Swedish Antarctic Expedition

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The expedition ship Antarctic 1902

The Swedish Antarctic Expedition from 1901 to 1903 had the goal of exploring the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula . It was directed by Otto Nordenskjöld , assisted by Carl Anton Larsen as captain of the Antarctic expedition ship .

The expedition was scientifically successful. But it is also known for the dramatic events that led to the loss of the ship and an unplanned wintering in three separate groups. The Argentine engagement in the Antarctic began with the happy rescue of the expedition members by the corvette Uruguay .

prehistory

Otto Nordenskjöld
Carl Anton Larsen (1904)

At the Sixth International Geographical Congress in London in 1895 it was decided to explore the still little-known Antarctica by all available means by the end of the 19th century . As a result, a large number of nations founded institutes and organizations for polar and Antarctic research. Until 1900, however, only the Belgica expedition led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery and the Southern Cross expedition led by Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink took place. 1901 followed Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition and the German Gauss Expedition led by Erich von Drygalski , in 1902 the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition led by William Speirs Bruce .

At this time Otto Nordenskjöld had also completed his preparations for a privately financed Antarctic expedition. He had bought the old Bark Antarctic , built in Norway as early as 1871 , which, in addition to its three masts, was equipped with a steam engine. It was the same ship from which Borchgrevink had probably been the first to set foot on the Antarctic mainland in 1895 at Cape Adare . Since Nordenskjöld had not succeeded in attracting enough sponsors for the company and he did not receive any support from the Swedish state, he had to take on debt and was forced to lend the Antarctic to Gerard De Geer in the summer of 1901 , who followed with her Spitzbergen drove. The expedition was hampered by poor financial resources. However, Nordenskjöld had succeeded in winning over the experienced whaler Carl Anton Larsen, who had already sailed the Weddell Sea in 1892/93 . Nordenskjöld himself had already led one expedition to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego and one to the Klondike area and had polar experience through his participation in the East Greenland expedition of the Dane Georg Carl Amdrup in the summer of 1900.

The expedition plan

It was planned to advance as far south as possible on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and to set up a station at a suitable snow-free place where Nordenskjöld and a research team could winter. Here meteorological and geomagnetic observations were to be made, which were coordinated with the simultaneous German and British expeditions as well as the Argentine Año Nuevo observatory. The latter was specially built on a small island off the State Island ( Spanish Isla de los Estados ). Nordenskjöld wanted to try dog sledding further south and map the area. During the southern winter, the Antarctic should return to South America and be used for hydrographic , geological and biological work in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago , the Falkland Islands or South Georgia . In the following Antarctic summer, the ship was supposed to resume the expedition team and then return to Europe. Because of its well-known wealth of fossils , Nordenskjöld tended from the outset to winter quarters on Seymour Island or in the immediate vicinity.

The expedition participants

Participants of the expedition on the Antarctic in October 1901 (from left to right): Carl Skottsberg, Otto Nordenskjöld, Karl Andersson, Carl Anton Larsen, Erik Ekelöf, Axel Ohlin, Gösta Bodman.

In addition, there were 19 men crew of the Antarctic .

The course of the expedition

1901

Final preparations

The Antarctic cast off from Gothenburg on October 16, 1901. In Falmouth , Ole Jonassen went on board with 14 Greenland sled dogs . After crossing the equator on November 24th, the next stopover was made in Buenos Aires , where the Argentine government provided food, coal and other support. It was agreed that Nordenskjöld would allow an Argentine naval officer to go on the Antarctic in return for the establishment of the Año Nuevo Observatory . But now he was confronted with the further request to include this officer, Lieutenant José Sobral, in the small winter team. After a conversation with the young man (in German), Nordenskjöld was ready, making Sobral the first Argentine in the Antarctic. In Buenos Aires, the American painter and draftsman Frank Wilbert Stokes also went on board as a paying passenger. On December 21, the ship left the port for the Falkland Islands to get replacements for ten sled dogs that had died on the voyage.

1902

Look for a passage into the Weddell Sea

On January 6, 1902, the Antarctic landed on the State Island, where the instruments were to be compared with those of the observatory, which, however, had not yet been set up. On January 11, the expedition went ashore after crossing the Drake Strait on Nelson Island , South Shetland Islands . Then she drove through the Bransfield Strait and turned into the Orléans Canal at Trinity Island , which Larsen believed would lead into the Weddell Sea. But you got into the Gerlache Strait and turned south of the Brabant Island , because there was no way to advance into the Weddell Sea. The expedition now followed the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula until a passage was finally found at the tip of the Trinity Peninsula, which made "Joinville Land" to Joinville Island and was named after the expedition ship Antarctic Sound . According to his original plan, Nordenskjöld tried to penetrate as far south as possible in the Weddell Sea, but encountered a compact ice barrier at 66 ° 10 ′ south latitude. He avoided to the east, but could not find a way to the south here either. Eventually the Antarctic returned north. In search of a suitable place for wintering, Nordenskjöld struck gold on February 12, 1902 on Snow Hill Island . A prefabricated house that they had brought with them was set up, and on February 14, Larsen tried one last time to advance further south with the Antarctic and to set up a food depot on the Seal Islands for a later sled expedition . On February 21, the ship was back and now set sail with instructions to return as early as possible in the coming southern summer.

