Theby John Bechtel Maud goes home Freelance Writer

reat ships of historical significance do not always come to a dignified end. Often planned and constructed with great enthusiasm and care, many came to rest at the bottom of the waterways they plied, often accompanied by the bodies of the unfortunate sailors who went down with them. GBattered and badly damaged ships of some explorers limped to the nearest port where they were greeted with wild celebration and popular acclaim, and then were refitted and restored to service; or left to weaken and rot from infestations of worms and other parasites, or to slowly deteriorate from the ravages of time, wind, sun, and water when no one had the will or the wealth to restore and maintain them. In the polar worlds, ice usually had something to do with their demise, and slowly learning from lethal experiences, planning for ice increasingly had a lot to do with The Maud lodged in Arctic ice. Roald Amundsen planned to sail her from Norway across the top of Russia, to Alaska. the next generation of ship design and construction. PHOTO: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY-OSLO

The HMS Erebus Franklin, and that also got lost in the Parks Service and the Canadian Navy One of the most famous lost ice (and was later found), was used to put 34 personnel on the ground, and expeditions, both of men and ships, make a desk that was given as a gift they are using laser technology and was the one led by Sir John Franklin, to U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes other advanced equipment to video and an experienced Arctic explorer who for use in the Oval Office of the White document every inch of the outside of in 1845 went looking for a way to House. Some presidents still use it. the Erebus. The government-sponsored cross the last unnavigated portion of The Franklin expedition has been inter-agency project has put both the Northwest Passage. They became the subject of countless articles, civilians and military personnel through ice bound in Victoria Strait near television shows, documentaries, extensive under-ice-diving training King William Island in the Canadian radio broadcasts, literary allusions exercises from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Archipelago. Two ships and 128 men made to it from Jules Verne to to Quebec City, in preparation for disappeared without a trace. The search Mark Twain, songs, ballads, poems, archeological dives around and into the for evidence of the vanished men and paintings, plays, and books. Franklin’s Erebus. the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror HMS Erebus was discovered in the It is worth noting that the Erebus was became a cause célèbre. Rescue ships Gulf of Maud only two years ago, in finally found in 2014 where Inuit oral and parties were sent to solve the great September 2014, 170 years after it histories indicated it went down. mystery, and some of those rescue ships disappeared. A lesser known upside of Work was interrupted in 2015 were frozen in ice and more men died. this story is that thousands of miles of because a fierce Arctic storm reduced As a result, the British Admiralty coastline were explored and mapped underwater visibility to half a meter (1.7 lost their enthusiasm for Arctic by all the search parties involved feet) . Divers used markers and tie lines exploration. Timber salvaged from in the years immediately following to find their way around after the storm. H.M.S. Erebus. by Belgian seascape painter François Etienne Musin. Ill-fated Sir John Franklin, above right. one of the rescue ships sent to find the disaster. Last year the Canadian (Continued on page 00)

