FOR HANDEL, SJØFART, INDUSTRI, HANDVE RK OG FISKERI NORGES SVALBARD- OG ISHAVS-UND ERSØK ELS ER
SKRIFTER
Nr.
88REPORT
ON THE ACTIVITIES OF
NORGES SVALBARD- OG ISHAVS
UNDERSØKELSER
1936=1944
WITH 7 FIGURES IN THE T EXT,
2 PLATES, AND l MAP
OSLO
KOMMISJON HOS JACOB DYBWAD
1945
1906-1926 PUBLISHED IN OTHER SERIES (See Nr. 1 of this series.)
The results of the P r i n e e o f M o n a e o's expeditions (Mission I s a c h s e n) in 1906 and 1907 were published under the title of 'E x P I o r a t i o n d u N o r d - O u e s t du S P i t s be r g e n t r e p r i s e s o u s l e s a u s P i e e s d e S. A. S. I e P r i n c e d eM o n a e o p a r I a M i s s i o n Isa e h s e n', in Re s u l t a t s d e s C a m p a g n e s s e i e n t ifi q u e s, A lbe r t ler, P r i nce d e M o n a c o, F a s e. X L-X L IV. Monaco.
ISACHSEN, G UNNA R, Premiere Partie. Reeit d e voyage. Fase. XL. 1912. Fr. 120.00.
With map: Spitsberg (Cote Nord-Ouest). Seale l: 100 000. (2 sheets.) Charts: De la Partie Nord du Foreland il la Baie Magdalena, and MouiIIages de la Cote Ouest du Spitsberg.
ISACHSEN, G UNNA R et A DOLF H O EL, Deuxieme Partie . Deseription du' ehamp d'operation.
Fase. XLI. 1913. Fr. 80.00.
HOEL, ADOLF, Troisieme Partie. Geologie. Fase. XLII. 1914. Fr. 100.00.
SCH ETEL IG, JAKOB, Quatrieme Partie. Les formations primitives. Fase. XLIII. 1912. Fr.
16.00.
RESVOLL HOLMS EN, H ANNA, C i nquieme Partie. Observations botaniques. Fase. XLIV, 1913. Fr. 40.00.
A considerable part of the results of the ISACHSEN expeditions in 1909 and 1910 has been published in V i d e n s k a p s s e l s k a p e t s S k r i f t e r. I. Mat.-N a t u r v. K l a s s e.
K r i s t i a n i a (O s I o).
ISACHSEN, G UNNAR, Rapport sur I'Exped ition Isachsen au Spitsberg. 1912, No. 15.
Kr. 5,40.
ALEXANDER, ANTON, Observations astronomiques. 1911, No. 19. Kr. 0,40.
GRAARUD, AAGE, Observations meteorologiques. 1 9 1 3, No. 1. Kr. 2,40.
H ELLAND-HANS EN, BJØRN and FRIDTJOF NANS EN, The sea west of Spitsbergen. 1912, No. 12. Kr. 3,60.
!SACHSEN, G UNNAR, The hydrographie observations. 1912, No. 14. Kr. 4,20.
With chart: Waters and anchorages on the west and north eoast. Publ. by the Norw.
Geogr. Survey, No. 1 98.
H O EL, A. et O. H OLTEDAHL, Les nappes d e l ave, les volcans et les sourees thermales dans les environs de la Baie Wood au Spttsberg. 1911, No. 8. Kr. 4,00.
G OLDSCHM I DT, V. M., Petrograph isehe Untersuehung ei niger E ruptivgesteine von Nord
westspitzbergen . 1911.1 N o . 9. Kr. 0,80.
BACKLUND, H., Uber einige O l ivinknollen aus der Lava von Wood-Bay, Spitzbergen.
1911, No. 16. Kr. 0,60.
H OLTEDA HL, OLAF, Zur Kenntnis der Kårbonablagerungen des westliehen Spitzbergens.
I. Eine Fauna der Moskauer Stufe . 1911, No. 1 0. Kr. 3,00. Il. Allgemeine stratigraphisehe und tektonisehe Beobaehtungen . 1912, No. 23. Kr. 5,00.
