Nansen's Expedition Fram was an attempt of 1893-1896 by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the Arctic geographically by utilizing the natural east-west stream of the Arctic Ocean. In the face of many disappointments from other polar explorers, Nansen took his ship of Fram to the New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze it into an ice pack, and waited to drift to bring it toward the poles. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the shift, after 18 months Nansen and his chosen partner, Hjalmar Johansen, left the ship with a team of dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did not achieve it, but they achieved a Farthest North latitude record of 86 Â ° 13.6? N before a long retreat on ice and water to achieve safety in Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile, Fram continues to drift westward, finally appearing in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The idea for an expedition came after the goods of the American ship Jeannette, who sank on the northern coast of Siberia in 1881, were discovered three years later off the southwest coast of Greenland. The ruins were obviously carried across the polar ocean, perhaps across the pole itself. Based on this and other debris recovered from the coast of Greenland, meteorologist Henrik Mohn developed the transpolar drift theory, which led Nansen to believe that a specially designed ship can be frozen in ice packs and follow the same traces as Jeannette junk , so reach around the poles.
Nansen oversees shipbuilding with round hulls and other features designed to withstand the prolonged pressure of ice. The ship was rarely threatened during its long sentence, and appeared unscathed after three years. Scientific observations made during this period contributed significantly to the new discipline of oceanography, which later became the main focus of Nansen's scientific work. Fram's drift and the Nansen sling journey proves conclusively that there is no significant landmass between the Eurasian and Arctic continents, and asserts the general character of the Arctic region as deep, ice-covered sea. Although Nansen retired from exploration after this expedition, the method of travel and survival he developed with Johansen affected all polar expeditions, north and south, followed in the next three decades.
Video Nansen's Fram expedition
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In September 1879, Jeannette, a former Royal Navy submarine modified by the US Navy for Arctic exploration, and commanded by George W. De Long, entered the pack ice pack north of the Bering Strait. He remained tied to ice for nearly two years, drifting into the New Siberian Islands region, before being destroyed and drowned on June 13, 1881. His crew escaped by boat and sailed to the coast of Siberia; most, including De Long, then perish either during a boat trip or in the critical area of ​​the Lena River delta. Three years later, the relics of Jeannette appeared on the opposite side of the globe, around Julianehaab on the southwest coast of Greenland. These items, frozen into floating ice, included the names and documents of the crew of the liner signed by De Long; they are genuine.
In a lecture given in 1884 to the Academy of Science and Literature of Norway Dr. Henrik Mohn, one of the founders of modern meteorology, argues that the discovery of the Jeannette heritage indicates a flow of ocean currents. from east to west across the entire Arctic Ocean. The Danish governor Julianehaab, writing the find, suspected that the expedition froze in the Siberian sea, if his ship proved strong enough, crossing the polar and terrestrial seas of South Greenland. These theories were read with interest by 23-year-old Fridtjof Nansen, then worked as curator at the Bergen Museum while completing his doctoral studies. Nansen was captivated by the frozen north; two years earlier he had been on a four-month journey in the Viking sealer, which had included three weeks of getting caught in a flying ice. An expert skier, Nansen made plans to lead the first crossing of the Greenland scandal, a goal that was delayed by the demands of his academic studies, but with a victory reached in 1888-89. Over the years Nansen remembers the arctic Arctic east-west theory and its inherent possibilities for further polar exploration, and shortly after he returned from Greenland he was ready to announce his plan.
Maps Nansen's Fram expedition
Preparation
Plan
In February 1890, Nansen spoke at the Norwegian Geographical Society meeting in Oslo (later called Christiania). After drawing attention to the failures of many of the expeditions that had approached the North Pole from the west, he considered the implications of the discovery of Jeannette's goods, along with the further discovery of driftwood and other debris from Siberia. or Alaska that has been identified along the Greenland coast. "Uniting all this," Nansen said, "we are pushed to the conclusion that the current flows... from the Siberian Arctic Sea to the east coast of Greenland," probably across the Pole. It seems the obvious thing to do is "to make our way to the currents on the Pole side where it flows to the north, and with its help to penetrate into the areas that all of which have hitherto worked against [today] have searched in vain to achieve. "
The Nansen plan requires a small, strong and maneuverable ship, powered by screens and engines, capable of carrying fuel and supplies for twelve people over five years. The ship will follow Jeannette's route to the New Siberian Islands, and in Jeannette's predicted position sinks, when the ice condition is right "we will plow our path between the ice as far as we can. "The ship will then float with ice toward the poles and eventually reach the sea between Greenland and Spitsbergen. If the founder of the ship, the possibility that Nansen thought was highly unlikely, the party would be camping in a blob and allowing itself to be brought to safety. Nansen observes: "If Jeannette The expedition already has sufficient inventory, and remains in the iceberg where the relics are found, the result will be very different from what it is."