O FALL2016 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | FALL 2016 O The Maud A new ship was built expressly for Amundsen because by the time the Today the Gjoa welcomes The Fram Fram got back to Norway it was too damaged to make another Arctic trip. visitors to the Fram The Fram was the first Norwegian Amundsen planned to make the Northeast Passage with her, from Norway Museum, Oslo, Norway, ship specifically designed and across the top of Russia, to Nome, Alaska. The new ship was modeled after home, also, of the Fram. built for navigating polar ice, with accommodations for a crew that would the Fram, and Amundsen got permission from the Norwegian government spend up to five years at a time at sea. to take some of the equipment from on board the Fram and use it on It was about 120 feet long and 40 feet the Maud. The Maud was designed and constructed to Amundsen’s wide and was shaped like an egg sliced specifications, and he invested most of his money in the ship. The in half lengthwise. The hull was almost Norwegian government contributed as did some other sponsors, but in the three feet thick and constructed with end the cost of the ship and supplies far exceeded the money available, and greenheart, some of the strongest, when Amundsen sailed, he carried with him the financial burden of heavy densest wood known. Its shape was debt and creditors waiting for him on the other side. After two winters and designed to resist crushing by the ice three summers in the Northeast Passage, the ship arrived in Nome, Alaska and would ride up on the ice instead. on July 27, 1920, where Amundsen left the ship. But this shape also caused an awful The Maud continued on for another three years under the command of ride in open sea. Both the rudder and Oscar Wisting in another abortive attempt at an East-West polar crossing, the propeller could be lifted from the and they arrived back at Nome in 1925 where creditors were waiting for ice. It even had a windmill on board their collateral. Wisting managed to evade them and slipped out of port, for the generation of electricity for but when they arrived at Seattle on October 5, 1925, the creditors were lamp lighting. Designed by Norwegian waiting to seize the ship. Fridtjof Nansen, who planned an The Maud was sold at auction to the Hudson Bay Company (HBC), (Continued from page 00) expedition of “polar drift”, freezing which used her as a supply ship in the Canadian archipelago. In 1926 she 30, 1906. He reached San Francisco the Fram into place in sheet ice and was frozen in the ice at Cambridge Bay, and the HBC kept her there as a The Gjoa on September 10, 1906, where he and migrating with the ice pack over the floating warehouse, radio station, and machine shop. In 1930 she developed Fifty years after the Franklin his little ship got a hero’s welcome. North Pole. The ship spent three years Roald a leak near her propeller, and without any appropriate repair facilities tragedy, Roald Amundsen and six men Amundsen went home, but the Gjoa trapped in the ice, from 1893 to 1896, Amundsen, available, she sank at her mooring, half in and half out of the water. Not sailed through the entire Northwest stayed in San Francisco, where it was but missed the North Pole. above, and exactly a glorious finish for a ship designed for great things. Passage in three years, from 1903- pulled ashore and put on display in From 1898 to 1902 the Fram under Fridtof Nansen, But it got worse. Over the years the Maud was gradually cannibalized 1906. Amundsen bought the 70-foot Golden Gate Park. the leadership of Norwegian explorer left. for practical purposes. Her foremast is reported as having been removed ship, Gjoa, named after the first When the Gjoa was 100 years old, Otto Sverdrup successfully navigated for a flagpole at the HBC trading post. Her wheel was removed and sent skipper’s wife, in 1901, and began somewhere in Norway, but no one seems to know where it went. The local and still sitting outdoors, dry rotted, in parts of the Arctic archipelago, charting A few years later, in 1910, immediately making improvements Inuit complained that oil leaking from its hold was ruining the fishing in San Francisco, she was hoisted up and the location of islands, coasts, and Amundsen had the Fram refurbished the area, and in 1935 her hull was dynamited to remove the oil in the hold. in preparation for ice. In the Tromsø trailered to the harbor where she was waterways; an area about a quarter of in preparation for another attempt By 1939 the deck was gone. (Good wood is scarce in Cambridge Bay.) What shipyard in Norway he had the hull placed on the deck of a cargo ship and a million square kilometers (155,325 at polar drift to the North Pole, but was left of her was wrecked by ice which gradually moved her remains strengthened, and the next year he had arrived in Oslo on June 2, 1972, where square miles). He discovered a number his heart wasn’t in it, and after he left further from shore. The frigid Arctic water prevented damage from it strengthened again by adding iron in it has been fully restored and is proudly of new islands west of Ellesmere Island, harbor he headed to Antarctica instead, shipworms, which usually destroy whatever is left of shipwrecks. Trondheim. on display at the National Maritime which are collectively known as the partly to avoid creditors who were (Continued on page 00) There are a number of reasons why Museum. The Gjoa made it home. Sverdrup Islands. looking for him back at the harbor. On Amundsen succeeded where others his return from Antarctica in 1912, failed, and one of the important ones, he reached Buenos Aires, Argentina. Launching of Maud in Vollen, Norway, besides his assiduous preparations Amundsen took off for his next 1917. and his choice of route, was that he adventure. Meanwhile, the Fram spent wisely chose to winter over with the the next two years sailing up and down local tribespeople three years in a the Brazilian coast, receiving a change row, waiting out the worst of the ice, of plans several times. She made it back acquiring skills from the natives, and to Norway on July 16, 1914, worm doing scientific experiments. When eaten and in bad shape. The Fram they resumed their trip each time, was done. Towed into Oslo on May 6, it was slow going, as many of the 1935, it was pulled up onto land, and a waterways were so shallow there was building was built around it. Today, 80 less than a foot’s clearance below their years later, it lies in state in a museum keel and they had to navigate their bearing its name in Oslo. Skillfully way through treacherous ice fields. built, and guided by some of the best That’s why his trip took so long. He left seamanship of the day, the Fram made

