Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ROALD AMUNDSEN
The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen played a pivotal role in forging a proud
sense of Norwegian identity in the early 20th century.
Born into a family of shipowners and captains in 1872 at Borge, near Sarpsborg in
southern Norway, Amundsen sailed in 1897 to the Antarctic as first mate on the Bel-
gian Belgica expedition. Their ship froze fast in the ice and became - unintentionally
- the first expedition to overwinter in the Antarctic.
Amundsen then set his sights on the Northwest Passage and study of the Magnetic
North Pole. The expedition, which set out from Oslo in June 1903, overwintered in a
natural harbour on King William Island, which they named Gjøahavn. By August
1905 they emerged into waters that had been charted from the west, becoming the
first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage.
Amundsen dreamed of becoming the first man to reach the North Pole, but in
April 1909 Robert Peary took that honour. In 1910 Amundsen headed instead for the
South Pole. In January 1911, Amundsen's ship dropped anchor at Roosevelt Island,
60km closer to the South Pole than the base of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova ex-
pedition. With four companions and four 13-dog sleds, Amundsen reached the South
Pole on 14 December 1911, beating Scott by a month and three days.
In 1925 Amundsen launched a failed attempt to fly over the North Pole. He tried
again the following year aboard the airship Norge, this time with Lincoln Ellsworth,
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen and the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile. They left Spitsber-
gen on 11 May 1926 and, 16 hours later, dropped the Norwegian, US and Italian
flags on the North Pole. On 14 May they landed triumphantly at Teller, Alaska, hav-
ing flown 5456km in 72 hours - the first ever flight between Europe and North
America.
In May 1928 Nobile attempted another expedition in the airship Italia and, when it
crashed in the Arctic, Amundsen joined the rescue. Although Nobile and his crew
were subsequently rescued, Amundsen's last signals were received just three hours
after take-off. His body has never been found.
Having emerged from WWI largely unscathed - Norway was neutral, although some
Norwegian merchant vessels were sunk by the Germans - Norway grew in confidence.
In 1920 the storting voted to join the newly formed League of Nations, a move that was
opposed only by the Communist-inspired Labour Party that dominated the storting by
1927.The1920salsobroughtnewinnovations,includingthedevelopmentoffactoryships,
which allowed processing ofwhales at sea andcaused anincrease inwhaling activities, es-
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