When Nansen's plan became public knowledge The New York Times was very enthusiastic, considering it "very likely that there is a relatively short and direct route across the Arctic Ocean through the North Pole, and that nature itself has provided a means of communication on it. "However, most experienced polar hands are dismissive. American explorer Adolphus Greely called it "an illogical scheme of self-destruction"; His assistant Lieutenant David Brainerd called it "one of the worst schemes ever done", and predicted that it would end in disaster. Sir Allen Young, a veteran of expedition quest lost Sir John Franklin, did not believe that a ship could be built to withstand the pressure of destroying the ice: "If no ice swells must pass through him, whatever the material is made of." Sir Joseph Hooker, who sailed south with James Clark Ross in 1839-43, had the same opinion, and thought that the risks were not worth taking. However, the experienced Sir Leopold McClintock called the Nansen project "the most adventurous program ever under the Royal Geographical Society". Swedish philanthropist Oscar Dickson, who had financed the conquest of Baron NordenskiÃÆ'¶ld on the North East Line in 1878-79, was quite impressed to offer to meet Nansen's fees. With Norwegian nationalism increasing, this movement from their Swedish union partners sparked hostilities within the Norwegian press; Nansen decided to rely solely on Norwegian support, and rejected Dickson's proposal.
Financial
Nansen's original estimate for the total cost of the expedition was 300,000 kr. After giving a passionate speech in front of the Norwegian Parliament ( Storting ), Nansen was awarded a grant of NOK 200,000; the balance is raised from personal contributions that include 20,000 kroner from King Oscar II of Norway and Sweden. The Royal Geographical Society in London provided  £ 300 (about 6,000 NOK). Unfortunately, Nansen has underestimated the required financing - the vessel itself will cost more than its amount. New applications for Storting resulted in a further NOK 80,000, and the national appeal raised the total amount to NOK 445,000. According to Nansen's own account, he made the remaining shortfall of his own resources. His biographer Roland Huntford noted that the final deficit of NOK 12,000 was cleared by two wealthy supporters, Axel Heiberg and an English expatriate, Charles Dick.
Ship
To design and build his ship, Nansen chose Colin Archer, a leading Norwegian naval shipbuilder and architect. Archer is well known for its particular gastric design that combines marine with a shallow draft, and has pioneered the "double-ended" handicraft design in which the conventional stern is replaced by dots, enhancing maneuverability. Nansen notes that Archer made "plans after the projected ship plan, one model after the other was prepared and abandoned". Finally, an agreement was reached on the design, and on June 9, 1891 the two men signed the contract.
Nansen wanted the ship in one year; he wants to leave before others can adopt his ideas and prevent them. The most significant external ship feature is the hull's roundness, which is designed so that nothing above can get a handle. The bow, stern and keel are rounded, and the sides are smoothed so that, in Nansen's words, the ship will "slip like an eel out of a hug of ice". To provide extraordinary power, the keel was holstered in Greenheart South America, the most difficult wood available. Three layers of wood forming the hull provide a combined thickness of between 24 and 28Ã, inch (60-70 cm), rising to about 48Ã, "(1.25 meters) in the bow, which is further protected by a prominent iron rod. Additional strength is given by crossbeams and braces along the stomach.
