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| Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) |
Kimmo Huosionmaa
The main difference between Norwegian and British polar expeditionists is that Norwegians were civil men and that was somehow influenced their success in the South Pole, what Roald Amundsen achieved shortly before Robert Falcon Scott in 1911. The reason why the British used so many military men in the South Pole, was that there were planned the naval base in the early of 20th. century. But in this text, we are thinking about the trip, what the man named Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) made in 1893, with the ship named "Fram".
There is a couple of things, what makes this trip quite interesting. First, only two men left Fram when it was stuck the ice and those men, Nansen left with the man named Hjalmar Johansen (1867-1913), who was reserve lieutenant and dog expert trying to archive the North Pole. Nansen failed in this attempt but after long arctic winter those two men sailed to Franz-Josef's land with balsa boats, and there they met people, who took them to Norway.
Of course, those men used special suits during the seat-trip, because if they would get wet, they would die. Probably those suits were made by Catfish skin or some other natural thing, like leather, where was the rubber inside. There are some sources on the Internet, where the role of Johansen or even his is not even mentioned. He had the vital role in that expedition being the company for Nansen in that dark arctic night.
But when we are thinking about that trip, we must wonder, how Nansen knew, that he and his partner would find other people in the Franz-Josef's land? The other interesting thing is connecting with the ship, named "Fram". This ship has been made by using wood, what was, of course very good material, and the shape of Fram was that it would rise above the ice. The steel or iron ship could be better because they could be burned free by using steam, what comes from the steam motors. The ship could be equipped with the tube, what goes around it, and the steam could melt the ice around it.
But when we are thinking about the wooden structure, the steam engine was dangerous, because if the burning material would be dropped on the floor, the fire could destroy the entire ship. Fram had the stram machine, and that is very interesting part of the ship. The wooden structure would cause that the crew has the uncertain feeling, and they had no time to follow, what Nansen would do. And here I must ask, is there something to hide in that man's mind?
And did Johansen got the reserve lieutenant rank for that expedition? When we are looking at the life of Nansen after the expedition, the financial condition of that man was better, and Norway gave him very much financial support. This man worked in the Union of Nations until he died in 1930. And that thing isolated the man from other people. The question is, did Nansen hide something, and what that "something could be"? What made him risk his life in that expedition? He made very remarkable work as humanitarian after this trip and he was the remarkable man by all the way.
Picture I
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