awards from many countries of the world, including America's highest award - Gold medal Congress, numerous geographical and other objects bear his name.
Childhood. Youth
Roald Amundsen was born into a family of hereditary seafarers and from a young age dreamed of continuing the family tradition. But he knew very well that good health was necessary for this - something that he did not have. However, being sickly and physically weak, Roald set himself the task of strengthening his body as much as possible, for which he trained and hardened daily. He even wanted to become a doctor, but after two years of medical school at the University of Christiania (now Oslo), he left his studies and was hired as a sailor on a sailing schooner that went to seal fishery in the Greenland Sea.
First travels. Education
After two years of sea wanderings, Amundsen, salted by sea winds, strengthened and even more confident in himself, passed the exams for the navigator of long voyages. In 1897-1899. as a navigator he took part in the Belgian Antarctic expedition aboard the ship "Belgica", after which he passed the exam for a sea captain.
Opening of the Northwest Passage
In 1903-1906 Roald, for the first time in the history of navigation, sailed on his own sailing schooner "Joa" with a crew of 7 people from Greenland to Alaska along the waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. From Barrow Sound, he headed south through the Peel and Franklin Sounds to the northern tip of King William Island. Having rounded the island on the east side, he spent two winters in the harbor off the south-eastern coast of King William Island. Autumn 1904 - He surveyed the narrowest part of the Simpson Strait by boat, and at the end of the summer of 1905 headed west along the mainland, leaving the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to the north. 1906, summer - after the third winter, the traveler passed through the Bering Strait to the Pacific Ocean and finished his voyage in San Francisco. With this he was able to open the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean from east to west. During the expedition, he conducted valuable geomagnetic observations and mapped more than 100 islands.
Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (1910-1912)
In 1910-1912 Amundsen on the ship "Fram", which belonged to F. Nansen, led an expedition to Antarctica in order to discover the South Pole. The Fram crew included a Russian sailor and oceanographer Alexander Stepanovich Kuchin. In January, Amundsen's expedition landed on the Ross Glacier in Whale Bay. A base camp was established there to prepare for the trip to the South Pole.
1911, October 19 - a group led by Roald Amundsen (Oskar Wisting, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hassel, Olaf Bjaland) set off on 4 sledges pulled by 52 dogs and on December 17, 1911 was able to reach the South Pole. During the work of the expedition in Antarctica, the traveler discovered the Queen Maud Mountains. But only on March 7, 1912, while in the city of Hobart (Tasmania), Amundsen informed the world about his victory and the safe return of the expedition.
Northeast Sea Route
In 1918-1921. Roald built the ship Maud with his own money and sailed on it from west to east along the northern shores of Eurasia, repeating Nansen's drift on the Fram. With two wintering he passed from Norway to the Bering Strait.
Air expedition 1925
In 1923-1925. Amundsen made several attempts to reach the North Pole. The biographers of the great Norwegian have preserved the details of the 1925 expedition. On May 21, 1925, two seaplanes headed for the North Pole. On one were Ellsworth, Dietrichson and Omdahl, on the other Amundsen, Riiser-Larsen and Voicht. At a distance of 1000 km from Svalbard, the engine of the plane on which Amundsen was located began to malfunction. I had to make an emergency landing, since there was a large hole nearby. The second seaplane failed during landing.
It took more than 3 weeks to wait in the ice for the weather suitable for take-off. It was clear that everyone would have to return on the same plane. Everything was thrown out of it, except for the bare essentials. The pilot seat was taken by Riiser-Larsen. The remaining 5 people could barely fit in the cockpit.
