Roald Amundsen is a famous Norwegian traveler and explorer who discovered the South Pole. What did Roald Amundsen discover?

Roald Engelbregg Gravning Amundsen lived at the end of the Age of Discovery. In fact, he became the last of a cohort of great travelers who tried to conquer still unexplored spaces.

The entire biography of Roald Amundsen is full of bright events in which he played the “main violin”.

Biography of Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen was born on July 16, 1872 in the Norwegian province of Østfold in the town of Borge. WITH early age The boy was introduced to sports, and he was put on skis as soon as he began to walk independently. Although he did not shine with knowledge at school, he was distinguished by tenacity and perseverance in achieving his goals.

It was character and perseverance, coupled with forethought and caution, that allowed him to accomplish things that no one had been able to do before: to completely close the ring around globe, using the Northwest and Northeast Passages, to be the first to conquer the South Geographic Pole.

The final years of Roald Amundsen's life were marked by the rapid emergence of new species. Vehicle, which brought research into the “white spots” on the map to a completely new level, reducing such achievements to the level of a hobby.

The first step in Amundsen's development as a researcher occurred after the death of his mother in 1893, when he dropped out of the university where he was studying medicine. The young man got a job as a sailor on a fishing vessel, where he diligently studied seamanship and navigation. In 1896, after passing the exams, he became a long-distance navigator, which was very useful to him in the future.

Amundsen's first expedition

Roald Amundsen's first expedition began in 1897 on the ship Belgica, where he was accepted as a navigator at the request of Fridtjof Nansen. The Belgian polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache was then setting off on an Antarctic expedition. The venture was not a successful one for the researchers. Moreover, on a ship covered in pack ice, an epidemic of scurvy broke out among the crew, and malnutrition and depression depleted the morale of the participants to the extreme.

Only the young navigator Amundsen did not lose his presence of mind, who took command and brought the ship, which had been stuck in the ice for 13 months, to open water. Some medical knowledge gained at the university helped him go out and most teams. In 1899, Belgica finally returned to Europe.

Travels and discoveries of Roald Amundsen

But Roald Amundsen's main discoveries were ahead. Thanks to the experience gained, he successfully passed the exams and became the captain of the ship. Immediately after this, Amundsen begins preparations for a new expedition. In 1903, on the ship Yova, he set out to open the Northwest Passage around Northern Canada.

What Roald Amundsen did on this expedition has never been achieved before. In two years of sailing, he managed to travel from the east of the American continent to its western part. The 34-year-old traveler instantly becomes a world celebrity, although this fame did not bring him wealth.

The most high-profile case Amundsen's life was marked by his trip to the South Pole of the Earth. IN the most difficult conditions Antarctica, having completed a two-month journey, he and his comrades reached the geographic South Pole, after which they returned to the expedition base.

Unfortunately, this was the “swan song” of everything that Roald Amundsen discovered. And although after this epoch-making campaign he still continued his expeditions, they did not become so loud due to the changed situation. First World War and a different approach to research, where a person’s personal qualities no longer played a dominant role, plunged the famous polar explorer into depression. He quarreled with all his friends and began to live as a hermit.

The last striking event that made the whole world start talking about him again was Amundsen’s attempt to help the Nobile expedition in disaster. Hiring a flying boat, on June 18, 1928, he took off on a search from which he never returned. This is how the life of the great polar explorer ended dramatically, although, perhaps, for people of his level, this is the best departure to another world.

Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning (Norwegian Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning; July 16, 1872, Borge, Norway - June 17, 1928, Arctic) - Norwegian polar traveler and explorer. The first person in the world to reach the South Pole (December 14, 1911).

The first person in the world (together with Oscar Wisting) to visit both the South and North poles of the planet.

Born into the family of a captain, owner of a shipyard. In 1890 he entered the medical faculty of the University of Christiania (now Oslo), but left his studies after 2 years.

Since 1894, he sailed as a sailor and navigator on various ships, in 1897-1999 he was the first mate on the ship "Belgica" during an expedition to Antarctica.

Geographical studies

On June 17, 1903, Amundsen, accompanied by six people, set out for the Arctic on the fishing vessel Gjoa, where over the next three years he was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage with three wintering stops from Greenland to Alaska.

Having established a base in Gjoa Bay, he undertook sleigh trips to the North Geomagnetic Pole and determined its position, and also walked along the shores of the island. Victoria. The expedition ended in 1906 in San Francisco.

In 1909, Amundsen was preparing to reach and explore the North Pole, but he was ahead of the American R.

Peary, after which the explorer decided to reach the South Pole.

On August 9, 1910, on the ship Fram, he set off for Antarctica with four companions and reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, a month ahead of the British expedition of R.

In 1918-1920 he sailed on the ship Maud with two wintering stops from Norway along the northern coast of Eurasia to the Bering Strait. In May 1926, Amundsen led the first flight across North Pole on the airship Norway, in which he was accompanied by the American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth.

In 1928, during an attempt to find the Italian expedition of W.

Nobile, who crashed in the Arctic Ocean on the airship "Italy", and to help her Amundsen, who flew on June 17 on the Latham seaplane, died along with the crew in the Barents Sea.

The sea in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Antarctica, a mountain in East Antarctica, a bay and basin in the Arctic Ocean, as well as the American Amundsen-Scott research station in Antarctica are named in honor of the researcher.

• Amundsen R.

  My life; South Pole. M., 2012.

• Amundsen R. Navigation of the Northwest Passage on the ship “Gjoa”. M., 2004.
• Bumann-Larsen T. Amundsen. M., 2005.
• Yakovlev A. Roald Amundsen. 1872-1928. M., 1957.