The work of the winter team

House of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition on Snow Hill Island
José Sobral and Otto Nordenskjöld

The winter team consisted of Nordenskjöld and Sobral, the hydrograph and meteorologist Gösta Bodman, the doctor and bacteriologist Erik Ekelöf, the dog sled driver Ole Jonassen and the sailor Gustav Åkerlundh. Bodman began regular meteorological observations on March 2nd, which continued throughout his stay on Snow Hill Island. There were also bacteriological, magnetic and geological investigations. Nordenskjöld collected a large number of fossils. Before the onset of winter, the first boat and sleigh rides were made to map the surroundings of the winter camp. In March, a boat trip on Admiralty Road revealed the island character of Snow Hill. The Seymour Island was visited in April. Even in the winter months of July and August there were multi-day trips to James Ross Island . Nordenskjöld, Sobral and Jonassen undertook the most productive and extensive sledge tour from September 30th to November 4th 1902. With five dogs and two sledges they put on the way south across Robertson Island and the Larsen Ice Shelf to the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, first entered at 65 ° 57 ′  S , 62 ° 17 ′  W , about 650 km back. Then the team began to prepare for departure. In January 1903, Snow Hill was surrounded by thick pack ice that no ship could break through, and Nordenskjöld realized that a second hibernation was inevitable.

The journey of the Antarctic

The Antarctic had entered Ushuaia on March 5, 1902 and replenished the coal reserves. Here Stokes left the ship and began the journey home. The next stop was Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, where geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson came on board on March 27 to lead the expedition in the absence of Nordenskjöld. Seriously ill Ohlin returned to Sweden, where he died a year later. From April 12 to 23, depth measurements between the Falkland Islands and South Georgia were carried out with the help of a plumb machine that was newly taken on board . Seals were also beaten here to finance the expedition. From the beginning of July to the middle of September the ship was again in the Falkland Archipelago and returned to Ushuaia on September 15 to take up provisions and coal and to have some necessary repairs carried out. Overall, the southern winter was filled with scientific work: The nature of the countries visited was explored and trawls were carried out to get an idea of ​​the marine fauna.

On November 4, the Antarctic left the port of Ushuaia to pick up the winter crew. It was not until November 22nd that it was possible to overcome a belt of pack ice off the South Shetland Islands. Andersson decided to first call at the Orléans Canal and Gerlache Street and have Duse map them precisely. After completing the work, the ship finally set course for Snow Hill Island on the 5th, but found the Antarctic Sound blocked. Larsen tried to find a way east of Joinville Island, the ship was trapped by the ice and drifted with this five days towards Elephant Island before it was released and on December 19, 1902 was again at the entrance to the Antarctic Sound.

In this situation, Andersson made the following decision:

  • A group of three under his leadership was to go ashore in Hope Bay and attempt to reach Snow Hill Island by January 25, 1903. If that didn't work, she'd return to Hope Bay immediately. Should she reach Snow Hill, she should wait until February 10 for the ship to arrive. If this does not appear, she should go to Hope Bay together with the winter team.
  • Captain Larsen should attempt to reach Snow Hill Island by ship by February 10th. If that didn't work, he would return to Hope Bay and wait for the men there until March 10th.

On December 29th, Johan Gunnar Andersson, accompanied by Samuel August Duse and the sailor Toralf Grunden, entered the beach of Hope Bay.

1903

Loss of the Antarctic

The Antarctic is sinking.

Larsen's second attempt to get into the Erebus and Terror Gulf by circumnavigating Joinville Island to the east was successful. In a severe storm, however , the Antarctic was subjected to severe ice compression and was crushed on January 11th. For a month, the wreck drifted incapable of maneuvering with the ice until it had to be abandoned on February 12 and sank. The crew saved themselves by a sixteen-day march across the ice with the dinghy to Paulet Island . Here a stone hut with double walls was built and the joints filled with guano . The food supplies rescued by the Antarctic have been replenished with a few seals, bird eggs and around 1,100 penguins. On June 7th, the Norwegian seaman Ole Christian Wennersgaard (1881–1903) died of a weak heart .

Wintering at Hope Bay

Stone hut on Hope Bay

Andersson, Duse and Grunden crossed the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula after they had set up a depot at Hope Bay and then continued their way across the sea ice towards James Ross Island. They discovered and set foot on Vega Island , but came across open water on its south side. Further progress was not possible without a boat. Andersson was now also sure that the Antarctic would reach Snow Hill without any problems. The men turned back and were back in Hope Bay on January 13th. The next day, Andersson managed to find a spectacular fossil find on the north flank of Flora Mountain . The well-preserved imprint of Jurassic plants proved that the Antarctic must have had a tropical climate once . At the beginning of February, the men began to prepare for wintering. They built a stone hut, which they lined with their tent on the inside. Without sufficient food supplies, they were forced to kill around 700 penguins and shoot 21 seals.

