Roald Amundsen

Norwegian explorer and scientist

• Born: July 16, 1872
• Birthplace: Borge, Norway
• Died: June 18, 1928?
• Place of death: Arctic Ocean

Amundsen was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage from Godhavn, Greenland, through the islands of Canada to Fort Egbert, Alaska. In 1911, he was the first explorer to reach the South Pole. His studies of magnetics led to major revisions of theories concerning the magnetic North Pole and greater understanding of the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Early Life

Roald Amundsen (ROH-ahl AHM-oohn-sehn) was born Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen in Borge, stfold, a village located southeast of Oslo, Norway. Three months after his birth, his ship-owner father moved the family to Oslo, where Roald was reared and educated. Roald was only fourteen years old when his father died. His mother, taking over the role of both father and mother, decided that her youngest son should study medicine at the University of Oslo. The young man, however, was strongly influenced by the writings of Sir John Franklin, the British polar explorer who had died attempting to navigate the legendary Northwest Passage. Franklin’s crews had survived but deserted their ships and abandoned the expedition in 1848. Amundsen was fascinated by the challenge of the Northwest Passage and the Arctic Ocean. The physical hardships and suffering that he read about beckoned rather than deterred him from launching a career as an Arctic explorer himself. He neglected his studies at the university to pore over books and records of the polar explorations, secretly planning to give up medicine for a life as a professional explorer. Where Franklin had failed, Amundsen was certain that he would navigate the Northwest Passage and be the first to reach the North Pole.

Without consulting his mother or telling her of his new career plans, Amundsen began a regimen of training for the Arctic hardships with unusual zeal and dedication. For the next eight years, he endured rigorous physical exercises and developed a superb physique. He became competent on skis and subjected himself to subzero temperatures in winter camping on Norway’s slopes. When he was twenty-two years old, he chose a companion, and the pair began a cross-country ski trip on a high plateau near Bergen. This adventure nearly cost Amundsen his life, for the rugged terrain of the isolated plateau was caught in the grip of a terrible blizzard. The pair’s supplies were lost in the snow, and without food or fuel they were stranded in subzero temperature for several days. When they finally reached a settlement eight days later, they were exhausted and nearly starved from the exertion. “The training,” he said, “proved severer than the experience for which it was a preparation, and it well-nigh ended my career before it began.” Amundsen’s mother had died when he was twenty-one years old, and he abandoned his medical training completely.

Life’s Work

Amundsen served in the Norwegian army, in which he continued his physical training. During the intervals between training, he read all available books on Arctic exploration and concluded that there was a major weakness in the earlier expeditions. Quarrels had arisen between the scientist-explorers and the captains and sailors of the ships. No explorer, he realized, was trained as a ship’s captain, and he was therefore forced to rely on the judgment of someone other than an explorer during critical periods of decision. His remedy for the weakness was to gain experience both as an Arctic explorer and as a ship’s captain; he would not have two leaders at cross-purposes on his expeditions.

Amundsen accepted a theory espoused by Fridtjof Nansen that humans could utilize the drift of the Arctic ice for the transport of ships across the polar basin. The ice packs, he theorized, drifted poleward with a tolerable speed and ships frozen in the ice pack would continue moving across the polar region. Adequate provisions would allow a ship and crew to reach a destination even without open water under them.

In 1894, Amundsen signed on as a crew member of a sealing ship to gain proficiency in commanding a ship for successful exploration. In 1897, he qualified as first officer and signed on as first mate of the Belgica with the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Adrian de Gerlach. The expedition was en route to study the South Magnetic Pole. Gerlach knew too little about navigation in the Antarctic, however, and the Belgica became ice-locked for thirteen months in the Belling-Shausen Sea. The Belgica was the first ship to winter in the Antarctic. Amundsen not only gained polar exploration experience but also became one of the first men to survive a winter in Antarctica. The techniques of scientific research that he learned under Gerlach served him well on subsequent trips to study the magnetic fields at the North Pole.

Recognizing that magnetic study was the most likely source of funding for new exploration expeditions, Amundsen revised his well-planned personal goals. His navigation of the Northwest Passage would include finding the true location of the North Magnetic Pole. In preparation for this venture, he devoted his time to the study of terrestrial magnetism. He sought out and worked under Geheimrath George von Neumayer in Hamburg. While there, he met many scientists, and through their help and diligent study he gained a working knowledge of the theory and practice of magnetic observations. Following his studies at Hamburg, he was given access to the observatories at Wilhelmshaven and Potsdam.

In 1900, Amundsen purchased and outfitted a small ship, the Gj a, for a northern expedition. It was a sailing vessel, but it was rigged with an auxiliary gasoline motor to facilitate his mastery of the Northwest Passage. He planned a year’s observation of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the North Pole. He delayed two years, however, to make oceanographic observations of the North Atlantic for Fridtjof Nansen, Norway’s grand old man of Arctic exploration. The delay and the costs of outfitting and provisioning the Gj a proved more than his limited finances could cover, and, when angry creditors threatened to seize the Gj a for payment, he sailed furtively by night on June 16, 1903, and headed toward the Arctic Ocean and the Northwest Passage.