Amundsen Rual(1872-1928) - Norwegian polar explorer. He was born into a family of a captain and followed in his father’s footsteps, sailing first as a sailor and then as a navigator. His first independent expedition was in 1903-1906, when he wintered by sea passed from Greenland to Alaska. In 1910, Amundsen went to the Arctic to repeat F. Nansen's drift, but with the intention of passing close to the North Pole.

Having received news of the discovery of the pole en route, Amundsen unexpectedly set a course for Antarctica, setting as his task the discovery of the South Pole. Having landed in Whale Bay, Amundsen, as part of the expedition, undertook a difficult trek to the Pole and reached it in December 1911.

For the same purpose and at the same time, the English expedition of R. Scott set off to the Pole, which reached the South Pole after the expedition of R. Amundsen, but a month later.

R. Amundsen did not abandon his long-standing dream and in 1918 he undertook a voyage across the Arctic Ocean from west to east.

In 1926, he, together with the American L. Ellsworth and the Italian W. Nobile, flew on the airship “Norway” along the route Spitsbergen - North Pole - Alaska.

Later in 1928, U. Nobile organized a new expedition to the Arctic on an airship, which ended tragically. R. Amundsen took part in the rescue of this expedition and died with the entire crew of the plane somewhere in the Barents Sea.

A few months later, the waves washed one of the floats of the Latama plane onto the northern coast of Norway, on which Amundsen flew to rescue the U. Nobile expedition.

R. Scott's expedition, which reached the pole a month later than Amundsen's expedition, died in the ice on the way back.

Many not only in Great Britain, but also in Norway, the homeland of R. Amundsen, believed that the sudden appearance of his expedition in Antarctica was a terrible blow for R. Scott and his friends: after all, the desire to reach the Pole had been a long-term dream for them. R. Scott and his friends suffered for many months in a row from malnutrition, cold, polar darkness, fell into ice caves, did not spare themselves, preparing for success that never materialized.

I didn’t have enough strength to go back...

Did Amundsen forgive himself for what happened in December 1911 in Antarctica? Probably not, otherwise he would not have written, upon learning of the death of the Scott expedition: “... I would sacrifice a lot, even glory, to bring them back to life... My triumph in Antarctica is overshadowed by the thought of tragedy... It haunts me.”

Amundsen Rual Wikipedia
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Arctic Explorers

Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)

Norwegian polar explorer.

The first person to reach the South Pole, one of the pioneers of the use of aviation in Arctic travel. The first traveler who made a sea voyage through the straits of the Canadian archipelago and along the coast of Siberia, for the first time completing a circumnavigation beyond the Arctic Circle.

He studied at the medical faculty of the University of Oslo, but left his studies after two years.

Amundsen's interest in polar exploration began after he met the famous Norwegian polar explorer Eivin Astrup. In 1895, Amundsen successfully passed the exam to become a navigator and decided to take part in fishing voyages. In 1897–1899 he was a sailor and first mate on the ship Belgica during the Belgian expedition to Antarctica under the leadership of naval officer Lieutenant Adrien de Gerlache.

In 1901, on the purchased yacht “Gjoa,” Amundsen set off on a six-month voyage to the Barents Sea to conduct oceanographic work.

In the next expedition in 1903, a researcher with a crew of seven people, for the first time in the history of navigation, sailed from Greenland to Alaska through the seas and straits of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, opening a passage through the Northwest Sea Route.

During the expedition, the navigator conducted valuable geomagnetic observations in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and mapped more than 100 islands.

In 1910-1912 he led an expedition to Antarctica with the aim of discovering the South Pole on the ship Fram. Amundsen and his companions landed in Whale Bay on the Ross Glacier, founded a base and began preparing for a trip to the South Pole.

A team of five people started on dog sleds and reached their goal on December 17, 1911, a month ahead of the expedition of the Englishman R. Scott.

In 1918-1921, Amundsen sailed from west to east along the northern coast of Eurasia on the Maud, repeating Nansen's drift on the Fram.

With two winterings, it traveled from Norway to the Bering Strait, which it entered in 1920.

In 1923-1925 he tried several times to reach the North Pole and decided to explore the Arctic from the air.

In May 1926, he led the first transatlantic flight over the North Pole on the airship Norway. On June 17, 1926, Amundsen took off from Tromsø on a French twin-engine seaplane Latham-47 in search of the expedition of General U. Nobile. During a flight from Norway to Spitsbergen, Roald Amundsen suffered an accident and died in the Barents Sea.

A mountain in the eastern part of Antarctica, a bay in the Arctic Ocean, a sea off the coast of the Southern Continent, and the American polar station Amundsen-Scott are named after Amundsen.

His works “Flight across the Arctic Ocean”, “On the ship “Maud””, “Expedition along the northern coast of Asia”, “The South Pole” and a five-volume collection of works have been translated into Russian.

1. Brief chronology
2. Life

2.3 Conquest of the South Pole

2.4 Northeast sea route

2.5 Transarctic flights

2.6 Last years and death

1. Objects named after the traveler.
2. List of used literature.

Norwegian polar traveler and explorer.

First man to reach the South Pole (December 14, 1911). The first person (together with Oscar Wisting) to visit both geographic poles of the planet. The first explorer to make a sea crossing through both the North-Eastern (along the coast of Siberia) and the North-Western sea route (along the straits of the Canadian archipelago). He died in 1928 during the search for the expedition of Umberto Nobile. He received awards from many countries around the world, including the highest award from the USA - Gold medal Congress.

Brief chronology

In 1890-1892 he studied at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of

Christiania.

From 1894 to 1899 he sailed as a sailor and navigator on various ships. Beginning in 1903, he made a number of expeditions that became widely known.