The ship was rigged as a three-masted schooner, with a total screen area of ​​6,000 square feet (560 m 2 ). Its 220 horsepower engine is capable of speeding up to 7 knots (13 km/h, 8.1 mph). However, the speed and quality of sailing are secondary to the need of providing safe and warm bastions for Nansen and his crew during drift that may be widespread for several years, so special attention is paid to residential insulation. At about 400 tonnes of gross tonnage, the vessel was much larger than Nansen's first anticipation, with an overall length of 128 feet (39 m) and 36 feet (11 m) wide, a ratio of just three to one, gave her an extraordinarily fat appearance. This strange form is explained by Archer: "A ship built exclusively with respect to its suitability for the [Nansen] object must differ essentially from every known ship." On October 6, 1892, at Archer's yard in Larvik, the ship was launched by Nansen Eva's wife after a brief ceremony. The ship was named Fram , which means "Forward".
Crew
For his Greenland expedition of 1888-89, Nansen departed from traditional dependence on large-scale personnel, ships and reserves, relying only on well-trained small groups. Using the same principles for the Fram Fram , Nansen chose a party consisting of only twelve of thousands of applications poured out from all over the world. One of the applicants is 20-year-old Roald Amundsen, conqueror of the South Pole's future, whose mother stopped him from leaving. British explorer Frederick Jackson applied, but Nansen wanted only Norwegians, so Jackson arranged his own expedition to Franz Josef Land.
To captain the ship and act as the second commander of the expedition, Nansen chose Otto Sverdrup, an experienced seaman who had taken part in the Greenland crossing. Theodore Jacobsen, who has experience in the Arctic as a ship's captain, was signed as a pair of Fram , and a young naval lieutenant, Sigurd Scott Hansen, took over meteorological and magnetic observations. The ship doctor, and expedition botanist, is Henrik Blessing, who graduated in medicine before Fram's sailed. Hjalmar Johansen, an army reserve lieutenant and master of dogs, was determined to join the expedition he had agreed to sign as a stoker, the only position available at the time. Likewise Adolf Juell, with 20 years of marine experience as a friend and captain, picks up the cooks' post at the Fram voyage. Ivar Mogstad was an official at the Gaustad mental hospital, but his technical skills as a mechanic and mechanic were impressed on Nansen. The oldest man at the party, at the age of 40, was chief engineer, Anton Amundsen (no relationship to Roald). The second engineer, Lars Pettersen, retained his Swedish nationality from Nansen, and although it was soon discovered by his traveling mates, he was allowed to remain with the only non-Norwegian expedition within the party. The remaining crew members are Peter Henriksen, Bernhard Nordahl and Bernt Bentzen, the latter joining the expedition in TromsÃÆ'¸ in a very short time.
Voyage
Travel to es
Before starting the voyage, Nansen decided to deviate from his original plan: instead of following Jeannette's route to the New Siberian Islands via the Bering Strait, he would travel shorter, take the Nordenski¶¶ Northeast Line at along the northern coast of Siberia. Fram left Christiania on June 24, 1893, visible on his journey with the honor of a cannon from the fort and the cheers of thousands of sympathizers. This was the first of a series of farewells when the Fram sailed along the coast and moved northward, reaching Bergen on July 1 (where there was a big party in the Nansen honor), Trondheim on July 5 and TromsÃÆ'¸, at north of the Arctic Circle, a week later. The last Norwegian call port is VardÃÆ'¸, where Fram arrives on July 18th. After the final provision was taken aboard, Nansen, Sverdrup, Hansen, and Blessing spent their last time on the beach in a sauna, beaten with birch twigs by two young girls.
The first leg of the journey eastward took the Fram across the Barents Sea to Novaya Zemlya and then to the Khabarova settlement in Northern Russia where the first collection of dogs was brought to the ship. On August 3 Fram weighs the anchor and moves cautiously eastward, entering the Kara Sea the next day. Several ships had sailed into the Kara Sea before, and the graph was incomplete. On August 18, in the delta area of ​​the Yenisei River, an uncharted island was found and named after Sverdrup Island after the commander of the Fram . Fram is now moving towards the Taimyr Peninsula and Cape Chelyuskin, the northernmost point of the Eurasian continent. Slowing ice slows the progress of the expedition, and by the end of August it is held for four days while the boat boiler is repaired and cleaned. The crew also experienced the phenomenon of dead water, in which the advances of the ship forward were hampered by energy dissipation caused by fresh water layers located above the heavier brine. On September 9 a vast expanse of ice-free water was open, and the next day Fram around Cape Chelyuskin - the second ship to do so, after NordenskiÃÆ'¶ld's Vega in 1878 - and entered the Laptev Sea.