H O EL, ADOLF, Observations sur la vitesse d'eeoulement et sur l'ablation du G lacier Lilli ehook a u Spitsberg 1907-1912. 1916, No. 4. Kr. 2,20.
VEGAR D, L., L'i n fluenee du sol sur la glaeiation au Spitsberg. 1912, No. 3. Kr. 0,40.
!SAC H S EN, G UNNAR, Travaux topographiques. 1915, N o. 7. Kr. 10,00.
With m ap: Spitsberg ( Partie Nord-O uest) . Scale I: 200 000 (2 sheets).
G UNNA R !SAC H S EN has also published: Green Harbour, in Norsk Geogr. Selsk. Aarb., Kristiania, 1912-13, Green Harbour, Spitsbergen, in Seat. geogr. Mag., Edinburgh, 1915, and, Spitsbergen: Notes to aeeompany map, in Geogr. Journ., London, 1915.
All the above publieations have be en eollected into two volurnes as E x p e d i t i o n
Is a e h s e n a u S p i t s b e r g 19 0 9-19 1 0. Re s u l t a t s s e i e n t i f i q u e s. I, Il. C h r i
sti a n i a 1 9 l 6.
As the result of the expeditions of ADOLF H O EL and ARVE STAXRUD 1911-1914 the following m emoir has been published in V i d e n s k a p s s e l s k a p e t s S k r i f t e r. I. M a t .
Na t u r v. K l a s s e.
H O EL, A DOLF, Nouvelles observations sur le distriet voleanique du Spitsberg du Nord.
1914, No. 9. Kr. 2,50.
Expeditions of TH. VOGT 1925 and 1928:
STØ RM E R, LEIF, Downtonian Merostornata from Spitsbergen. - Skr. Norske Vid.-Akad.
I. Mat.-Nat. Kl. 1934. No. 3. Kr. 3,00.
The following topographieal maps and eharts have been published separately:
Ma p s:
Bear Island. l: 25 000. 1925. Kr. 10,00.
Bear Island. l: 10 000. ( I n six sheets). 1925. Kr. 30,00.
East Greenland. Eirik Raudes Land from Sofiasund to Youngsund. l: 200 000. 1932. Kr. 5,00.
FOR HANDEL, SJØFART, INDUSTRI, HANDVERK OG FISKERI
NORG ES SVALBARD- OG ISHAVS-UND ERSØK ELS ER
SKRIFTER
Nr. 88
REPORT
ON THE ACTIVITIES OF
NORGES SVALBARD- OG ISHAVS
UNDERSØKELSER 1936-1944
WITH 7 F I G U R ES IN T H E T EXT,
2 PLAT ES, AND 1 MAP
OSLO
KOMMISJON HOS JACOB DYBWAD
1945
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. . ... . . ... ... ... . .. 7
Expeditions and Work of N o rges Sval bard - og Ishavs-und ersøkelser 1936- 1 9 44 . _ 9 Work during the Winter of 1 936-37 .. ... ... ... .... . ... ... 9
Expeditions i n the Summer of 1 937 . ... .... . ... . . ... ... . . . 1 0 Expedition t o South-East G reenland . . . _ . . . . 1 0 Expedition t o N orth-East Green land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 Sval bard . . . . . . • . • . . . • . . . 1 3 Work during the Wi nter of 1937 - 38 . . . _ . . . _ " . . . . 1 3 Expeditions i n the Summer o f 1938 . . . . . . . . . 1 4 Expedition to South- East G reenland ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 Expedition to N orth-East Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 Expedition to Svalbard . . . 17
Coal I nvestigations in Svalbard . . . .. . . 21
Work during the Winter of 1 938- 39 . . . 23
Relief Expedition for Count M icard in N orth- East Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24
Exped itions in the Summer of 1 939 . . . 24
Expedition to South- East Greenland " . . . . . 24
Expedition to North-East G reenland . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. 25
Exped ition to Svalbard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 27
l. Hyd rographie Section in the "Nordkapp" . . . . . . . . .. 27
2. Topographic Section to the N orth Coast of Spitsbergen . . . . . 30
3. Topograph ic Section to the Island of Hopen . . . .. .. . . 30
Work d u ring the Winter of 1 939-40 . . . 33
Expeditions in the Summer of 1 9 40 . . . . . . . . . .. 33
Expedition to South- East Greenland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Expedition to North- East Greenland . . . . . . . . . 35