First passed (1903-1906) on a small fishing vessel "Gjoa" along the Northwest Passage from East to West from Greenland to Alaska.

On the ship "Fram" went to Antarctica; landed in Whale Bay and on December 14, 1911 reached the South Pole on dogs, a month ahead of the English expedition of R.

In the summer of 1918, the expedition left Norway on the ship Maud and in 1920 reached the Bering Strait.

In 1926 he led the 1st trans-Arctic flight on the airship "Norway" along the route: Spitsbergen - North Pole - Alaska.

In 1928, during an attempt to find and assist the Italian expedition of Umberto Nobile, which crashed in the Arctic Ocean on the airship Italia, Amundsen, who flew on June 18 on the Latham seaplane, died in the Barents Sea.

Life

2.1 Youth and first expeditions

Roald was born in 1872 in southeastern Norway (Borge, near Sarpsborg) into a family of sailors and shipbuilders.

When he was 14 years old, his father died and the family moved to Christiania (since 1924 - Oslo). Rual entered the medical faculty of the university, but when he was 21 years old, his mother died and Rual left the university. He subsequently wrote:

« With inexpressible relief, I left the university to devote myself wholeheartedly to the only dream of my life. »

In 1897-1899

as a navigator, he took part in the Belgian Antarctic expedition on the ship “Belgica” under the command of the Belgian polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache.

2.2 Northwestern Sea Route

Figure 1. Map of Amundsen's Arctic expeditions

In 1903, he bought a used 47-ton motor-sailing yacht “Gjøa”, “the same age” as Amundsen himself (built in 1872) and set off on an Arctic expedition.

The schooner was equipped with a 13 hp diesel engine.

The expedition personnel included:

• Roald Amundsen - head of the expedition, glaciologist, specialist in terrestrial magnetism, ethnographer.
• Godfried Hansen, a Dane by nationality, is a navigator, astronomer, geologist and photographer of the expedition.

  Senior Lieutenant in the Danish Navy, participated in expeditions to Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

• Anton Lund - skipper and harpooner.
• Peder Ristvedt is a senior machinist and meteorologist.
• Helmer Hansen is the second navigator.
• Gustav Yul Wik - second driver, assistant during magnetic observations. Died of an unexplained illness on March 30, 1906.
• Adolf Henrik Lindström - cook and provisions master. Member of the Sverdrup expedition in 1898-1902.

Amundsen passed through the North Atlantic, Baffin Bay, Lancaster, Barrow, Peel, Franklin, James Ross Straits and in early September stopped for the winter off the southeastern coast of King William Island.

In the summer of 1904, the bay was not free of ice, and the Gjoa remained for a second winter.

On August 13, 1905, the ship continued sailing and practically completed the North-West Route, but still froze into the ice. Amundsen travels by dog ​​sled to Eagle City, Alaska.

He later recalled:

« When I returned, everyone put my age at between 59 and 75, even though I was only 33.”

2.3 Conquest of the South Pole

Figure 2.

Map of Amundsen's Antarctic Expedition

2.4 Conquest of the South Pole

In 1910, Amundsen planned a transpolar drift through the Arctic, which was to begin off the coast of Chukotka. Amundsen hoped to be the first to reach the North Pole, for which he obtained support from Fridtjof Nansen back in 1907.

By an Act of Parliament, the ship "Fram" (Norwegian Fram, "Forward") was provided for the expedition. The budget was very modest, amounting to about 250 thousand crowns (for comparison: Nansen had 450 thousand crowns in 1893). Amundsen's plans were unexpectedly destroyed by Cook's announcement of the conquest of the North Pole in April 1908.

Soon Robert Peary also announced the conquest of the pole. There was no longer any need to count on sponsorship support, and then Rual decided to conquer the South Pole, for the achievement of which a race was also beginning to unfold.

By 1909, the Fram (Figure 3) had been completely rebuilt, but was already intended for a new expedition.

All preparations were kept secret: except for himself, Amundsen’s brother-lawyer Leon Amundsen and the commander of the Fram, Lieutenant Thorvald Nielsen, knew about Amundsen’s plans. It was necessary to make non-standard solutions: a significant part of the provisions for the expedition was supplied by the Norwegian army (they had to test a new Arctic diet), ski suits for the expedition members were made from decommissioned army blankets, the army provided tents, etc.

The only sponsor was found in Argentina: at the expense of the tycoon Norwegian origin- Don Pedro Christophersen, kerosene and many supplies were purchased. His generosity made it possible to make Buenos Aires the main base of Fram.

Later, a mountain as part of the Transantarctic Range was named in his honor.

Before sailing, Amundsen sent letters to Nansen and the King of Norway, explaining his motives. According to legend, Nansen, upon receiving the letter, cried out: “Fool! I would provide him with all my calculations” (Nansen was planning to make an expedition to Antarctica in 1905, but his wife’s illness forced him to abandon his plans).

The expedition personnel were divided into two detachments: ship and coastal.

The list is as of January 1912.

Figure 3. Fram under sail

Coastal detachment:

• Roald Amundsen - head of the expedition, head of the sleigh party on the trip to the South Pole.
• Olaf Bjoland - participant in the expedition to the Pole.
• Oscar Wisting - participant in the expedition to the Pole.
• Jorgen Stubberud - participant in the campaign to the Land of King Edward VII.
• Christian Prestrud - head of the sleigh party to King Edward VII's Land.
• Frederik Hjalmar Johansen, a member of Nansen's expedition in 1893-1896, did not join the polar detachment due to a conflict with Amundsen.
• Helmer Hansen - participant in the trip to the Pole.
• Sverre Hassel - participant in the expedition to the Pole.
• Adolf Henrik Lindström - cook and provisions master.

