New photos of the first expedition to the North Pole published (11 photos)

Archival photographs, most of which are published for the first time, tell about the course of the first expedition to the North Pole. In 1892 Fridtjof Nansen and his comrades on the ship "Fram" went to the very northern point of the planet. Recently photos of the expedition became available the general public.







The descent of the Fram on October 26, 1892 at the shipyard in the Norwegian town of Larvik became a real holiday. Telling the story of the ship, Dale O Clover, the author of the history of the expedition, says: “Nansen turned to the Norwegian designer and shipbuilder Colin Archer with a proposal to make a ship with a rounded hull to be lifted rather than crushed ice pressure. "Fram", whose length was 39 meters, was “designed to be as small and strong as possible” and “was large enough to carry provisions for twelve people by five or six years. Three layers of wood gave the body an additional strength. Clover's book notes that the ship's engine was 220 horsepower triple expansion steam engine with three cylinders, which consumed 2.75 tons of coal in 24 hours at a speed about six knots. “Two were also built and delivered to the expedition. large whaleboat and whaleboat with a gasoline engine, ”says Clover.





Seen off by a cheering crowd, the Fram expedition departed Christiania (modern Oslo) on June 24, 1893, making four stops in Norway - in Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø and Vardo, before arriving at the Khabarovo camp in Russia. Its next stopover was Cape Chelyuskin in Russia, after which they continued to move east. The expedition then headed north and allowed the ship to get stuck in drifting ice. This picture shows moment when Nansen (pictured with a hat in his hand in the center right) and the crew aboard the Fram said goodbye to the audience in Bergen 2 July 1893. The two days leading up to this moment were filled with social events for the research team - “parties, music, concerts and dances. “Some crew members especially appreciated the pouring champagne river, ”writes Clover.



Crew members Hjalmar Johansen, Henrik Greve Blessing, Otto Sverdrup and Scott Hansen playing cards on the ship during the first winter of sailing, while the ship, stuck in the thickness of the ice, drifted from the New Siberian Islands to west towards Svalbard. “The first winter passed quickly. Scientific work was a priority, but social life was also important, ”writes Clover, adding: "Card games were the most popular pastime. All games were played under a separate protocol, in which also recorded gossip, jokes and dashing practical jokes. The book notes, that the photo was taken "when Ringnes beer was still on board Bock. The author explains that Nansen “feared that alcohol might lead to problems on board, but made sure to include 3000 bottles of beer. He adds: “Unfortunately, in the first winter, bottles froze and broke, and a lot of glass had to be thrown overboard.



Fram, locked in pack ice, was filmed at noon on March 1, 1894. Nansen himself. Hjalmar Johansen, pictured in the foreground, wrote in in his diary that day: “Nansen took a picture of me this morning, in the background is a ship. He will take down all of us to prove to you that, despite the polar night, we look good.”



In this picture, taken during the first winter of the expedition, members of the Anton Amundsen, Peder Hendriksen, Ivar Mogstad, Henrik Greve Blessing and Otto Sverdrup are returning from a ski trip. “Skiing was the most an important form of exercise, and most participants, if possible, skiing alone or in a group,” says Clover. Expeditionary sled dogs were bought in Russia: they were acquired by Nansen when the ship landed at the Nenets encampment Khabarovo in July 1893. The book says that Nansen was disappointed to see the dogs, as "all but four were castrated." The book explains: “This was done because the harness passed between the legs of the dogs and often caused injuries.” So Thus, Nansen's plan to increase the dog population was seriously difficult."



This photo was taken April 6, 1894. She wears Nansen, Scott Hansen and Hjalmar Johansen watching a solar eclipse from drifting pack ice. Johansen wrote in his diary that day: "There must have been a solar eclipse as seen from our longitude. Hansen worked late into the night to time the eclipse and duration. According to his calculations, it was supposed to start at noon, but to be sure, we started observing in advance. For this we used the largest astronomical binoculars and universal instrument instrument for measuring the height of a celestial body and its directions from the observer.



In this 1894 photograph of Nansen with the help of Peder Hendriksen on in the background is studying the temperature of the Arctic Ocean at different depths. Hjalmar Johansen wrote in his diary: “Every day at 12 hours, the temperature and salinity of sea water are checked.



This picture, taken by Henrik Greve Blessing, shows the members carriages lined up in a "parade" in honor of the Constitution Day, Norway's national holiday, May 17, 1895. It's missing here two people - Nansen and Johansen left the ship on February 26, 1895, to search for the North Pole on dog sleds and skis. Author describes the celebration of Constitution Day as a "secular event" expedition, saying: “A number of competitions were organized, the winners were generous prizes were promised, to be handed out on their return to Norway". Writing about this day in his diary, Otto Sverdrup said: "Today is the most beautiful day you can imagine imagine here in the Arctic... at eight o'clock the celebration began with music and cannon shot. At 11 o'clock everyone gathered under the banners and stood in procession." Norwegian flag, "Fram" banner, meteorologist's banner and banner engineer - these are the flags that are raised in the frame. Sverdrup wrote: "Bentsen played the accordion. We walked in front of the ship through the ice ridge, where Hansen prepared for this occasion a path to the top of a large icy hummocks, where the procession stopped, and I made a speech. diary the entry continues: "At twelve we fired many shots from guns."



Another photo from the celebration of Constitution Day on May 17, 1895, on which crew members shoot at targets. In the diary of Anton Amundsen explains, “Yesterday we finished planning our holiday. Was a steel wire is installed connected to the wheel, to which attached steel hare, bird and fly as targets for shooting from shotguns. He noted that "the atmosphere was great" that day.



Nansen with English explorer Frederick George Jackson on Cape Flora, a peninsula on Northbrook Island in the Russian archipelago Franz Josef Land. The book explains how Jackson came to the rescue Nansen after a drama took place in 1896 that almost cost Nansen life. Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen separated from the main expedition and spent a hard winter in a makeshift hut on Earth Franz Josef, after which they tried to return on a kayak for more hospitable territory to eventually reach Norway. But on June 12, a walrus attacked Nansen's kayak when they went out on an ice floe for observation, and the kayak sailed away with all the equipment and provisions. Nansen saved position by jumping into the cold water and following the drifting kayak. Then he spotted Jackson. Nansen later wrote in his diary: "Never abandoned icy ice was not a witness to such a meeting.” They stayed with Jackson's team at Cape Flora for almost two months, "enjoying hospitality and adoration of the English." Nansen wrote in his diary: “A few days ago, fleeing from death, I swam in icy water, was attacked by a walrus, lived the life of a wild man ... and now I live the life of a civilized European, surrounded by everything that can give a civilization of luxury and well-being, with an abundance of water, soap, towels, clean, soft woolen towels, books, and everything we craved a whole year." After delivering provisions to Jackson's crew, Jackson's ship Windward returned to Norway with Nansen and Johansen on board and 13 August reached the Norwegian city of Vardo. On the same day, the Fram escaped from the pack ice north of Svalbard, where he was locked up for two years and 11 months. The photo above, by the way, was taken at Cape Flora, in fact is a reconstruction of the moment of the meeting between Nansen and Jackson, staged everything only a few hours after the actual meeting.