Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
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The Lost Expedition ...!
On July 11, 1897, the Swedish polar explorer Salomon August Andrée starts together with the engineer Knut Frænkel and the photographer Nils Strindberg ...
... in Spitzbergen with a helium balloon with which he wants to cross the North Pole and then land on the US or Canadian mainland.
These photos were taken during the launch ...:
To keep in touch with the world, the expedition has 12 buoys and 36 carrier pigeons on board.
One of these carrier pigeons lands on the Norwegian seal-catching ship "Alken" on July 15th and had the following message with it on July 13th: "Have a good trip. Everything on board as well" and position information ...:
Then you haven't heard from the expedition for 33 years! It is considered lost!
Buoys that the balloon had on board were found in 1899 and 1900, but they only contained position information that had been made a few hours after take-off.
In August 1930 the crew of the Norwegian sealer MS “Bratvaag” discovered the last camp of the three missing Swedes by chance on the "White Island" in the polar sea ...:
Their end could be reconstructed from the diaries, letters and exposed films found there:
For four days and 800 kilometers from the North Pole, the balloon is so icy that André has to make a controlled emergency landing on the ice of the polar sea.
The landing succeeds, all three expedition members remain uninjured - however, the balloon has lost so much helium that it cannot take off again.
Photographer Strindberg takes these pictures ...:
The three Swedes decide to make their way on foot across the pack ice to Cape Flora, 350 kilometers away, on Franz-Joseph-Land, where, with wise foresight, a storage facility had been set up to safeguard against the expedition ...:
In the balloon gondola there are supplies, extensive emergency equipment (including three rifles), tents, skis, three sleds - and all the necessary nautical instruments that are needed.
The Swedes estimate their chances are not bad!
When the three men set out, each of the sledges weighed 200 kilos - and they quickly realized that they had underestimated the difficult terrain in the impassable pack ice!
Strindberg's photos document the difficulties ...:
Progress is much slower than planned! In addition, ice drift takes you far off course!
First of all, the sleds are lightened - so that they each weigh only 130 kilograms.
In addition, the clothing appears to be unsuitable, it is not waterproof and almost always wet or damp - due to the lack of wood in the pack ice, you cannot make a fire to dry it.
When the food you carry with you runs out, you successfully switch to hunting and shoot seals or polar bears!
On September 12, 1897, after two months of the most difficult march, the three Swedes realized that they had to winter in the Arctic and that they would probably not reach their destination until the following year.
A solid house made of ice is built according to a plan by Strindberg, the walls of which are "hardened" with iced water ...:
On October 12th, the drifting ice floe is pressed against the White Island by wind pressure and breaks right under the ice house.
The three Swedes drag their belongings to the island and build an identical dwelling.
Your mood is confident!
André writes: “Nobody has lost heart. You can hold out with such comrades, whatever may come. "
But shortly afterwards, the personal notes break off one after the other. The men die one after the other without a reason for this or at least a description of their suffering to be found in the documents found.
Of course, in 1930 the mortal over-rights of André, Strindberg and Frænkel were also found ...
... and made it to Stockholm - but only examined very superficially there, whereby no external injuries and no signs of illness or starvation were found.
Then the corpses are cremated as quickly as possible - in such a hurry it is with the state funeral ordered by the king!
So one can only speculate about the cause of death of the three Swedes!
The best known and most widespread hypothesis is that of the doctor Ernst Tryde, which he put forward in 1952 in his book "De döda från Vitön" ("The Dead of the White Island") ...
... after the meat reserves of the expedition had been examined, which had also been found - preserved by the cold ...:
Tryde believed the men were likely infected with roundworms after eating polar bear meat infected with trichinae. Larvae of the species Trichinella spiralis were found in polar bear carcasses at the camp site ...
On July 11, 1897, the Swedish polar explorer Salomon August Andrée starts together with the engineer Knut Frænkel and the photographer Nils Strindberg ...
... in Spitzbergen with a helium balloon with which he wants to cross the North Pole and then land on the US or Canadian mainland.
These photos were taken during the launch ...:
To keep in touch with the world, the expedition has 12 buoys and 36 carrier pigeons on board.
One of these carrier pigeons lands on the Norwegian seal-catching ship "Alken" on July 15th and had the following message with it on July 13th: "Have a good trip. Everything on board as well" and position information ...:
Then you haven't heard from the expedition for 33 years! It is considered lost!
Buoys that the balloon had on board were found in 1899 and 1900, but they only contained position information that had been made a few hours after take-off.
In August 1930 the crew of the Norwegian sealer MS “Bratvaag” discovered the last camp of the three missing Swedes by chance on the "White Island" in the polar sea ...:
Their end could be reconstructed from the diaries, letters and exposed films found there:
For four days and 800 kilometers from the North Pole, the balloon is so icy that André has to make a controlled emergency landing on the ice of the polar sea.
The landing succeeds, all three expedition members remain uninjured - however, the balloon has lost so much helium that it cannot take off again.
Photographer Strindberg takes these pictures ...:
The three Swedes decide to make their way on foot across the pack ice to Cape Flora, 350 kilometers away, on Franz-Joseph-Land, where, with wise foresight, a storage facility had been set up to safeguard against the expedition ...:
In the balloon gondola there are supplies, extensive emergency equipment (including three rifles), tents, skis, three sleds - and all the necessary nautical instruments that are needed.
The Swedes estimate their chances are not bad!
When the three men set out, each of the sledges weighed 200 kilos - and they quickly realized that they had underestimated the difficult terrain in the impassable pack ice!
Strindberg's photos document the difficulties ...:
Progress is much slower than planned! In addition, ice drift takes you far off course!
First of all, the sleds are lightened - so that they each weigh only 130 kilograms.
In addition, the clothing appears to be unsuitable, it is not waterproof and almost always wet or damp - due to the lack of wood in the pack ice, you cannot make a fire to dry it.
When the food you carry with you runs out, you successfully switch to hunting and shoot seals or polar bears!
On September 12, 1897, after two months of the most difficult march, the three Swedes realized that they had to winter in the Arctic and that they would probably not reach their destination until the following year.
A solid house made of ice is built according to a plan by Strindberg, the walls of which are "hardened" with iced water ...:
On October 12th, the drifting ice floe is pressed against the White Island by wind pressure and breaks right under the ice house.
The three Swedes drag their belongings to the island and build an identical dwelling.
Your mood is confident!
André writes: “Nobody has lost heart. You can hold out with such comrades, whatever may come. "
But shortly afterwards, the personal notes break off one after the other. The men die one after the other without a reason for this or at least a description of their suffering to be found in the documents found.
Of course, in 1930 the mortal over-rights of André, Strindberg and Frænkel were also found ...
... and made it to Stockholm - but only examined very superficially there, whereby no external injuries and no signs of illness or starvation were found.
Then the corpses are cremated as quickly as possible - in such a hurry it is with the state funeral ordered by the king!
So one can only speculate about the cause of death of the three Swedes!
The best known and most widespread hypothesis is that of the doctor Ernst Tryde, which he put forward in 1952 in his book "De döda från Vitön" ("The Dead of the White Island") ...
... after the meat reserves of the expedition had been examined, which had also been found - preserved by the cold ...:
Tryde believed the men were likely infected with roundworms after eating polar bear meat infected with trichinae. Larvae of the species Trichinella spiralis were found in polar bear carcasses at the camp site ...