Team "Frama" (ship party):

• Thorvald Nielsen - commander of the Fram
• Steller is a sailor, German by nationality.
• Ludwig Hansen - sailor.
• Adolf Ohlsen - sailor.
• Karenius Olsen - cook, cabin boy (the youngest member of the expedition, in 1910.

  he was 18 years old).

• Martin Richard Rönne - sailmaker.
• Christensen is the navigator.
• Halvorsen.
• Knut Sundbeck is a Swede by nationality, a ship mechanic (the engineer who created the diesel engine for the Fram), an employee of the Rudolf Diesel company.
• Frederik Hjalmar Jertsen - first assistant commander, lieutenant in the Norwegian Navy. He also served as the ship's doctor.

The twentieth member of the expedition was biologist Alexander Stepanovich Kuchin, but at the beginning of 1912 he returned to Russia from Buenos Aires.

For some time, Jakob Nödtvedt was the Fram mechanic, but he was replaced by Sundbeck.

In the summer of 1910, the Fram carried out oceanographic surveys in the North Atlantic, and it turned out that the ship's mechanic, Jakob Nödtvedt, was unable to cope with his duties.

It was decommissioned and was replaced by marine diesel designer Knut Sundbeck. Amundsen wrote that this Swede had great courage if he decided to go on such a long journey with the Norwegians.

On January 13, 1911, Amundsen sailed to the Ross Ice Barrier in Antarctica. At the same time, Robert Scott's English expedition set up camp in McMurdo Sound, 650 kilometers from Amundsen.

Before going to the South Pole, both expeditions prepared for the winter and placed warehouses along the route.

The Norwegians built the Framheim base, 4 km from the coast, consisting of a wooden house with an area of ​​32 sq.m. and numerous auxiliary buildings and warehouses, built from snow and ice, and deepened into the Antarctic glacier. The first attempt to go to the pole was made back in August 1911, but extremely low temperatures prevented this (at −56 C.

the skis and runners of the sled did not slide, and the dogs could not sleep).

Amundsen's plan was worked out in detail back in Norway, in particular, a movement schedule was drawn up, which modern researchers compare with a musical score. The pole crew returned to the Fram on the day prescribed by the schedule 2 years earlier.

On October 19, 1911, five people led by Amundsen set off to the South Pole on four dog sleds.

On December 14, the expedition reached the South Pole, having traveled 1,500 km, and hoisted the flag of Norway. Expedition members: Oscar Wisting, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, Olav Bjaaland, Roald Amundsen.

The entire trek over a distance of 3000 km under extreme conditions (ascent and descent to a plateau 3000 m high at a constant temperature of over −40° and strong winds) took 99 days.

Captain Roald Amundsen (1872-1928). Photo 1920

Before starting to realize his childhood dream - to explore the North Pole, Roald Amundsen was a simple sailor for several years, sailing on motor-sailing ships to Mexico, Britain, Spain, Africa, and spent two years on an expedition to the South Pole.

But his dream remained the other end of the Earth - the Arctic, where no man had ever set foot. He went down in the history of northern scientific expeditions as the man who was the first to visit both poles of the Earth.

Roald arrived in the capital of Norway, Christiania (as Oslo was called in the 19th century), as a 14-year-old boy.

After his father's death, he wanted to study to become a sailor, but his mother insisted that her son choose medicine. He had to submit and become a medical student at the university. But 2 years later, when his mother suddenly died, he became the master of his fate and, leaving the university, went to sea.

Amundsen and his crew aboard the Gjoa

Rual was heroic personality, was looking for adventure, and adventure found him.

From the very early years he accustomed himself to the idea that he would become a traveler, strengthened himself physically, went skiing, showered himself ice water. By the way, tank trucks for petroleum products are made of durable steel.

And he grew up strong, strong-willed, and not afraid of difficulties.

For five years he sailed as a sailor on various ships, passed the exams and received a navigator's diploma. And in this capacity, in 1897, he finally went to the Arctic with research purposes on the ship "Belgica", which belonged to the Belgian Arctic expedition. It was the most difficult test.

The ship was trapped in ice, hunger and disease began, and people went crazy. Only a few remained healthy, among them Amundsen - he hunted seals, was not afraid to eat their meat, and thereby escaped.

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)

In 1903, Amundsen used his accumulated funds to buy a used 47-ton motor-sailing yacht, Gjoa, built in the year of his birth.

The schooner had a diesel engine of only 13 horsepower. Together with 7 crew members, he went out to the open sea. He managed to walk along the banks North America from Greenland to Alaska and open the so-called northwest passage. This expedition was no less harsh than the first; we had to endure wintering in ice, ocean storms, and encounters with dangerous icebergs.

But Amundsen continued to conduct scientific observations, and he managed to determine the location of the Earth's magnetic pole. He reached “residential” Alaska by dog ​​sled.

He had aged a lot, at 33 he looked 70. The difficulties did not frighten the experienced polar explorer, seasoned sailor and passionate traveler. In 1910, he began preparing a new expedition to the North Pole.

Captain Roald Amundsen

He was offered the famous ship “Fram” (which means “Forward”), specially built for northern expeditions and for drifting in the ice.

Another famous Norwegian polar explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, sailed and drifted on it, and the ship showed its reliability. Amundsen wanted to follow Nansen's path.

Just before going to sea, a message arrived that the North Pole had conquered the American Robert Peary.