Snow Hill Island

Nordenskjöld made two trips to Seymour Island in January and February. While the first one served purely scientific purposes and was mainly filled with geological work, the focus of the second excursion was on the procurement of provisions for the impending second wintering. The following winter was significantly milder than that of 1902. On August 5th, in the middle of winter, a temperature of 9.3 ° C was measured. The sledge excursions were also resumed in August. From September 29 to October 16, 1903, Nordenskjöld and Jonassen circled James Ross Island in a dog sledge, although they first discovered its island character when they discovered the Prince Gustav Canal . On October 12, they met Andersson, Duse and Grunden on Vega Island, who were on their way to Snow Hill Island again.

The rescue

Julián Irizar

The absence of the Antarctic had raised concerns in Sweden and Argentina. It was agreed to send an auxiliary expedition consisting of two ships, the Argentine corvette Uruguay , which was reinforced for this purpose in order to be fit for ice, and the hastily chartered whaler Fridtjof . When the Fridtjof did not arrive in Ushuaia by the agreed date, November 1, 1903, Lieutenant Julián Irizar (1869–1935), entrusted with the auxiliary expedition, did not wait any longer. Within a week he reached Seymour Island and there met Bodman and Åkerlundh, who had collected fossils here and on Cockburn Island . On November 8th, Irizar was with one of his officers at the winter camp on Snow Hill Island. Even before the biological and geological collections could be taken on board the Uruguay , after a seven-day boat trip, Captain Larsen landed on the island with five men. On November 11, the remaining members of the expedition were picked up from Paulet Island. After taking up the collection of fossils left behind at Hope Bay, the Uruguay set off for Buenos Aires, where it was received on December 2, 1903 with great sympathy from the population.

Results

Map of the Admiralty Road (Nordenskjöld)

The Swedish Antarctic expedition was very successful scientifically. Although she had not discovered a new land because she had not even crossed the Arctic Circle , a great deal was contributed to the knowledge of the geography of Antarctica. It could be shown that in the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula there is no water connection from the west side to the Weddell Sea in the east. The area of ​​the Orléans Canal was examined and mapped just as carefully as the perimeter of the Admiralty Street. Nordenskjöld discovered the Prince Gustav Canal and named the James Ross Island.

The geological investigations formed a major focus of the scientific work. The fossil discoveries in particular significantly expanded our knowledge of the climate history of the Antarctic. Mention should also be made of the glaciological work and the regular meteorological observations and measurements over a period of over 600 days.

The Swedish parliament granted Nordenskjöld a credit of 55,000 kroner for the publication of the results. By 1918, six volumes of the Scientific Results of the Swedish South Polar Expedition 1901–1903 had been published . Financially, the expedition was a disaster for Nordenskjöld.

literature

  • Otto Nordenskjöld: Scientific results of the Swedish south polar expedition 1901-1903 . Volume 1, Delivery 1: The Swedish South Polar Expedition and its geographic activity , Lithographic Institute of the General Staff, Stockholm 1911
  • David E. Yelverton: Quest for a Phantom Strait. The Saga of the Pioneer Antarctic Peninsula Expeditions 1897–1905 . Polar Publishing Ltd., Guildford 2004, ISBN 0-9548003-0-3 (English)
  • William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia . tape 2 . ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6 , pp. 465–467 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Hans Albert Förster: The high pole . Brockhaus, Leipzig 1953, pp. 199–228
  • Lisbeth Lewander: Swedish South Polar Expedition (1901–1904) . In: Beau Riffenburgh (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Antarctic , Routledge, New York and London 2007, pp. 975–977, ISBN 0-415-97024-5 (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Nordenskjöld, p. 2
  2. ^ J. Scott Keltie, Hugh Robert Mill (Ed.): Report of the Sixth International Geographical Congress, held in London, 1895 . William Clowes and Sons, London 1896, p. 780 .
  3. ^ Fred Goldberg: Otto Nordenskjöld's expeditions to Greenland in 1900 and 1909 . In: Greenland Collector 14 (3), 2009, p. 10 ( online ; PDF; 2.9 MB)
  4. ↑ Yelverton, p. 61 f
  5. ^ Yelverton, p. 21
  6. ↑ Nordenskjöld, p. 3
  7. ↑ Nordenskjöld, p. 4
  8. ↑ Nordenskjöld, p. 16
  9. ^ Lewander, p. 976
  10. ↑ Förster, p. 213 f
  11. ↑ Yelverton, p. 33
  12. ^ John Stewart: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 2, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 1685 (English).
  13. ^ Thore Gustaf Halle : The Mesozoic flora of Graham Land . Scientific results of the Swedish south polar expedition, 1901-03, Vol. 3, Lief. 14, Generalstabens litografiska Anstalt, Stockholm 1913, pp. 1–123.
  14. ↑ Forster, p. 219
  15. ↑ Kurt Hassert: The polar research. History of voyages of discovery to the North and South Poles , Wilhelm Goldmann, Munich 1956, p. 221
  16. ↑ a b Yelverton, p. 36
  17. ↑ Nordenskjöld, p. 30