Kristiania in Norway on June 16, 1903 OF NORWAY-OSLO LIBRARY NATIONAL PHOTO: it home from treacherous voyages in and reached Nome, Alaska on August The Fram leaves Bergen, Norway, on July 2, 1893. uncharted waters. PHOTO: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY-OSLO O FALL 2016 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | WINTER 2015-2016 O On a quiet evening, Maud can be seen with all the airbags attached around her hull.

(Continued from page 00) no profit in sight. place. Maud crew of 2016 from left: Bjørn Myrann, Terje Mørkved, Kjell Myrann, Stig Pettersen and Jan Wanggaard. Why would they undertake a project Jan says theirs is a totally private The Asker Investors that could last a decade or more with project, with no financial involvement The Maud remained in the waters the forces of nature. Perhaps in the people today have become over- from the public purse. Jan finds that The Team of Cambridge Bay for over 85 years. no idea of cost? Amundsen once Unlike the Erebus extravaganza, Jan process he became one himself. He intellectualized and are losing their a little surprising considering In 2011 the Tandberg Eiendom said: “And yet even today works with a core crew of two and they likes physical activity, and continually physical connections with nature and how much Amundsen company of real estate investors in we hear people ask in call in others on occasion as they are improving his own abilities to create life. Jan is the only diver on this project contributed to the Asker hired Jan Wanggaard to look surprise: What is the needed. and achieve and to perfect. He in the icy waters of Cambridge Bay in nation of Norway. into the possibility of bringing Maud use of these voyages Jan is a philosopher-sailor who studied industrial design and the Nunavut, Canada. A failure by home to Asker where she had been of exploration? has spent a lifetime on the water. connection between crafts and the He says they operate without a the fledgling built. This was a remarkable grass roots What good do His ambition has not been to win human spirit. He is a hands-on kind budget and without time frames or Norwegian investment in cultural history, where they do us? competitions, but to immerse himself of guy, and although he admires much deadlines. They proceed with a government the costs were unknown, and there was Little brains, I in the natural element, to be a part of of technology, he believes young (Continued on page 00) always answer of 1905/1906 to myself, have to provide only room adequate for thoughts financial of bread and support to butter.” For Amundsen the investors was a source of Tandberg of bitterness to Eiendom in Asker, Maud in Oslo before Amundsen as an at least part of the departure from Norway, explorer until his answer has to be their 1918. death. In the late 1800s attachment to their local and early 1900s, Arctic identity. After spending years and Antarctic exploration had and significant sums contributing to captured the public’s eye, and it had the development of local infrastructure quickly developed into an international and living environment, bringing competition in the newspapers, a polar Maud home where she belongs just Olympics of sorts, and Amundsen feels like the right thing to do. In many was carrying the Norwegian flag. ways this project replicates the courage, He expected better recognition and determination, and vision it took for support for the home team from the Project Manager Jan Wanggaard Amundsen to have her built in the first Norwegian power structure than he got. The crew lines up in anticipation of Maud’s resurfacing after 85 years. Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, in the distance.