The proud Amundsen immediately changed his goal: he decided to go to the South Pole. We covered 16 thousand miles in a few weeks and came to the iciest Ross Barrier in Antarctica. There we had to land ashore and move on with dog sleds. The path was blocked by icy rocks and abysses; the skis barely glided. But despite all the difficulties, Amundsen reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911. Together with his comrades, he walked 1,500 kilometers in the ice and was the first to plant the flag of Norway at the South Pole.

Fram ship

But he could not refuse to conquer the Arctic, and in 1918, on a specially built ship “Maud”, he set sail along the Northern Sea Route.

He was ready for the drift, for the harsh polar weather. But everything turned out to be much more difficult. They had to spend the winter at Cape Chelyuskin. Some members of the expedition got sick, some went crazy. Amundsen himself felt pain in his heart. After the attack polar bear his forearm was broken.

Two-cylinder diesel engine 180 hp. With. A supply of 90 tons of kerosene provided 95 days of continuous engine operation.

The premises could accommodate 20 people, food supplies for 2 years, 100 sled dogs. Displacement -1100 tons.

Amundsen in the ice

In the summer of 1920, a barely alive Amundsen arrived in the village of Nome in Alaska and remained there. However, having recovered, he was again ready to storm the North Pole. Subsequently, he flew to the North Pole on seaplanes, landed on the island of Spitsbergen, and landed in the ice.

Fate favored him, and he returned to Oslo in glory.

The airship "Norway" takes off from Spitsbergen

In 1926, on the huge airship “Norway” (106 meters long and with three engines), together with the expedition of the Italian Umberto Nobile and the American millionaire Lincoln-Ellsworth, Amundsen fulfilled his dream: he flew over the North Pole and landed in Alaska.

But all the glory went to Umberto Nobile. Chapter fascist state Benito Mussolini glorified only Nobile, promoted him to general, and they didn’t even remember Amundsen.

In 1928, Nobile decided to repeat his record. On the airship "Italy", the same design as the previous airship, he made another flight to the North Pole. Italy was eagerly awaiting his return, national hero prepared for a triumphal meeting. The North Pole will be Italian... But on the way back, due to icing, the airship "Italy" lost control.

Part of the crew, together with Nobile, managed to land on the ice floe. The other part flew away with the airship. Radio contact with the castaways was lost.

Then they remembered Amundsen, who by that time had already retired from active research and was living in his house near Oslo. The Norwegian Minister of War personally asked him to join the expedition going in search of Nobile.

Umberto Nobile (1885-1978)

Amundsen agreed, because it was about people's lives.

On June 18, 1928, together with the French crew, he took off on the Latham-47 seaplane in the direction of the island of Spitsbergen. This was Amundsen's last flight. Soon radio contact with the plane over the Barents Sea was lost. The exact circumstances of the death of the plane and the expedition remained unknown.

Airship "Italy" 1928

General Nobile managed to escape. The survivors on the ice floe set up a tent and painted it red.

This is how a Swedish military aviation pilot found them, but he only took Nobile: that was his order. The remaining crew members, drifting on the ice floe, were rescued by the Soviet icebreaker I Krasin.

The fate of the crew members blown away by the wind along with the airship Italia remained unknown.

In 1928, Amundsen was awarded (posthumously) the United States' highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

Amundsen, Roald - Norwegian polar traveler and explorer. Born in Borg on July 16, 1872, he has been missing since June 1928. He was the greatest discoverer of modern times. Over the course of almost 30 years, Amundsen achieved all the goals that polar explorers had been striving for for more than 300 years.

In 1897-99. Amundsen participated as a navigator in the Antarctic expedition of A. Gerlache on the Belgica ship. The expedition explored Graham Land.

To prepare his own expedition to determine the exact location of the North Magnetic Pole, he improved his knowledge at a German observatory.

After a test voyage in the Arctic Ocean, Amundsen set off in mid-June 1903 on the ship Gjoa with a displacement of 47 tons with six Norwegian companions and sailed towards the Canadian-Arctic islands through Lancaster and Peel Straits to the southeastern coast of King Island -William. There he spent two polar winters and made valuable geomagnetic observations. In 1904 he explored the North Magnetic Pole at west coast Boutia Felix Peninsula and undertook daring boat and sleigh rides through the ice-covered sea straits between King William Land and Victoria Land. At the same time, he and his companions mapped over 100 islands. On August 13, 1905, the Gjoa finally continued its journey and through the straits between King William and Victoria Islands and the Canadian mainland reached the Beaufort Sea, and then, after a second winter in the ice near the mouth of the Mackenzie on August 31, 1906, the Bering Strait. Thus, for the first time it was possible to navigate the Northwest Passage on one ship, but not through the straits that were explored by the expeditions looking for Franklin.

Another great achievement of Amundsen was the discovery of the South Pole, which he managed to accomplish on his first try. In 1909, Amundsen was preparing for a long drift in the ice of the Polar Basin and exploring the North Pole region on the ship Fram, previously owned by Nansen, but, having learned about the discovery of the North Pole by the American Robert Peary, he changed his plan and set the goal of reaching the South Pole. On January 13, 1911, he disembarked from the Fram at Whale Bay in the eastern part of the Ross Ice Barrier, from where he set out the following summer on October 20, accompanied by four men on a dog-drawn sleigh. After a successful trip across the ice plateau, a tedious climb through mountain glaciers at an altitude of about 3 thousand m (Devil's Glacier, Axel-Heiberg glacier) and further successful advancement along the ice of the inner plateau of Antarctica, Amundsen on December 15, 1911 was the first to reach the South Pole, by four weeks earlier, the less successful expedition of R. F. Scott, which made its way to the Pole west of Amundsen’s path. On the return journey, which began on December 17, Amundsen discovered the Queen Maud Mountains, up to 4,500 m high, and on January 25, 1912, after a 99-day absence, he returned to the landing site.