Roald described what was happening: “Here the engine was started, and the plane moved off. The next seconds were the most exciting of my entire life. Riiser-Larsen immediately gave full throttle. With an increase in speed, the unevenness of the ice affected more and more, and the whole seaplane tilted so terribly from side to side that I was afraid more than once that it might roll over and break the wing. We were quickly approaching the end of the starting lane, but the impacts and jolts showed that we were still on the ice. With increasing speed, but still, not separating from the ice, we approached a small slope leading into the wormwood. We were transported through the wormwood, fell on a flat ice floe on the other side and suddenly rose into the air ... "
After 8 hours 35 minutes of flight, the rudder drives stuck. But open water was already glistening under the wing of the plane. The pilot confidently landed the seaplane on the water and led it like a motor boat. This happened near the northern shores of Svalbard. Soon a small fishing boat approached the travelers, and the captain agreed to tow the plane to Kingsbay. From Svalbard, its participants, together with the plane, sailed on a steamer. 1925, July 5 - Amundsen's plane, met by thousands of jubilant people, landed in the harbor of Oslo. Norway honored its national heroes.
Airship "Norway"
1926 May - Roald led the first successful flight across the North Pole in an airship. Aircraft lighter than air bore the name of the hero's native country - "Norway".
Doom
Two years later, when another airship - with the proud name "Italy" - crashed after reaching the Pole, Amundsen went in search of the expedition of General Umberto Nobile. He took off from Tromsø in a French twin-engined seaplane Latham-47. During a flight from Norway to Svalbard, the plane crashed into the waters of the Barents Sea for unknown reasons. And nobody else heard anything about the famous polar explorer.
General Nobile was rescued five days after the disappearance of the traveler.
Memory
A mountain in the eastern part of Antarctica, a bay in the North Arctic Ocean, the sea off the coast of the southern continent and the American polar station Amundsen-Scott. His works "Flight across the Arctic Ocean", "On the ship" Mod "", "Expedition along the northern coast of Asia", "South Pole" and a five-volume collected works were translated into Russian.
Fridtjof Nansen dedicated sincere words to the memory of his colleague and compatriot: “He will forever occupy a special place in history geographic research… Some kind of explosive force lived in him. In the misty sky of the Norwegian people, he rose as a shining star. How many times did it light up with bright flashes! And suddenly it went out right away, and we cannot take our eyes off the empty space in the firmament. "
Amundsen Roald is a Norwegian polar explorer and traveler. Born in Borg on July 16, 1872, since June 1928 he disappeared without a trace. He was the greatest discoverer of modern times. For almost 30 years, Amundsen has achieved all the goals that polar explorers have striven for for over 300 years.
In 1897-99. Amundsen participated as a navigator in the Antarctic expedition of A. Gerlache on the ship "Belgica". The expedition explored Graham Land.
To prepare his own expedition to determine the exact location of the magnetic North Pole, he improved his knowledge at a German observatory.
After a test voyage in the Arctic Ocean, Amundsen set out in mid-June 1903 on the 47-tonne ship "Joa" with six Norwegian satellites and sailed in the direction of the Canadian-Arctic islands through the Lancaster and Peel straits to the southeastern coast of King Island -William. There he spent two polar winters and made valuable geomagnetic observations. In 1904, he surveyed the Magnetic North Pole on the west coast of the Boothia Felix Peninsula and embarked on daring boat and sleigh rides through the ice-covered sea straits between King William Lands and Victoria Lands. At the same time, he and his companions put over 100 islands on the map. On August 13, 1905, Joa finally continued her voyage and reached the Beaufort Sea through the straits between King William Islands, Victoria and the Canadian mainland, and then, after a second wintering in ice near the mouth of the Mackenzie, on August 31, 1906, the Bering Strait. Thus, for the first time, it was possible to pass the North-West Passage on one ship, but not by those straits that were explored by the expeditions looking for Franklin.