After being prevented by the ice from reaching the mouth of the Olenyok River, where a group of second dogs are waiting to be picked up, Fram moves north and east toward the New Siberian Islands. Nansen's hope is to find open water to 80 ° north latitude and then enter the package; However, on 20 September the ice is seen in the south 78 Â °. Fram follow the ice line before stopping in the cove outside the 78 Â ° mark. On September 28, it became clear that the ice would not break, and the dogs were transferred from the ship to the cage on the ice. On 5 October the wheel was elevated to a safe position and the ship, in the words of Scott Hansen, "is good and really moored for winter". Position is 78 Â ° 49? N, 132 Â ° 53? E.
Drift (first phase)
On October 9 Fram got his first experience on ice pressure. Archer's design was quickly demonstrated when the ship was up and down, ice was unable to grasp the ship's hull. Otherwise, the first weeks on the ice were disappointing, because the unexpected movement moved Fram in spinning mode, sometimes north, sometimes south; on November 19th, after six weeks, Fram was to the south of the latitude where he entered the ice.
After the sun disappeared on October 25, the ship was turned on by an electric lamp from a wind-powered generator. The crew rested with a comfortable routine where boredom and inactivity were the main enemies. The men start to annoy each other, and the fight sometimes breaks. Nansen tried to start a newspaper, but the project soon failed due to lack of interest. Small tasks are performed and scientific observations are maintained, but there is no urgency. Nansen expressed his frustration in his journal: "I feel I must penetrate this death, this inertia, and find some channels for my energy." And then: "Can not something happen? Could a storm come and tear this ice?" It was not until the turn of the year, in January 1894, whether the northward direction was generally resolved. The 80 Â ° mark was finally passed on March 22nd.
Under an uncertain direction and slow slow speed, Nansen calculated that the ship might take five years to reach the poles. In January 1894 he first discussed with Henriksen and Johansen the possibility of a sleigh ride with the dogs, from
On May 19, two days after the celebration for the Norwegian National Day, the Fram passes through 81Ã, Â °, indicating that the northern speed of the ship is slowly increasing, though it is still nearly a mile (1.6 km) per day. With an increasingly strong conviction that sled travel may be necessary to reach the poles, in September Nansen decided that everyone would practice skiing for two hours a day. On November 16 he revealed his intentions to the crew: he and one associate would leave the ship and start to pole when the 83 ° mark is missed. After reaching the poles, the couple will head to Franz Josef Land, and then cross over to Spitsbergen where they hope to find a ship to take them home. Three days later, Nansen asked Hjalmar Johansen, the most experienced dog driver among the crew, to join him on the polar journey.
The crew spent the next few months preparing for the upcoming dashboard. In the Inuit model, they build a qamutite that will facilitate quick trips over rough sea ice surfaces and build kayaks for use during expected water crossings. There are unlimited trials of special clothing and other supplies. A violent and prolonged shock began to shake the ship on January 3, 1895, and two days later the crew went down, hoping the ship would be destroyed. Instead the pressure was reduced, and the crew returned to the board and continued preparations for the Nansen journey. After the excitement it was noted that Fram had drifted past Greest's Farthest North record of 83 Â ° 24, and on 8 January was at 83 Â ° 34'N.
March to Pole
On February 17, 1895 Nansen started a farewell letter to his wife, Eva, writing that she had to mourn "you will know that your image will be the last I see." He also read everything he could about Franz Josef Land, the destination heading after the pole. The archipelago was discovered in 1873 by Julius Payer, and mapped imperfectly. However, it seems countless bear houses and seals, and Nansen sees it as an excellent source of food on the way back to civilization.
On March 14th, with ship at 84 Â ° 4? N, the couple finally started their polar journey. This is their third attempt to leave the ship; on February 26 and again on the 28th, damage to the sled has forced them to return after traveling a short distance. After this accident Nansen thoroughly overhauled his equipment, minimized the shop around, recalculated the weights and reduced the convoy into three slices, before giving the order to start again. A support party accompanies the couple and shares the first night camp. The next day, Nansen and Johansen slid alone.