Upon returning from Antarctica, Amundsen tried to repeat F. Nansen's drift through the Arctic Ocean, but much further north, possibly through the North Pole, having previously passed along the northeastern passage - along the northern shores of Eurasia (but his next northern expeditions were delayed by the First World War). For this expedition, a new ship, the Maud, was built. In the summer of 1918, the expedition left Norway, but was unable to pass around the Taimyr Peninsula and wintered at Cape Chelyuskin. During the navigation of 1919, Amundsen managed to go east to about. Aion, where the Maud vessel stopped for the second winter. In 1920, the expedition entered the Bering Strait. Subsequently, the expedition carried out work in the Arctic Ocean, and Amundsen himself for a number of years was involved in raising funds and preparing flights to the North Pole.

The second attempt was made on the Maud in 1922 from Cape Hope (Alaska), but Amundsen himself did not take part in the voyage of his ship. After a two-year ice drift, the Maud only reached the New Siberian Islands, the starting point of the Fram in 1893. Since the further direction of the drift thanks to the Fram was already known, the Maud freed itself from the ice and returned to Alaska.

Meanwhile, Amundsen tried to pave the way to the North Pole by plane, but during his first test flight in May 1923 from Wainwright (Alaska), his machine broke down. On May 21, 1925, he, along with five companions, incl. Ellsworth took off on two planes from Spitsbergen. And again he did not achieve his goal. At 870 43/s. w. and 10020/z. d., 250 km from the pole, he had to make an emergency landing. Here the expedition members spent over 3 weeks preparing the airfield for takeoff; in June they managed to return to Spitsbergen on the same plane.

Every traveler-researcher deeply believes that there is nothing insurmountable or impossible in the world. He refuses to accept defeat, even if it is already obvious, and relentlessly continues to move towards his goal. Antarctica more than once showed man “his place,” until the fearless Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, appeared in front of it. He discovered that true courage and heroism can conquer ice and severe frosts.

Uncontrollable attraction

The years of Roald Amundsen's life were eventful. He was born in 1872 in the family of a hereditary navigator and merchant. At the age of fifteen, D. Franklin's book about an expedition in the Atlantic Ocean fell into his hands, which determined his entire subsequent life. His parents had their own plans for their youngest child, deciding not to introduce him to the family craft. His mother diligently predicted a place for him in intellectual elite society, having sent it to the Faculty of Medicine after high school. But the future polar explorer was preparing for something else: he diligently played sports, hardened his body in every possible way, accustoming himself to cold temperatures. He knew that medicine was not his life's work. Therefore, two years later, Roual leaves his studies with relief, returning to his dream of adventure.

In 1893, the future traveler Roald Amundsen met the Norwegian explorer Astrup, and did not even consider any other fate than to be a polar explorer. He literally became obsessed with the idea of ​​conquering the poles. The young man set a goal to be the first to set foot on the South Pole.

Becoming a Leader

In 1894-1896, the life of Roald Amundsen changed dramatically. After completing the navigator's course, he ends up on the Belzhik ship, becoming a member of the Antarctic expedition team. This difficult journey has been deprived of the attention of historians, but it was then that people first wintered near the icy continent.

Huge ice floes of Antarctica squeezed the travelers' ship. With no other choice, they were doomed to long months of darkness and loneliness. Not everyone was able to endure the trials that befell the team; many went crazy from difficulties and constant fear. The most persistent ones gave up. The captain of the ship, unable to cope with the situation, resigned and retired from business. It was during these days that Amundsen became a leader.

Despite his tough character, Roual was quite a fair man, and first of all, he demanded from himself discipline, accountability and complete dedication to the work. The press often published unflattering reviews about him, portraying the polar explorer as quarrelsome and meticulous. But who can judge the winner, given that it was his team that survived in full force, no deaths?

On the way to a dream

There is an interesting fact in the biography of Roald Amundsen. It turns out that at first he intended to conquer the North Pole, but in the process of preparing for the expedition, news came that Frederick Cook was already ahead of him. A week later, similar news came from the expedition of Robert Peary. Amundsen understands that competition is being created between those who want to conquer the unknown. He quickly changes his plans, choosing the South Pole, and goes ahead of his rivals without telling anyone anything.

The schooner reached the shores of Antarctica in January 1911. In Whale Bay, the Norwegians built a house from brought materials. They began to carefully prepare for the future trip to the Pole: constant training of people and dogs, double-checking equipment, and bases with provisions were prepared up to 82° south latitude.

The first attempt to conquer the South Pole failed. The team of eight set out in early September but were forced to return due to rapidly dropping temperatures. It was such terrible frosts that even vodka got cold, and my skis wouldn’t go on the snow. But failure did not stop Amundsen.

South Pole

On October 20, 1911, a new attempt was made to reach the Pole. The Norwegians, a group of five people, approached the edge of the ice shelf on November 17 and began climbing the Polar Plateau. The most difficult three weeks lay ahead. There were 550 kilometers left.

It should be noted that in harsh conditions of cold and danger, people were constantly in a state of stress, and this could not but affect the relationships in the group. Conflicts occurred on any occasion.

The expedition was able to overcome a steep glacier at an altitude of 3030 meters above sea level. This section of the path was distinguished by deep cracks. Both dogs and people were exhausted, suffering from altitude sickness. And on December 6 they conquered a height of 3260 meters. The expedition reached the South Pole on December 14 at 15:00. The polar explorers made several repeated calculations to dispel the slightest doubt. The target location was marked with flags, and then the tent was erected.

