Posted on 08/23/2009 4:42:20 PM PDT by decimon
A Norwegian team is set to embark on an expedition to find the submerged wreck of a plane which carried Norway's great polar explorer Roald Amundsen.
Amundsen was aboard a Latham 47 sea plane when the aircraft disappeared over the sea on its way to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in 1928.
Two ships will set sail from the Norwegian city of Tromso on Monday to begin the two-week expedition.
The team will use an underwater robot to scan for the plane using sonar.
Between 1910 and 1912, Amundsen led the first expedition to reach the South Pole, reaching the target some five weeks before his British rival Robert Scott.
On 18 June 1928, Amundsen joined a rescue operation to save another rival: Umberto Nobile.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Since Robert Peary’s claim to reach the North Pole is now deemed dubious, the first uncontested presence at the North Pole was by the airship Norge in 1926 with Amundsen aboard.
Thus you could say that Amundsen discovered both the South Pole and the North Pole. That is even more ironic because Amundsen decided to go to the South Pole after Peary was reported at the North Pole, Amundsen’s original goal.
Amundsen was not on the Norge. He never got to the North Pole. He died on a rescue mission to save Norge.
My error. I was refering to the later flight. You are correct. Amundsen did reach the Pole on the first flight.
This was what PBS was good at. This and the imported British shows.
Come to think of it, this was an imported British show. Or a collaboration.
Amundsen ping
Good movie to rent: “The Red Tent.” Sean Connery plays Nobile in a series of flashbacks which serves as an informal “court martial.” When a rescue plane finally landed at the crash site on the ice, he was first to hop on board. When the plane returned for the remainder of the crew, they couldn’t be found. Tsk, tsk.... leaders aren’t supposed to do that.
At answers.com it says the pilot of the plane refused to take anyone but Nobile. I looked because no movie can be counted on for being accurate.
He was. And survived the loss of the Norge. He died two years later in a rescue attempt for the crashed airship Italia
I caught my mistake and posted it a few minutes later.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.