The couple initially traveled mainly on flat snow. Nansen has allowed 50 days to cover 356 nautical miles (660 km, 410 mi) to the pole, requiring an average daily journey of seven nautical miles (13 km/8.1 miles). On March 22 a sextant observation showed that the couple had traveled 65 nautical miles (120 km per 75 miles) toward the poles at a daily average of more than nine nautical miles (17 km, 10 mi). This has been achieved despite very low temperatures, typically around -40 Â ° F (-40 Â ° C), and small-scale accidents including loss of sledgemeter recording distance. However, as the surface becomes uneven and makes skiing more difficult, their speed slows. A sextant reading on March 29 85 Â ° 56? N indicates that a week's trip has brought them 47 nautical miles (87 km, 54 mi) closer to the poles, but also shows that their average daily spacing falls. Even more worrisome, theodolite readings of the day show that they are only at 85 ° C, and they have no means of knowing which reading is true. They realize that they are fighting in the south, and the distance traveled is not always the same as the development in the north. Johansen's diary shows his failed spirits: "My fingers are all broken, all gloves froze stiffly... It's getting worse... God knows what will happen to us."
On April 3, after difficult journey days, Nansen personally began to wonder if the pole was possible, out of reach. Unless the surface improves, their food will not last until the poles and then to Franz Josef Land. The next day they counted their position on 86 Â ° 3 'which was disappointing; Nansen reveals in his diary that: "I am becoming more and more convinced that we must turn away before time." After camping on April 7, Nansen discovers winged dogs looking for the way forward, but only sees "the chaos is really a clot of ice that stretches as far as the horizon". He decided that they would not go any further north, and would head for Cape Fligely in Franz Josef Land. Nansen notes their northern camp's latitude as 86 Â ° 13.6? N, almost three degrees (169.6 nautical miles, or 314 km) beyond the previous Greest's Farthest sign.
Backtrack to Franz Josef Land
A change in direction to the southwest provided much better travel conditions, perhaps because the path to Franz Josef Land was broadly parallel to the line of disturbance in the ice, not perpendicular to them. Rapid Progress: "If this continues," Nansen noted on April 13, "the journey back will be faster than I thought." However, the same diary entries recorded the crash that day: both men's watches had stopped. Although Nansen's journal commentary is light, the incident has the potential to cause catastrophe. Without the right time they can not calculate their longitude and thus maintain the correct course for Franz Josef Land. They restarted watches based on Nansen's guess that their longitude was 86 ° E, but the pair were no longer sure where they were. If they were further west than Nansen's assumption, they would probably lose Franz Josef Land altogether, and head for the open Atlantic.
Direction drift to the north, hampering the progress of the pair. On April 18, after an 11-day journey from Farthest North, they only made 40 nautical miles (74 km, 46 miles) to the south. They now travel through far more distant terrain with a wide open source of water. On April 20th they were tweaked by the sight of a huge driftwood float trapped in a clot, the first object of the outside world they had seen since Fram had entered the ice. Johansen carved and initials Nansen to him, with latitude and date. A day or two later they see the arctic fox trace, the first trace of a living thing other than their dog since leaving Fram . Another track soon appeared, and Nansen began to believe that the land might be close.
Latitude is calculated on May 9, 84 Â ° 3? N, disappointing - Nansen expect them further south. However, as Mei develops, they begin to see the bear trail, and at the end of the month, seals, gulls and whales abound. By Nansen calculations they had reached 82 Â ° 21 N on May 31, placing them only 50 nautical miles (93 km) from Cape Fligely on the northern tip of Franz Josef Land, if the accurate estimates were accurate. In warmer weather, the ice began to break, making the journey even more difficult. Since April 24, dogs have been killed periodically to feed others, and by early June only seven of the 28 remained. On June 21, the couple wasted all equipment and surplus supplies, planned to travel lightly and live from the supply of seals and birds in abundance. After one day of traveling in this way, they decide to rest in the lumps, waterproof like kayaks and build their own strength for the next stage of their journey. They stayed in the hut for a whole month.