The Pole was conquered by unbending people, their tenacity and desire on the verge of madness. And we must pay tribute leadership qualities Roald Amundsen himself. He discovered that victory at the Pole, in addition to human determination and courage, is also the result of clear planning and calculations.

Traveler's achievements

Roald Amundsen is the greatest Norwegian polar explorer who forever left his name in history. He made many discoveries, and geographical objects were named in his honor. People called him the Last Viking, and he lived up to that nickname.

Not everyone knows, but the South Pole is not the only thing that Roald Amundsen discovered. He was the first to make the passage in 1903-1906 from Greenland to Alaska via the Northwest Passage on the small ship Gjoa. It was a risky undertaking in many ways, but Amundsen did a lot of preparation, which explains his subsequent success. And in 1918-1920, on the ship “Maud”, it passed along the northern shores of Eurasia.

In addition, Roald Amundsen is a recognized pioneer of polar aviation. In 1926, he made the first flight on the airship "Norway" across the North Pole. Subsequently, his passion for aviation cost him his life.

Last trip

The life of the legendary polar explorer was cut short tragically. The irrepressible nature could not help but react when on May 25, 1928, a distress signal was received from the expedition of the Italian Umberto Nobile in the Barents Sea region.

It was not possible to fly out to help right away. Despite all his achievements, Roald Amundsen (we discussed what he discovered above) still needed money. Therefore, only on June 18, from Tromso on a Latham-47 seaplane, thanks to common efforts, the fearless Norwegian and his team flew to the rescue.

The last message received from Amundsen was information that they were over Bear Island. Afterwards the connection was lost. The next day it became obvious that Latham 47 was missing. Long searches yielded no results. A few months later, the seaplane's float and dented gas tank were discovered. The commission found that the plane crashed, causing tragic death teams.

Roald Amundsen was a man great destiny. He will forever remain in people's memory as a true conqueror of Antarctica.

Norwegian traveler, record holder, explorer and great person Roald Amundsen known all over the world as

• the first person to conquer both poles of our planet;
• the first person to visit the South Pole;
• the first person to commit trip around the world with its closure at the North Pole;
• one of the pioneers of the use of aviation - seaplanes and airships - in Arctic travel.

Brief biography of Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen ( full name — Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen) born July 16, 1872 in Borg, Norway. His father - Jens Amundsen, hereditary sea merchant. His mother - Hannah Salquist, daughter of a customs official.

Schooling

Rual was always at school worst student, but stood out for his stubbornness and keen sense of justice. The school director even refused to allow him to take the final exam for fear of disgracing the institution as a failing student.

Amundsen had to register for final exams separately, as an external student, and in July 1890 he received his matriculation certificate with great difficulty.

Further studies

After his father's death in 1886, Roald Amundsen wanted to study to the sailor, but the mother insisted that her son choose medicine after receiving his matriculation certificate.

He had to submit and become a medical student at the university. But in September 1893, when his mother suddenly died, he became the master of his fate and, leaving the university, went to sea.

Maritime specialty and travel to the Arctic

For 5 years, Rual sailed as a sailor on different ships, and then passed the exams and received navigator diploma. And in this capacity, in 1897, he finally went to the Arctic for research purposes on a ship "Belgica", which belonged to the Belgian Arctic expedition.

It was the most difficult test. The ship was trapped in ice, hunger and disease began, and people went crazy. Only a few remained healthy, among them Amundsen - he hunted seals, was not afraid to eat their meat, and thereby escaped.

Northwest Passage

In 1903 Amundsen used the accumulated funds to buy a used 47-ton sailing-motor yacht "Yoah", built just in the year of his birth. The schooner had a diesel engine of only 13 horsepower.

Together with 7 crew members, he went out to the open sea. He managed to walk along the coast of North America from Greenland to Alaska and discover the so-called northwest passage.

This expedition was no less harsh than the first. I had to survive wintering in ice, ocean storms, encounters with dangerous icebergs. But Amundsen continued to conduct scientific observations, and he managed to determine the location of the Earth's magnetic pole.

He reached “residential” Alaska by dog ​​sled. He had aged a lot, at 33 he looked 70. Difficulties did not frighten the experienced polar explorer, seasoned sailor and passionate traveler.

Conquest of the South Pole

In 1910, he began preparing a new expedition to the North Pole. Just before going to sea, a message arrived that the North Pole had been conquered by an American Robert Peary.

The proud Amundsen immediately changed his goal: he decided to go to the South Pole.

The travelers overcame 16 thousand miles in a few weeks, and approached the iciest Ross Barrier in Antarctica. There we had to land ashore and move on with dog sleds. The path was blocked by icy rocks and abysses; the skis barely glided.

But despite all the difficulties, Roald Amundsen December 14, 1911 reached the South Pole. Together with his comrades he walked through the ice 1500 kilometers and was the first to plant the Norwegian flag at the South Pole.

Polar aviation

Roald Amundsen flew to the North Pole on seaplanes, landed on the island of Spitsbergen, and landed in the ice. In 1926 on a huge airship "Norway"(106 meters long and with three engines) together with the Italian expedition Umberto Nobile and an American millionaire Lincoln-Ellsworth Amundsen realized his dream:

flew over the North Pole and landed in Alaska.

But all the glory went to Umberto Nobile. The head of the fascist state, Benito Mussolini, glorified only Nobile, promoted him to general, and they didn’t even remember Amundsen.

Tragic death

In 1928 Nobile decided to repeat his record. On an airship "Italy", the same design as the previous airship, he made another flight to the North Pole. In Italy they were eagerly awaiting his return, and a triumphal welcome was being prepared for the national hero. The North Pole will be Italian...

But on the way back, due to icing, the airship "Italy" lost control. Part of the crew, together with Nobile, managed land on an ice floe. The other part flew away with the airship. Radio contact with the castaways was lost.