Work during the Winter of 1 940-4 1 . . . . . . . . 36
Expedition in the Summer of 1 94 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Expedition to North- East Greenland . . . . ... . . ... . . o ' 37 Work during the Winter of 1 94 1--42 . . . 37
Summer of 1 942 . . . 37
Work during the Win ter of 1 9 42--43 . . . . . . . . . 38
Summer of 1943 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Work during the Winter of 1 943 -4 4 . . . .. . . 39
Summer of 1 9 44 . . . 39
Summary of Work . . . .. . . ... . . . o . . . . • • . . • . • • . • . . • . 39
North-East Greenland . . . .. " . " . . . o . . . . . 4 0 South- East Greenland . . . . . 40 Svalbard . . .. .... .. ....... _ . . .... . . ... . . ....... . ... " 4 1 Financing the Expeditio ns and the NSIU . ... ... . . o . . . 4 1
Cooperation between the NSIU and Gove rnment Institutio ns . . . 4 1
Offices and Store Rooms . . . 42
The Library . . . 42
PubIication s . . . " 42 Svalbard Plac e-N ames. . . 43
BibIiography of Norwegian Polar Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Assistance to other Expeditions, etc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . 44
Glaeier Studies in Norway . . . 46
Svalbard Hunting Cabin . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The I nternational Exhibition of Polar Ex ploration, Bergen 1 940 . . .. .. 47
Exhibitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Norwegian lce-Breaker Committee . . . . . . 49
Antaretie Place-name Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 50
Arktisk Næringsdrift AlS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1 Nordpolh otellet AlS (North Pole Hotel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 51
Nature Protection . ... . . ... . . " 52 Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 53
Errata and Addenda . . . 55
L i s t s a n d T a b l e s: l. Members and Collaborators of the Expeditions . . . 58
2. Vessels and Members . . . . . . 6 1 3. Particulars o f VesseIs . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . 62
4 . Office Person neI . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5. Instruments . . . 63
6. Astronomical Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . ... . . 63
7. Base Lines . . . 63
8. Determination of Mean Sea LeveI for the Computation of Altitudes 64 9. Methods used by the Topographical Survey . . . 64
1 0. Details of Topographical Field Work . . . . . . . . ..... . . 64
1 1 . Topographically Surveyed Areas . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65
1 2. Hydrographi cally Surveyed Areas . . . ... . . ... . . 65
13. Beacons, Lights, and Wireless Stations . . . 66
1 4 . Ocean ographic Work . . . ... . ... . . 66
1 5. Num ber of Expeditions . . . ... ... . . ... . . . , 66
1 6. Number of Photograpils Taken . . . , . . . , 66
1 7 . Papers and Maps Published . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
1 8. Contributio ns . . . ... .. ... 71
Figure Page
l. The new meterological station i n Torgi lsbu . . . • . . . 15 2. The Stinson plane is taken on board the "Haug Ill" . . . . ..... . . .... . . .. . . 1 9 3 . General map showing flying series . . . . . . . . . .. 22 4. Jonsbu hunting station, North - East Greenland . . . ... . . ... . . . ... . . . ... 26 5. Map showing charted area ( 1 939 ) in Sval bard ...... .. .. . . . ..... .. .. . . 29 6. General map showing trigon ometrical net in Svalbard . . . 3 1 7. General map showing surveyed areas i n Svalbard . . . . . . . . 32
Plate
I. 1. Spitsbergen. Outer. part of M u rchisonfjord en.
2. Spitsbergen. Kapp Platen.
I l. 1 . Kong Karls Land. Kapp Hammerfest.
2. Kong Karls Land. Kapp Andreassen 3. Spitsbergen, N y-Ålesund.
Map o f Sval bard.