From 1903 to 1905, he wintered on King William Island in a small, protected harbor, where he could study the magnetic field. His observations offered the first proof that the North Magnetic Pole had no exact location but constantly varied its position over a wide area. He calculated the elliptical course that it followed. During this time, he met the Eskimo of northern Canada and learned the techniques of using snowshoes and how to handle dogs and dog sledges. When his observations of the North Magnetic Pole were completed, he continued his navigation of the Northwest Passage. Pushing on through dangerous water and ice pack, he sailed to Fort Egbert, Alaska; he had mastered the Northwest Passage. From there he sailed through the Bering Strait and down the Alaskan and Canadian coasts to San Francisco. The explorers John Rae and Robert Le Messurier had discovered the Northwest Passage but were unable to get through the ice; Amundsen navigated it. Through careful planning, incredible tenacity, and unusual luck, he had accomplished his first goal. He spent 1906 and 1907 lecturing in Europe and the United States and returned to Norway with enough funds to repay all of his creditors, including the one who nearly prevented the voyage.

Amundsen now resolved to “capture” the North Pole. He borrowed the famous ship Fram from Nansen and prepared to sail for the North Pole. Before his ship and crew were ready, however, the world was told that Admiral Robert Edwin Peary had reached the North Pole in April, 1909. All that was left for Amundsen was the exploration of the uncharted Arctic Ocean by ship or by airplane. Amundsen believed that, to regain his prestige as an explorer, he must quickly achieve a sensational success of some sort. In 1910, on board the Fram and using funds raised to explore the North Pole, he headed south, not north. If he had failed to capture the North Pole, the South Pole was still within reach and promised the success that he sought. From the Madeira Islands, he sent a cablegram to Robert Falcon Scott, already ahead of him by two months, advising him of his intention to join in the “race” for the South Pole. Scott’s expedition included some tough Siberian ponies to pull the supplies over the ice packs. Scott also had a motor sledge; his was to be the first attempted mechanized polar exploration. Amundsen, on the other hand, relied mainly on his men and on dogs to haul his supplies. Amundsen calculated the flesh of the dogs that carried the provisions as part of the food for the men on the return trip. The eight weeks of travel across the southern ice pack were fast-paced and fraught with danger from hidden crevasses and rifts. Amundsen pushed his men and dogs to the limit of their endurance, covering fifty miles on some days. On December 14, 1911, he snatched the prize from Scott; Amundsen was the first explorer to reach the South Pole. The disappointed Scott and his men lost more than the race to the pole, for they lost their lives on the return trip.

Exploration nearly ceased during World War I. Amundsen turned to shipping from his neutral Norway and made a modest fortune, which he invested in a North Pole drift expedition. Amundsen set sail on July 15, 1917, before the war was over, risking being torpedoed by German submarines as he sailed through the Norwegian Sea to the Arctic Ocean, but he was determined to test his theory of the drift. After two years of privation and suffering in the Arctic Ocean, he acknowledged that his Arctic polar drift theory was without basis. His goal had been completed, even if it ended in failure.

Misfortune now befell the explorer as Amundsen was preparing for a polar flight. An American promoter misused the funds that Amundsen had raised to finance a flight to the pole, another first in history, and left Amundsen penniless and discredited. It appeared as if the polar flight would be delayed indefinitely. At this point Lincoln Ellsworth offered to finance a polar flying expedition provided that he be allowed to accompany Amundsen. Readily agreeing, Amundsen accepted the offered finances, and two Dernier seaplanes were subsequently purchased. In May, 1925, Amundsen attempted to fly over the North Pole, but that early attempt ended with failure when the explorers were forced to land in the ice fields. One of the planes was lost, and the second plane was overloaded with men for a dangerous return flight to Spitzbergen. While the polar flight expedition had been delayed, it was not abandoned.

While contemplating a second flight over the North Pole, Amundsen was advised by the Italian government that a secondhand airship could be purchased from the Italian military. Interested in the offered sale, the explorer requested that Colonel Umberto Nobile, Italian officer, aviator, and designer of the airship, meet with him in Oslo to transact the sale. Finally agreeing on a price and purchasing the dirigible, Amundsen asked Nobile if he would accompany him to pilot the craft. Nobile agreed to do so, and the dirigible was taken to Spitzbergen for the polar outfitting and rigging. Ill feelings quickly arose between Amundsen and Nobile over how the airship should be prepared and handled and when it should embark. Even while they were squabbling in Spitzbergen, word was received that Admiral Richard Byrd had successfully flown to the North Pole and back on May 9, 1926. Disappointed that his plans had been thwarted, Amundsen immediately took the dirigible, renamed the Norge, from its moorings and began his flight across the Arctic Ocean from Spitzbergen to Alaska on May 11. The first stage of the flight was remarkably successful and three flags, American, Norwegian, and Italian, were thrown down on the tumbled sea ice around the pole. Yet during the flight onward to Alaska, the explorers were constantly in danger. They eventually made a surprisingly fortunate landfall in Teller, Alaska, after an epic flight of thirty-four hundred miles. While in Alaska, however, the dirigible deflated and sank into the sea. Nobile stepped foward and claimed all credit for the planning and piloting of the dirigible, leaving Amundsen in the background as merely one of the crew. A serious quarrel arose between the two, and Amundsen began to air his doubts and concerns over the construction and design of the dirigible.