Another great achievement of Amundsen was the discovery of the South Pole, which he managed to make on the first try. In 1909, Amundsen was preparing for a long drift in the ice of the Polar Basin and exploration of the North Pole region on the ship "Fram", previously owned by Nansen, but after learning about the discovery of the North Pole by American Robert Peary, he changed his plan and set the goal of reaching the South Pole. On January 13, 1911, he disembarked from the Fram at Whale's Bay in the eastern part of the Ross Ice Barrier, from where he sailed the following summer on October 20, accompanied by four men in a dog sled. After a successful trip on the ice plateau, a tiring climb through mountain glaciers at an altitude of about 3 thousand m (Devil's Glacier, Axel-Heiberg glacier) and further successful advance on the ice of the inner plateau of Antarctica, Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole on December 15, 1911, by four weeks before the less successful expedition of R.F. Scott, making its way to the pole west of the Amundsen path. On the way back, which began on December 17, Amundsen discovered the Queen Maud mountains up to 4500 m and on January 25, 1912, after a 99-day absence, he returned to the landing site.
On his return from Antarctica, Amundsen tried to repeat the drift across the Arctic Ocean, but much further north, possibly through the North Pole, having previously passed along the northeastern passage - along the northern shores of Eurasia (but his next northern expeditions were delayed by the First World War). A new vessel "Mod" was built for this expedition. In the summer of 1918, the expedition left Norway, but was unable to pass around the Taimyr Peninsula and hibernated at Cape Chelyuskin. During the navigation of 1919, Amundsen managed to go east to about. Ayon, where the ship "Maud" stopped for the second winter. In 1920 the expedition went to the Bering Strait. Subsequently, the expedition carried out work in the Arctic Ocean, while Amundsen himself for a number of years was engaged in fundraising and preparing flights to the North Pole.
A second attempt was made on the Maud in 1922 from Cape Hope (Alaska), but Amundsen himself did not take part in the voyage of his ship. After a two-year ice drift, the Maud reached only the Novosibirsk Islands, the starting point of the Fram in 1893. Since the further direction of the drift was already known thanks to the Fram, the Maud freed herself from the ice and returned to Alaska.
Meanwhile, Amundsen tried to pave the way to the North Pole by plane, but during the first test flight in May 1923 from Wenwright, Alaska, his car deteriorated. On May 21, 1925, he together with five satellites, incl. Ellsworth took off on two planes from Svalbard. And again he did not reach the goal. At 87 0 43 / s. NS. and 10 0 20 / z. d., 250 km from the pole, he had to make an emergency landing. Here the members of the expedition spent over 3 weeks preparing the airfield for take-off; in June they managed to return to Svalbard on one plane.
V next years Amundsen finally managed, together with Ellsworth and Nobile, in the semi-rigid airship Norge (Norway) to cross all polar regions from Svalbard to Alaska, and also to fly over the North Pole. The airship took off from Spitsbergen on May 11, was at the North Pole on May 12, and reached Alaska on May 14, 1926, where it descended. However, just before that, on May 9, he flew over the pole for the first time and thus outstripped Amundsen, just as the latter had once overtaken Scott at the South Pole. In June 1928 g.
Amundsen died while trying to find and provide assistance to the Italian expedition Umberto Nobile on the Italia airship, which crashed in the ice of the Polar Basin; On June 18, 1928, Amundsen flew north from Tromsø in the Latam seaplane and disappeared without a trace with the entire crew. Subsequently, the find of the float and the tank showed that the plane had died in the Barents Sea.
In stubborn, purposeful work, motivated by great ambition, not giving in to failure, Amundsen rendered the greatest services to science. He wrote a number of works about his travels. In Russian. per. Collected Works, vols. 1-5, L, 1936-1939; "My Life", M., 1959, and a number of other publications.
Amundsen at the South Pole.
Bibliography
- Biographical Dictionary of Scientists and Technicians. T. 1. - Moscow: State. scientific publishing house "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", 1958. - 548 p.
- 300 travelers and explorers. Biographical Dictionary. - Moscow: Mysl, 1966 .-- 271 p.
Norwegian traveler, record holder, explorer and great person Roald Amundsen known all over the world as
- the first person to conquer both poles of our planet;
- the first person to visit the South Pole;
- the first person to travel around the world with its closure at the North Pole;
- one of the pioneers of the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel.
Short biography of Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen ( full name — Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen) born on July 16, 1872 in Borg, Norway. His father - Jens Amundsen, a hereditary sea trader. His mother - Hannah Salkvist, daughter of a customs official.
