This ill-fated Arctic expedition had my name on it, but it had nothing to do with me
Recently, I read Fridtjof Nansen's Farthest North, a book about his sea voyage/scramble over the ice towards the North Pole that lasted from 1893 to 1896. Everyone got home safely in the end; an anomaly for Arctic trips at the time. Nansen designed his ship specifically to freeze into the ice. Based on a theory that the ice would drift taking the ship with it. The evidence he used to come up with this idea came from the disastrous, 1879-1881, Jeannette Arctic Expedition.
The Jeannette was a privately owned wooden steamship, originally the HMS Pandora (isn't re-naming a ship an invitation for bad luck?), that set sail from San Fransisco in 1879 and was commanded by Lieutenant DeLong of the US Navy. Sailing through Bering Strait and into the Arctic, the ship was frozen into the ice. Its ultimate destination was the North Pole – the belief at that time was that open water existed past the ice. In the summer of 1881, the ship was crushed by ice and the crew was forced to abandon it in three small boats. One boat was lost long before they reached the Siberian coast. The other two boats made it the coast, but were separated.
One boat's crew of eleven, including the Chief Engineer George Melville, were found by locals and saved. In the other boat was thirteen people, including Lieutenant DeLong. His last journal entry was dated 30 October 1881 and it is assumed he died shortly thereafter. Melville put together a search party for the others and by 1882, some of the bodies were discovered and sent back to the United States.
The Jeannette was crushed by ice in the area north of Siberia (77 degrees 15' north, 154 degrees 59' east). Three years later bits of paperwork and clothing from the ship were found on the southwest coast of Greenland – on the opposite side of the Arctic. This discovery led to the theory that these items had drifted right over the North Pole in the ice – the theory that inspired Nansen's voyage. There is more info on the voyage here
The photo is a picture of a picture which I took in the museum in Iqaluit - there was no caption about what ship it is. Photos of the Jeannette can be found here.
"Kama vile kitabu cha Fridtjof Nansen, ""Farthest North"" kinaelezea safari yake ya baharini ya kwenda kwenye Ncha ya Kaskazini kuanzia mwaka 1893 hadi 1896. Mwishowe, kila mtu alirudi nyumbani salama; jambo lisilo la kawaida kwa safari za Aktiki wakati huo. Nansen alibuni meli yake hasa ili ihifadhiwe ndani ya barafu. Kulingana na nadharia kwamba barafu ingeelea na kuchukua meli pamoja nayo. Katika mwaka wa 1879-1881, Jeannette alishirikiana na kikundi cha wataalamu wa sayansi cha Marekani katika safari ya kwenda kwenye bara la Aktiki. Jeannette ilikuwa meli ya kibinafsi ya mbao, awali HMS Pandora (je, kubadilisha jina la meli si mwaliko wa bahati mbaya? Meli hiyo ilisafiri kutoka San Francisco mwaka 1879 na iliongozwa na Luteni DeLong wa Jeshi la Wanamaji la Marekani. Meli hiyo ilipokuwa ikisafiri kupitia Mlango-Bahari wa Bering na kuingia katika eneo la Aktiki, ilizama ndani ya barafu. Mahali pake pa mwisho palikuwa Ncha ya Kaskazini - imani wakati huo ilikuwa kwamba maji ya wazi yalikuwapo nyuma ya barafu. Katika majira ya joto ya 1881, meli hiyo ilishambuliwa na barafu na wafanyakazi walilazimika kuiacha katika mashua tatu ndogo. Mashua moja ilipotea muda mrefu kabla ya kufika pwani ya Siberia. Mashua nyingine mbili zilifika pwani, lakini zilitenganishwa. Wafanyakazi wa mashua moja wa kumi na moja, kutia ndani Mhandisi Mkuu George Melville, walipatikana na wenyeji na kuokolewa. Katika mashua nyingine kulikuwa na watu kumi na watatu, kutia ndani Luteni DeLong. Maandishi yake ya mwisho yaliandikwa tarehe 30 Oktoba 1881 na inadhaniwa kwamba alikufa muda mfupi baadaye. Melville alianzisha kikundi cha kutafuta wengine na kufikia mwaka 1882 baadhi ya miili hiyo iligunduliwa na kupelekwa Marekani. Meli hiyo iliharibiwa na barafu katika eneo la kaskazini mwa Siberia (77° 15' kaskazini, 154° 59' mashariki). Miaka mitatu baadaye vipande vya karatasi na mavazi kutoka kwa meli hiyo vilipatikana kwenye pwani ya kusini-magharibi ya Greenland - upande ule mwingine wa Aktiki. Ugunduzi huo uliongoza kwenye nadharia kwamba vitu hivyo vilikuwa vimeelea juu ya Ncha ya Kaskazini katika barafu - nadharia ambayo ilichochea safari ya Nansen. Picha ya picha ya picha ambayo nilichukua katika makumbusho ya Iqaluit - hakukuwa na maelezo juu ya meli gani. Picha za Jeannette zinaweza kupatikana hapa.