Nobile was humiliated by the accusations of poor design, so he prepared a sister ship, the Italia, to make another trip and prove his design was not faulty. The Italia left on May 25, 1928, to journey over the Arctic. Initially successful, the Italia ran into difficulty and finally crash-landed somewhere on the ice pack of the Arctic. Fortunately the crew survived to be rescued later, but the first reports declared that the ship was lost at sea. Amundsen shouldered the blame for the senseless flight, knowing that his quarrel had goaded Nobile into making what appeared to be his final flight (he was, in fact, rescued later). In a French seaplane, Amundsen, a pilot, and a crew of four set out to search for the downed airship on June 18, 1928, and were never heard from again. One of the greatest polar explorers of all time had died in the Arctic that he had strived all his life to understand and conquer.

Significance

Amundsen belonged to the heroic age of polar exploration, when humans and dogs were pitted against the frigid elements and wastes of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. His achievements included more than exploring the Northwest Passage and being the first explorer to reach the South Pole; his contributions covered scientific research as well. He unraveled the channels and produced a trustworthy chart of the Northwest Passage, the Arctic Ocean, and the Antarctic region, discovering islands beneath the Antarctic ice. His observations on terrestrial magnetism changed the minds of scientists everywhere. Amundsen’s research, which included assessing the thickness of the ice caps, led to advances in oceanography, climatology, navigation, and the study of geomagnetism. His determination to be first in polar exploration and discovery drove him to turn apparent defeat into new opportunities. Twice he had dreamed of being first at the North Pole, once by sea and ice, once by airplane. Both times, however, even as he was preparing his own expeditions, someone else claimed those prizes.

Humans have only recently entered the polar regions, and Amundsen took part in the transition from sailing vessels to gasoline-powered ships. He was the first to sail the Arctic waters with an auxiliary motor. He saw the transition from dog sledges to mechanized sledges, and his race to the South Pole was followed by his use of both airships (dirigibles) and airplanes as the polar regions entered the air age. Unlike most explorers, Amundsen had been certain of what he wanted to do from early youth. He pursued the business of exploring in the polar regions with a single-minded concentration, undeterred by any other influence or suggestion.

Bibliography

Amundsen, Roald Engelbregt Gravning. Roald Amundsen: My Life as an Explorer. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1927. A firsthand account of the explorations of Amundsen in his own words. Surprisingly, only a few vital statistics are presented. He details the flight of the Norge and his quarrel with Nobile, who claimed the honor for that flight. Published only months before the tragic death of Amundsen while seeking to rescue Nobile, it is an excellent source for the causes of their quarrel.

Bomann-Larsen, Tor. Roald Amundsen. Translated by Ingrid Christophersen. Stroud, England: Sutton, 2006. At the time of its publication, this translation from a book originally published in Norwegian was the only English-language biography of Amudsen. It is based on firsthand accounts and newly discovered documents.

Bowman, Gerald. Men of Antarctica. New York: Fleet, 1959. The story of Antarctic exploration based on the most significant expeditions. Bowman classifies Amundsen as one of the greatest explorers. This is an excellent source on Amundsen’s race to the South Pole.

Fiennes, Sir Ranulph. Race to the Pole: Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott’s Antarctic Quest. New York: Hyperion, 2004. Fiennes, also an explorer and the only person to reach both the North and South Poles by land, presents a revisionist view of Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott’s polar expeditions. In Fiennes’s opinion, Scott was a hero, not an incompetent explorer who lost the race to the South Pole.

Hoyt, Edwin P. The Last Explorer: The Adventures of Admiral Byrd. New York: John Day, 1968. While this book centers on the explorations of Byrd, it presents the competitive and cooperative relations between polar explorers such as Amundsen and Byrd. It is a good source for the cooperative spirit that allowed sharing techniques, routes, and equipment for the icelands.

Kirwan, Laurence Patrick. A History of Polar Explorations. New York: W. W. Norton, 1960. A comprehensive look at the history and discovery of the polar regions, from the Greeks and the Norsemen to modern times. A good exposition on Amundsen’s role in the heroic age of explorers.

Neatby, L. H. Conquest of the Last Frontier. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1966. The “last frontier” is identified as the American Arctic, which includes the Canadian Islands and the North Pole. The book is an excellent source for Amundsen’s Northwest Passage, although Neatby ranks Amundsen’s efforts below those of the American explorers.

Victor, Paul-Émile. Man and the Conquest of the Poles. Translated by Scott Sullivan. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1963. In terms of comprehension and detail, Victor’s is an excellent source for understanding the interest in and knowledge of polar lands from the earliest times. An excellent source for Amundsen’s Northwest Passage, Antarctic achievements, and first airship flight over the Arctic Ocean.