On July 23, the day after leaving the camp, Nansen had a glimpse of irrefutable land. He wrote: "Finally, a miracle has happened - the land, the land, and after we almost surrender our confidence to him!" In the days that followed, the couple struggled toward this land, which did not seem to get closer, though by the end of July they could hear a sound far from the waves. On August 4 they survived the polar bear attack; two days later they reached the edge of the ice, and there was only water between them and the land. On August 6 they shot the last two Samoyed dogs, turning the kayaks into catamarans by hitting sledge and skiing on them, and lifting the screen.
Nansen calls this first land "Hvidtenland" ("White Island"). After making camp on their ice feet up the slope and looking around them. It is clear that they are on an archipelago, but what they can see has nothing to do with their complete Franz Josef Land map. They can only go south with the hope of finding geographical features that they can mark with certainty. On August 16 Nansen tentatively identifies a cape as Cape Felder, which is marked on Payer's maps as on the west coast of Franz Josef Land. Nansen's goal now is to reach huts and supplies left by earlier expeditions at a location known as Eira Harbor, on the southern tip of the islands. However, the opposite wind and loose ice made further progress in the kayak dangerous, and on 28 August Nansen decided that, with another approaching polar winter, they had to stay where they were and wait for the next spring.
Go to Cape Flora
As a base for their winter settlements, Nansen and Johansen found a beach in a sheltered bay in what is now called Jackson Island, with abundant supplies of rock and moss for building materials. They dug a hole as deep as three feet, lifting the surrounding wall using stones and loose rocks, and stretched the walrus skin above it to form a roof. Chimneys are made with snow and walrus bone. This shelter, which they call "The Hole", is finally ready on September 28, and will be their home for the next eight months. Their situation is uncomfortable, but not life-threatening; there is a supply of bears, walruses, and seals to stockpile them. The main enemy is boredom; to spend their time minus to read the almanac tables and Nansen navigation with their light bulbs, and then read them again.
At Christmas, the couple is celebrating with chocolate and bread from their sledging rations. On New Year's Eve Johansen notes that Nansen eventually adopted a familiar form of address, after which maintained the formalities ("Mr. Johansen", "Professor Nansen") throughout the journey. In the New Year they make simple outerwear - warm clothes and trousers - from discarded sleeping bags, in readiness to restart their journey as the weather gets warmer. On May 19, 1896, after weeks of preparation, they were ready. Nansen left a note in the hut to inform an inventor: "We will go south west, along the mainland, to cross over to Spitsbergen".
For more than two weeks they followed the coastline to the south. Nothing they see seems to fit into Franz Josef Land's imperfect base map, and Nansen speculates whether they are on uncharted land between Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen. On June 4, changes in conditions allowed them to launch their kayaks for the first time since leaving their winter dwellings. A week later, Nansen was forced to dive into the cold waters to rescue a kayak that was still tied together, having been washed away after being indiscriminate. He made it to the plane and, with a last resort, to transport himself. Despite his frozen condition, he shot and took two guillemots as he rowed back to the catamaran.
On June 13, walrus attacked and damaged the kayak, causing another stop for repairs. On June 17, as they prepared to leave again, Nansen thought he heard the dog bark and went to investigate. He then hears voices, and a few minutes later meets a human. Frederick Jackson, who had arranged his own expedition to Franz Josef Land after being denied by Nansen, and based his headquarters in Cape Flora on Northbrook Island, the island's southernmost island. Jackson's own account notes that his first reaction to this sudden encounter was to see the figure as a shipwrecked sailor, possibly from a windward expedition ship of Windward that would summon that summer. As he approached, Jackson saw "a tall man, wearing a soft hat, made with loose, thick clothes and long hair and beard, all smelling with black fat". After a moment's hesitation, Jackson recognizes his guest: "You're Nansen, is not it?", And receives a reply "Yes, I'm Nansen."
Johansen was rescued, and the couple were taken to the base at Cape Flora, where they posed for photographs (in one instance re-enacting the Jackson-Nansen meeting) before bathing and cutting hair. Both men looked well, despite the ordeal; Nansen weighs 21 pounds (9.5 kg) from the start of the expedition, and Johansen 13 pounds (5.9 kg). In honor of his savior, Nansen named the island where he passed "Frederick Jackson Island". For the next six weeks Nansen did little but wait for Windward's arrival, worried that he might have to spend the winter at Cape Flora, and sometimes regretted that he and Johansen were not pressing Spitsbergen.. Johansen noted in his journal that Nansen had changed from the arrogant personality of Fram days, and was now calm and polite, insisting that he would never make such a trip again. On July 26 Windward finally arrived; on August 7th, with Nansen and Johansen riding, he sailed south and on August 13 reached VardÃÆ'¸. A series of telegrams were sent, telling the world about the safe return of Nansen.