Amundsen agreed to become a member of one of the rescue expeditions of the Nobile team. June 18, 1928 together with the French crew he took off on a seaplane "Latham-47" towards the island of Spitsbergen.

This was Amundsen's last flight. Soon radio contact with the plane over the Barents Sea was lost. The exact circumstances of the death of the plane and the expedition remained unknown.

In 1928, Amundsen was awarded (posthumously) the United States' highest honor, Congressional Gold Medal.

National hero of Norway, polar explorer, conqueror of the Northwest Passage, discoverer of the South Pole Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was born on July 16, 1872 in the city of Borge in the family of a captain and shipyard owner Verven Jens Amundsen.

Since childhood, Roald Amundsen dreamed of becoming a polar explorer; he read books about the expedition of the British polar explorer John Franklin, who in 1845 did not return from an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

In 1890-1892, Amundsen, at the insistence of his mother, studied at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Christiania (now Oslo).

In 1893, after the death of his mother, he left his studies and joined the Magdalena ship as a junior sailor, sailing in the Arctic Ocean. In 1895, Amundsen passed the navigator exam and in 1900 received a ship captain's license.

In 1897-1899, Amundsen, as first mate of the ship Belgica, made his first expedition to Antarctica. The expedition was led by a Belgian naval officer, Lieutenant Adrien de Gerlache.

The purpose of the event was to study the Antarctic coast, but the expedition almost ended in tragedy when the ship, due to the inexperience of the leader, became frozen near Peter I Island. 13 months passed before the ship was freed from captivity in the ice and went out to the open sea. On the initiative of Amundsen, who actually took command during the drift, in order to survive, the team began catching penguins and seals, making warm clothes from the skin of the animals and eating their meat for food.

On June 17, 1903, Amundsen set sail on the ship Gjoa to the Arctic with six crew members. The purpose of the expedition was to find the Northwest Passage from east to west from Greenland to Alaska, and also to determine the current coordinates of the north magnetic pole (they change over time).

Amundsen crossed the Atlantic Ocean, rounded the western part of Greenland, entered the Baffin Sea, and then into Lancaster Strait. Through the labyrinth of islands on the Canadian coast, the ship slowly moved towards its goal through floating ice floes, strong winds, fog and shallow water. By the end of the summer, the expedition had found a natural harbor on King William Island near the North Pole, which made it possible to make precise scientific observations. Amundsen and his team stayed in the harbor, called "Gjoa", for two years, building observation posts equipped with precision measuring instruments. The results of the studies gave great job many scientists 20 years ahead. At this time, Amundsen studied the life of the Eskimos and learned to drive dog sleds.

In August 1905 scientific work ended, and the ship Gjoa continued its journey between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. After three months of travel, the expedition discovered a ship on the horizon that had sailed from San Francisco - the Northwest Passage was passed for the first time.

Soon after the opening of the sea route, the ship froze in the ice and remained for the third winter.

To tell the world about the expedition's achievement, Amundsen, along with an American companion, set off in October 1905 on dog sleds on a 500-mile journey through the 3-kilometer mountains to Eagle City, Alaska, where the closest telegraph connection was located. outside world. On December 5, the world learned about the opening of the Northwest Sea Route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Amundsen's next goal was to be the first to reach the North Pole. When it was reported that Robert Peary had done this, he decided to be the first to reach the South Pole.

On August 9, 1910, Roald Amundsen set sail for Antarctica on the Fram - famous ship Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen. During the preparation of the expedition, it became known that the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott was also preparing for his second attempt to open the South Pole. Amundsen decided to get to the Pole first, carefully hiding his plan from the Norwegian government, as he feared that due to Norway's economic and political dependence on Great Britain, his expedition to the South Pole would be prohibited. The world learned about Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole when the Fram reached the island of Madeira (near the Canary Islands). A telegram about this reached Scott's expedition as he was leaving New Zealand.

Amundsen prepared carefully: he chose the route well, organized a system of warehouses with supplies, and successfully used sled teams with dogs.

On December 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole. Scott reached the Pole only on January 18, 1912.

On July 15, 1918, Amundsen set off to the North Pole from Alaska on the ship Maud via the Northeast route, but ice conditions prevented the fulfillment of his plan. Then he decided to explore the Arctic from the air.

On May 11, 1926, Amundsen, American researcher-industrialist Lincoln Ellsworth, Italian designer, airship captain Umberto Nobile and navigator Hjalmar Riiser-Larson with a team of 12 people launched from Spitsbergen on the semi-rigid airship "Norie" ("Norway").

On May 12, the airship reached the North Pole, and on May 14, Alaska, where it descended and was dismantled. The flight, 5.3 thousand kilometers long, lasted 71 hours. During the flight to the North Pole, the Norwegian, American and Italian flags were dropped. The route of "Norway" was laid over previously unknown territories - the last blank spots on the world map were filled.

On June 18, 1928, Amundsen, along with five crew members of the French seaplane Latham, took off from the Norwegian city of Tromsø in search of the Italian designer Nobile, who crashed in the Arctic on the airship Italia. Three hours later, the Latham crashed in the Barents Sea, Roald Amundsen died along with the crew of the plane.

Umberto Nobile and his companions were discovered just five days after Amundsen's death.

Roald Amundsen never married.

The sea, the mountain and the American Amundsen-Scott scientific station in Antarctica, as well as a bay and basin in the Arctic Ocean, are named in honor of Roald Amundsen.

2011 in Norway for Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.

December 14, 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the conquest of Antarctica by Roald Amundsen, at the South Pole by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to a Norwegian traveler.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources