1910-1915
1845-1873
Sir John Franklin set off on an expedition
with 129 men hoping to find the passage,
but none returned. Many land and sea
expeditions searched for Franklin. In 1853,
Dr. John Rae discovered relics of the Franklin
expedition in the possession of the Eskimos.
In 1959, an expedition led by Francis Leopold
McClintock found a cairn (a pile of stones) left
by the Franklin expedition that told of the
death of Franklin and 24 others, and how they
abandoned ship. Further attempts to locate
survivors, led by Charles Hall, continued in
the 1860's and 1870's – however Charles
Hall died on an expedition in mysterious
circumstances in 1871.
1878
The first successful navigation of the
Northeast Passage was completed by
Baron Nordenskiöld.
1882-1884
1903-1905
Adolphus Greely led an expedition to Ellesmere Island
to set up a new observation station in the Arctic. His
junior officer Lt. Lockwood established a ‘farthest
north’, breaking the record that had been held for three
centuries. However, very few of the men survive.
Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian
explorer, completed the first
successful navigation of the
Northwest Passage. It was another
34 years before the journey was
completed again.
1908-1909
In 1908-1909, Robert Peary reported
that he had reached the North
Pole with Matthew Henson and
four natives. However, this is still
questioned.
The Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition,
by the Imperial Russian Navy explored, surveyed,
and charted the Northern Sea Route with a view to
developing it as a commercial route. They spent three
years working west along the Arctic coast of Siberia and
produced an impressive volume of scientific data. Roald
Amundsen set his sights on the North Pole. His ship, The
Maud, departed from Oslo, Norway in 1918, and set off
through the Northeast Passage with the intention of
being frozen into the pack ice north of the Bering Strait.
However, the pack ice formed much earlier that year,
and by September, the Maud and her ten passengers
were frozen in for the Winter. In August, the ice set the
ship free and the expedition continues eastward. One
month later, it was stopped by ice again, and frozen in
for a second winter. After another winter in the ice, they
got through the Northeast Passage in 1920.
Nautilus, A US nuclear-powered
submarine, passed under the North
Pole, but did not surface. Later the
same year, the nuclear-powered
submarine Skate became the first
vessel to surface at the North Pole.
1970-1990s
Many expeditions were launched to
study the Arctic Ocean. Studies of
the geology, biology, chemistry and
physical oceanography continue
to this day, and use ice stations,
ice breakers and, more recently,
autonomous under