Prior to his departure from Fram, Nansen appointed Sverdrup as the leader of the rest of the expedition, with the order to proceed with the deviation to the Atlantic Ocean except that it required leaving the ship and lining up to land. Nansen left precise instructions on keeping scientific papers, especially the sound of the depths of the ocean and tests for ice thickness. He concluded: "May we meet in Norway, whether it is on this ship or without him."
Sverdrup's main task now is to keep the crew busy. He ordered a thorough cleaning of the spring, and arranged a party to scrape some of the ice around him that threatened to shake the ship. Although there is no immediate danger to Fram , Sverdrup oversees the repair and repair of sledges, and organizational arrangements should afterwards be necessary to leave the ship and march ashore. With the arrival of warmer weather when the summer of 1895 approached, Sverdrup went back to ski practice every day. In the course of this activity a full program of meteorological, magnetic and oceanographic activities proceeded under Scott Hansen; Fram has become an oceanographic, meteorological and biological moving laboratory.
As the drift continues the ocean becomes deeper; the sound gives a successive depth of 6,000 feet (1,800 m), 9,000 feet (2,700 m) and 2,000 ft (610 m), a development indicating that no undiscovered soil mass is nearby. On 15 November 1895 Fram reached 85Ã, Â ° 55? N, only 19 nautical miles (35 km, 22 miles) below the Nansen's Farthest North mark. From this point, the current is generally to the south and west, although progress for a long time is hardly noticeable. Inactivity and boredom lead to increased drinking; Scott Hansen notes that Christmas and the New Year passed "with the usual hot blows and drunken consequences", and wrote that he was "getting fed up with drunkenness". In mid-March 1896, its position was 84 Â ° 25 Â ° LU, 12 Â ° 50 Â ° BT, placing the ship north of Spitsbergen. On June 13 a clue was opened and, for the first time in almost three years, the Fram became a live vessel. Two months later, on August 13, 1896, before he found open water and, with the explosion of his cannon, left the ice behind. He emerges from the ice in north and west of Spitsbergen, close to Nansen's original prediction, proving him right and his critics wrong. Then on the same day a ship was seen - SÃÆ'¸strone , a seal hunter from TromsÃÆ'¸. Sverdrup paddled for news, and learned that nothing was heard from Nansen. Fram phoned briefly at Spitsbergen, where Swedish engineers Salomon AndrÃÆ'Â © e was preparing a balloon flight which he hoped would take him to the pole. After a short time on land, Sverdrup and his crew began their journey south to Norway.
Reunion and acceptance
In the course of the expedition, rumors circulated that Nansen had reached the North Pole, the first as early as April 1894, in the French newspaper Le Figaro . In September 1895, Eva Nansen was told that a message signed by Nansen had been found, "sent from the North Pole". In February 1896 The New York Times runs a delivery from Irkutsk, in Siberia, from its supposed Nansen agent, claiming that Nansen had reached the poles and found land there. Charles P. Daly of the American Geographical Society calls this "shocking news" and, "if true, the most important discovery that has been made in the past."
Experts are skeptical of all such reports, and the arrival of Nansen in VardÃÆ'¸ is quickly paid to them. At VardÃÆ'¸, he and Johansen were greeted by Professor Mohn, the polar pole theorist, who happened to be in town. The couple waited for the weekly letter ship to take them south, and on August 18 arrived at Hammerfest for an enthusiastic reception. Lack of news about Fram is preying on Nansen's mind; However, on August 20 he received word that Sverdrup had brought a ship to the small port of SkjervÃÆ'¸y, south of Hammerfest, and now continued his journey to TromsÃÆ'¸. The next day, Nansen and Johansen sailed to TromsÃÆ'¸ and joined their colleagues in an emotional reunion.