O FALL 2016 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | FALL 2016 O (Continued from page 00) Amundsen voyage. It might take Jan Wanggaard’s First meeting with Maud. scientific mind and a dock worker’s longer, but they would not have the practical canniness. They approach risk of crossing the tempestuous North the task of raising a ship that has been Atlantic Ocean. submerged for 85 years in icy water Just to get the 50-year-old tugboat with patience and cautious resolve. Tandberg Polar and the barge named There is no place for hurrying. They Jensen from Norway to Cambridge Bay proceed with the same mindset as in 2014 was a task requiring masterful Amundsen 100 years ago when he seamanship. Crossing the Atlantic in planned his expeditions: attention to early July they met nasty storms and the smallest details was the difference 30-foot waves. As they rounded the between life and death. Not only was southern tip of Greenland, they were Amundsen the first to discover the introduced to “summer” ice ranging in South Pole, he and his crew returned. size from small chunks to icebergs 300 The five-member team of his closest feet high, complicated by occasional competitor who reached the Pole dense fog and high winds. all died trying to get back to base. If Last summer a small crew attached Amundsen were present in Cambridge large airbags along the sides of the Bay today, he would approve of Jan Maud with very strong lightweight Wanggaard. ropes that could be handled without Just as he was chosen to lead the the use of expensive heavy equipment. project based on the implicit trust The Maud would be very heavy as she was lifted from the seabed because of of others in him, and not political OF NORWAY-OSLO LIBRARY NATIONAL PHOTO: her heavy iron plating. They went as far jockeying for a resume-building spot Norway. When the ice began to melt voyage home to her birthplace in as they could before winter ice of 2015 in the limelight, Jan picked his team of The Maud surfaced on Saturday, July 30, 2016. A very happy Jan Wanggaard in mid-July of 2015, they would begin Vollen, Norway would happen in 2017. shut them down for the year. two because of past history with them examines the wreck of the resurfaced ship. diving around the Maud, examining Or maybe not. Maybe they would As you read this, the “summer” of and their intense desire to work with her and testing their plans to lift and make the return trip back to Norway 2016 in Cambridge Bay is winding him on this project. He has known move her. The final uplift from the retracing the original route the Maud down and the nights grow longer and Sometimes we have quiet evenings for easy photography. Maud is not visible, Bjorn Myramm, who he describes as seabed and affixing the Maud to the took to get from Norway to the the days grow shorter, the ice begins only the tops of some airbags attached around Maud can be seen. “a very smart man” and a “jack of all barge would begin in July this year, Canadian Northwest Passage—across to lock out marine traffic and isolate trades and expert at nothing” for over and she would be moved to Greenland the Northeast Passage, through the the small town once again. It is not 30 years, and Stig Pettersen came to where she would winter, and her final Russian Arctic, in effect reliving the hard to imagine life here as Amundsen him after the project was announced experienced it. The Maud recovery and said he wanted to be a part of it, The Norwegian team attached balloons to this barge to lift the Maud out of the team has been living an expedition of and added “if you say no, I will never shallow waters near Cambridge Bay, where the ship has sat for decades. their own; small, intimate, and close to give up or go away until you change history. What will they do next? What your mind.” Like both Amundsen and route will they take? If they take the other successful expedition leaders, Jan Northeast Passage across the Russian Wanggaard understands the value of Arctic, will they be able to reestablish competent, motivated team mates who connections made by Amundsen are willing to follow direction. He and with the indigenous tribes? Will the his colleagues are knowledgeable about descendants remember? How long engines and mechanical things such as will the trip take? Will they remove compressors and tugboats and how to the moisture from the oak of the ship make things work under challenging by using the new technology of freeze circumstances. And they share a drying? Will they do this on a winter layover, or will it happen back in Asker? respect for the indigenous tribal people Sustained by a feeling of the of the Far North. John Bechtel is a professional rightness of what they are doing and freelance writer for the food, with strong focus, Jan Wanggaard and You can follow their adventure The Plan his small crew are patient, live in the here: http://www.maudreturnshome. wine, and tourism industries; Because the waterways in parts of moment, and relish their own small no/, or go to their facebook page, ghostwriting non-fiction books; the Canadian archipelago are ice- place in Arctic maritime history as they maudreturnshome for more and web content strategist for free for less than twelve weeks in the take the Maud home to the village of iinformation and photos. businesses. summer, the project would take three Vollen, in the municipality of Asker, Unless otherwise specified, You can follow him on his web- years: the summer of 2014 to get a where she will finally come in from the photos provided courtesy of Jan site www.greatplainsdrifter.com. tug and barge to Cambridge Bay from cold. Wanggaard.

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