Roald Amundsen (1872  1928)

Roald Amundsen is the greatest polar explorer of all times. He was born in Borge in the south-east of Norway and was early in life fascinated by the polar explorers and their achievements. When Fridtjof Nansen headed to sea on the first ”Fram” expedition, Roald Amundsen asked if he could join, but Nansen felt he was too young. In 1897, Amundsen got his chance: he joined the ship ”Belgica” that was bound for the Southpolar ocean. On this expedition, Amundsen experienced his first Antarctical winter. Amundsens breakthrough as a polar explorer came when he, in charge of his own expedition using the ship ”Gjøa”, became the first to go through the Northwest passage.
Roald Amundsen was known for his very careful planning and the ability to reach his goals.
In 1910, ”Fram” embarks from Christiania, originally heading for the north pole. Amundsen mislead the entire world, and takes on the challenge in being the first to reach the opposite : the south pole. Amundsens expedition that conquered the south pole is the ultimate success in Norwegian polar history. On December, 14th., 1911, the following reached this historic goal: Amundsen, Bjaaland, Hassel, Helmer-Hanssen and Wisting.

With the ship ”Maud”, Amundsen tried to drift across the north pole, but after seven years in the ice, they had still not reached their goal. And yet, today this expedition is being regarded as one of the most significant of the polar expeditions.

Amundsen is also one of the pioneers of polar flying. Using the planes N24 and N25, he made new attempts to towards the north in 1925. These flights were dramatic, but Amundsen didn’t reach the north pole with these attempts. In 1926, however, he succeeds in flying over the north pole in the zeppelin ”Norge”. This expedition became the finishing touch in Amundsens carreer as a polar explorer. In 1928 Roald Amundsen tried to rescue Umberto Nobile and crew in the crashed zeppelin ”Italia”, but crashed to his death along with his own crew in the plane ”Latham”. Amundsen was never found, nor were his crew members.