Schooling
Roal was always at school worst student, but stood out for his stubbornness and a heightened sense of justice. The headmaster even refused him to take the final exam for fear of disgracing the institution as an unsuccessful student.
Amundsen had to sign up for the final exams separately, as an external student, and in July 1890, with great difficulty, he received a certificate of maturity.
Further studies
After the death of his father in 1886, Roald Amundsen wanted to study on the sailor, but the mother insisted that her son choose medicine after receiving his matriculation certificate.
He had to submit and become a medical student at the university. But in September 1893, when his mother suddenly died, he became the master of his fate and, leaving the university, went to sea.
Marine specialty and travel to the Arctic
For 5 years, Roald sailed as a sailor on various ships, and then passed the exams and received navigator diploma... And in this capacity, in 1897, he finally went to the Arctic for research purposes on a ship Belgica, which belonged to the Belgian Arctic expedition.
It was the hardest test. The ship was trapped in ice, hunger, disease began, people went crazy. Only a few remained healthy, among them was Amundsen - he hunted seals, was not afraid to eat their meat and thus escaped.
Northwest Passage
In 1903 Amundsen used the funds raised to buy a used 47-ton motor-sailing yacht "Yoah", built just in the year of his birth. The schooner had a diesel engine of only 13 horsepower.
Together with 7 crew members, he went out to sea. He managed to walk along the coast of North America from Greenland to Alaska and open the so-called northwest passage.
This expedition was no less severe than the first. Had to endure wintering in ice, ocean storms, encounters with dangerous icebergs. But Amundsen continued to lead scientific observations, and he was able to determine the location of the Earth's magnetic pole.
On a dog sled, he reached "residential" Alaska. He has aged a lot, at 33 he looked 70. The difficulties did not frighten the experienced polar explorer, seasoned sailor and passionate traveler.
Conquest of the South Pole
In 1910, he began to prepare a new expedition to the North Pole. Just before going out to sea, a message came that the North Pole had submitted to the American Robert Peary.
The proud Amundsen immediately changed his goal: he decided to go to the South Pole.
Travelers overcame 16 thousand miles in a few weeks, and came to the Ross ice barrier in Antarctica. There I had to go ashore and move on with dog sleds. The path was blocked by icy rocks, abysses; skis barely glided.
But despite all the difficulties, Roald Amundsen December 14, 1911 reached the South Pole. Together with his comrades-in-arms, he passed through the ice 1,500 kilometers and was the first to hoist the flag of Norway at the South Pole.
Polar aviation
Roald Amundsen flew to the North Pole in seaplanes, landed on the island of Spitsbergen, and landed in the ice. In 1926 on a huge airship "Norway"(106 meters long and with three engines) together with an Italian expedition Umberto Nobile and an American millionaire Lincoln-Ellsworth Amundsen made his dream come true:
flew over the North Pole and landed in Alaska.
But all the glory went to Umberto Nobile. The head of the fascist state Benito Mussolini glorified one Nobile, promoted him to general, they did not even remember Amundsen.
Tragic death
In 1928 Nobile decided to repeat his record. On the airship "Italy", of the same design as the previous airship, he made another flight to the North Pole. In Italy, they were eagerly awaiting his return; they were preparing a triumphal meeting for the national hero. The North Pole will be Italian ...
But on the way back due to icing, the Italia airship lost control. Parts of the crew, together with Nobile, succeeded land on an ice floe... Another part flew away with the airship. Radio communication with wrecked was interrupted.
Amundsen agreed to become a member of one of the rescue expeditions of the Nobile team. June 18, 1928 together with the French crew, he flew by seaplane "Latam-47" in the direction of the island of Svalbard.
This was Amundsen's last flight. Soon radio communication with an aircraft overhead The Barents Sea, was interrupted. The exact circumstances of the death of the plane and the expedition remained unknown.
In 1928, Amundsen was awarded (posthumously) the highest US honor - Congressional Gold Medal.