The Fram: Profile of a Famous Polar Exploration Vessel

Abstract

... In 1884, Eskimos hunting off the south coast of Greenland found a number of relics from the Jeanette on an ice floe, including a provisions note written by its commander, De Long. The drift pattern of Siberian timbers and now the startling relics from the Jeanette convinced Fridtjof Nansen that a ship deliberately set into the grip of the polar ice pack in the right place would drift with the ice over, or at least close to, the North Pole. ... [This is an account of the remarkable construction of the Fram and a brief description of its noteworthy journeys: the Norwegian North Pole Expedition, a scientific polar expedition which became a remarkable four-year voyage of discovery and exploration in the Canadian High Arctic where the expedition members mapped and explored 300 000 sq km of territory and collected 50 000 plants and 2000 jars of organic specimens, Amundsen's successful South Pole Expedition and Nielsen's 20 month oceanographic survey between Africa and South America. Although Fram had the distinction of having reached farthest south as well as north, she was abandoned until Otto Sverdrup began the long struggle to save the Fram in 1916.] Today the impressive old ship is joined by other vessels, including Viking ships and Amundsen's Gjoa, which was also rescued from the scrap heap. There can be little doubt that the person most responsible for Fram's rescue was the strong helmsman who navigated her through some of the most severe conditions a ship could face. Otto Sverdrup and the Fram will always be remembered together.