After the days of celebration and healing, the ship left TromsÃÆ'¸ on 26 August. The journey to the south is a triumphal procession, with a reception at each port. Fram finally arrived at Christiania on September 9, escorted to the harbor by a squadron of warships and greeted by the thousands - the largest crowd ever seen by the city, according to Huntford. Nansen and his crew were accepted by King Oscar; on the way to their reception past the triumphal arches formed by 200 gymnasts. Nansen and his family lived in the palace as a special guest of the king; Instead, Johansen remains in the background, largely ignored, and writes that "the reality, however, is not so beautiful as it seems to me in the midst of our harsh lives."
Rating and final results
The traditional approach to Arctic exploration has relied on large-scale strength, assuming that European techniques can be successfully transplanted into a hostile polar climate. Over the years this strategy has not been very successful, and has caused great losses to men and ships. Instead, the Nansen method of using a trained little crew, and utilizing Inuit and Sami's skills in its travel methods, has ensured that its expeditions are completed without any casualties or major accidents.
Although it did not achieve its goal of reaching the North Pole, the expedition resulted in great geographical and scientific discoveries. Sir Clements Markham, president of the British Geographical Society of England, stated that the expedition had completed the "whole issue of Arctic geography". It is now established that the North Pole is located not on land, or on permanent ice sheets, but on shifting and unpredictable ice. The Arctic Ocean is a deep basin, with no significant land in the north of the Eurasian continent - any hidden stretch of land will block the free movement of ice. Nansen proves the polar shift theory; Furthermore, he has noted the presence of Coriolis forces that move the ice to the right of the wind direction, due to the effects of Earth's rotation. The discovery will be developed by Nansen's disciple, Vagn Walfrid Ekman, who later became the leading oceanographer of his time. From its scientific observation program, the expedition provides the first detailed oceanographic information from the area; in due course the scientific data collected during the Fram voyage will run up to six published volumes.
During the expedition, Nansen continued experimenting with equipment and techniques, transforming ski designs and sledges and investigating the types of clothing, tents and cooking utensils, thus revolutionizing arctic travel methods. In the era of polar exploration following its return, explorers routinely ask Nansen for advice on methods and equipment - though sometimes they choose not to follow, usually at their expense. According to Huntford, the heroes of the South Pole Amundsen, Scott, and Ernest Shackleton are all Nansen's helpers.
Nansen's status has never been challenged seriously, although he did not escape criticism. The American explorer, Robert Peary, wonders why Nansen did not return to the ship when his pole trajectory was thwarted after just three weeks. "Is he embarrassed to return after such a short absence, or is there a dispute... or does he go to Franz Josef Land from sensational motives or business reasons?" Adolphus Greely, who initially dismissed the entire expedition as unworthy, admitted that he was proved wrong but still attracted attention to a "single flaw" - Nansen's decision to leave his comrades hundreds of miles from the mainland. "It passes understanding," Greely wrote, "how Nansen can deviate from the most sacred task that moves to the naval expedition commander." Nansen's reputation survives; a hundred years after the expedition, British explorer Wally Herbert called the Fram voyage one of the boldest examples of bold intelligence in the history of exploration.
The Fram voyage is Nansen's last expedition. He was appointed research professor at the University of Christiania in 1897, and became a full professor of oceanography in 1908. He became rich independently as a result of the publication of his expedition account; in his later career he served a newly independent Norwegian empire in a different capacity, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1922, in recognition of his work on behalf of the refugees. Hjalmar Johansen never returned to normal life. After years of drifting, indebted and intoxicated, he was given the opportunity, through the influence of Nansen, to join the South Pole expedition of Roald Amundsen in 1910. Johansen had a great fight with Amundsen in the main camp of the expedition, and was removed from the South Pole party. He committed suicide within a year of returning from Antarctica. Otto Sverdrup remained as captain of the Fram , and in 1898 took a ship, with a new crew, to the Canadian Arctic for a four-year exploration. In the following years Sverdrup helped raise funds that allowed the ship to be restored and stored in a permanent museum. He died in November 1930, seven months after Nansen's death.
Nansen's farthest north record lasts for only five years. On April 24, 1900, a party of three from an Italian expedition led by Duke of the Abruzzi reached 86 ° 34, after leaving Franz Josef Land with dogs and sled on March 11. The party barely worked; one of their support groups of three disappeared entirely.
Notes and references
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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