Nordenskjold respected north and south

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 13

Nordenskjold respected north and south

In both the Arctic and Antarctic the name of Nordenskjold is both well known and respected. The early exploration of the Arctic was greatly advanced by the Swedish scientist Nils Aldolf Erik Nordenskjold who was born in Finland, in 1832, then part of Russia. Both of Nordenskjold’s parents were Swedes living in an enclave of their own countrymen, and both held radical political views which forced them to flee their home in Helsingfors and seek refuge in Stockholm. Nils Nordenskjold quickly became fasinated by the Arctic, and as a geologist took part in several expeditions to Spitsbergen and Greenland. Leading his personal expedition to Spitsbergen in 1864 he produced the first full map of the island, described at the time as “delineating Spitsbergen with an accuracy hitherto unattained in any Arctic land.” From Spitsbergen Nordenskjold made two attempts to reach the North Pole. In the vessel Sofia during the summer of 1868 he took the expedition further north than any man had been, and four years later, using reindeer-drawn sledges, made a valiant polar attempt over the ice. Both attempts failed. By 1878, Nordenskjold, now financed by his king, Baron Oscar Dickson and a Russian merchant named Sibirikov, was ready for his greatest adventure, the first sailing of the North-East Passage and the circumnavigation of Europe and Asia. The ship chosen was the 300-ton Vega which had a small auxiliary steam engine, and a crew of Swedes, Norwegians, Russians and Italians. Their goal was the northern route to Cathay. In company of three merchant ships which would drop away from the group as the voyage progressed, the Vega sailed from Tromso on July 18, 1878. Conditions that year proved ideal, and the journey was not marred by ice until only 120 miles short of

the Pacific Ocean, when the Vega was brought up by firm frozen sea. She was held there for 10 months before, on the anniversary of her Tromso departure, July 18, 1879, the ice parted, and the Vega two days later felt the

heavy swell of the Bering Sea off East Cape. With her bows rising gently to the Pacific Ocean the dream of centuries had been realised — a route to China from Europe across the northern oceans had at last been found. Created a baron in 1880 for his

efforts, Nordenskjold was regarded as the world’s leading polar explorer, but fame did little to inhibit him as he continued leading expeditions and continuing his research until his death in 1902. His last field trip was to Greenland in 1883, but that was not the end, for when New Zealand and Australia in 1887 tried to mount an expedition to the Antarctic under the guidance of the Australian Antarctic Committee, it was none other than Baron Nordenskjold who agreed to lead it. How different history might have been if this brave dream had come to fruition, but various forces working against the plan succeeded in destroying it. Later, both Nordenskjold and

the great Nansen announced plans to travel to the Antarctic but they too failed to materialise. It was the North-East passage that the German commerce raider Komet used in 1940 to gain entry into the Pacific and carry out many successful attacks on shipping in our waters, including the sinking of the New Zealand ships Holmwood and Komata. In the Antarctic the name Nordenskjold is found in several place names. In this case, however, it is the Baron’s nephew who is honoured. Dr Otto Nordenskjold, also a geologist, led an expedition in 1901 to the Antarctic Peninsula area using the ship Antarctic under the command of the great Norwegian whaler C. E. Larsen. It was this ship which had landed the first men on the continent at Cape Adare in 1895 and was well known on both polar worlds. The plan was for Dr Otto to set up a base at Snow Hill Island and from there undertake his researches while the Antarctic was to carry out work around the South American coast and return to pick up the shore party at the end of winter. The work of Dr Otto Nordenskjold was of a high standard and respected by geologists to this day, and the expedition could be described as a most successful one except for the odd set of circumstances which beset its conclusion. The Antarctic, having completed its work, headed for Snow Hill Island to pick up the waiting shore party only to find it could not get through the ice beyond Hope Bay. To inform Nordenskjold that he would have to wait until next spring to be rescued, three men were landed at Hope Bay who were to sledge to Snow Hill Island. They, too, found that travel overland was impossible, and had to build a rock igloo and survive the coming winter in the most uncomfortable conditions.

The Antarctic in the meantime was caught in the ice off Paulet Island and sank, her crew all being saved. They spent the winter in makeshift shelter on Paulet Island. Safe, but worried in their hut at Snow Hill Island, the shore party had no idea that the expedition was now broken into three parties, all spending an unplanned winter in the icy polar world. Concern was felt in Argentina for the expedition, so the Government dispatched its own ship the Uruguay to undertake a search for the missing ship and party. Well into spring, Dr Otto was surprised by the arrival at his base of three of his men, so bedraggled that he failed to recognise them. These were the men from Hope Bay. Several days later the advance party from the Uruguay arrived, and just a few hours later, Captain Larsen with some of his men came trudging into camp. A long and confused account of the experiences of each took some time to sort out, as for the first time each became aware of the other’s fate. The Uruguay gathered them all up and recovered the men left on Paulet Island before returning them to Tierra del Fuego. In spite of its dramatic end, the Swedish Antarctic Expedition did produce many important scientific discoveries and left its mark, not only in place names, but in other ways. It was at Dr Nordenskjold’s suggestion that the old term of “ice barrier” was dropped in preference for “ice shelf,” and he was also the first to suggest the concept of East and West Antarctica. The recent gift to the museum of Baron Nordenskjold’s book on the voyage of the Vega by the King and Queen of Sweden during their successful visit, serves to remind us of the importance of the Swedish connection in polar affairs. •

By

BADEN NORRIS