•
T
his report forms a continuation of the account of the N orwegian Svalbard expeditions given in the fol lowing two papers : Adolf H oel, The Norwegian Svalbard Expeditions 1906- 1 926. Oslo 1 929.Resultater av de Norske Statsunderstøttede Spitsbergenekspeditioner Vol. 1. Nr. 1 (Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 1), and : Report on the Activities of N o rges Svalbard- og I s h avs-undersøkelser 1 927- 1 936.
Oslo 1 937. Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 73.
Since 1 933 n o scientific expedition has been sent out to Greenland, but severaI voyages h ave been made to South-East Greenland and to N o rth-East Greenland for the purpose of relieving the N o rwegian meteorological stations at Torgilsbu and Mygg!:)Ukta (the u pkeep and relief of which a re ch arged to the Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-under
søkelser), and a series of N o rwegian h unting stations in N orth -East Greenland, also to bring supplies for fresh wintering pa rties . In Svalbard , scienti fic expeditions worked i n 1 938 and 1 939, but since the outbreak of the war in Norway on April 9, 1 940 no further expeditions have been sent to Svalbard.
The present report deals with the expeditions since 1 936 and their results, and with the work carried out by Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs
undersøkelser in the period 1 936- 1 944.
Oslo, Oct. I, 1 944.
•
of Norges Svalbard- and Ishavs-undersøkelser 1936--1944.
Work during the Winter of 1936-37.
The work of the Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersøkelser! in th is period was as follows : Topographers : Luncke prepared a plan for the survey from the air to be carried out by the Antarctic expedition of Con sul Lars Christensen . Solheim carried out the trigonometrical com putations and attended a p hotogram m etical course at jena in the spring of 1 937.
The topographers also furnished m aterial for : Karte von N ordostgronland.
Blatt Claveringoya, j ordan Hill und Geographical Society-oya. Mit einem Geleitwort von Otto Lacmann. Gotha 1 937, and pubIished by the N S I U . Gunnar Scott-Ruud was attached to the office as d raughtsman fro m November 1936.
After the highly successful air survey in East Greenland the N S I U and Norges Geografiske Oppmåling2 made a joint purchase o f a com plete outfit for the p hotographic survey from the air and the construction of the maps. The pureh ase was made possible through the generous assistance of Mr. Thomas Olsen , shipowner of Oslo, who advanced the necessary funds, which the mentioned institutions undertook to repay during a period of 1 0 years ; the first instalment was paid on j ul y l, 1 937.
The Zeiss aerial camera arrived in j une 1 936 and was used i n Svalbard the same sum m er (see Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 73, p. 62). I t was also lent t o t h e C hristensen Antarctic expedition , 1 936-37. T h e m ap-construction outfit arrived i n N ov. 1 936 a n d was erected on the p rernises of the N GO. I t is a Zeiss stereoplanigraph , originally model C/4, aItered in the spring o f 1 937 to m odel C/S to make it servicable for large angle exposures.
The NSIU had n o hydrographic surveyor working in the winter of 1 936-37.
The geologist Orvin worked on a geological map of Svalbard, preparation of Sla. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 18, m aps and reports of property claim s in Svalbard , the place-n ames of Svalbard, expedition account 1 936, etc.
Horn, also on the staff of the N S I U, worked on the place-names of Svalbard , made plans for a proposed expedition to j a n Mayen, did correspondence, translations, etc.
t I n the foIIowing caIIed N S IU .
2 In this paper referred to as NGO.
Expeditions in the Summer of 1937.
Expedition to South-East Greenland.
An expedition with the M/S "Brandal " of Brandal, near Ålesund, commanded by Skipper Sivert Engeset, visited South-East Green land to relieve the N orwegian m eteorological station of Torgilsbu (Lat. 60°
32' N) and carry su pplies for a wintering party. I n the winter of 1 936-37 the crew com prised th ree mem bers, Ragnar Eggesvik, wireless operator, Arne Dobloug, cook, and Severin S. Brandal, handy
m a n . They were to be replaced by Sverre Aaseth, wireless operator, Sigvald S. Brandal, cook, and Walter Molt, handyman.
The "Bran dal " l eft Ålesund o n Aug. 2, an d first visited Kangerd
lugsuak to inspect the Norwegian huts there (see Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 73, p. 27) . The expedition arrived there on Aug. 1 1 and found the fjord packed with ice. T h e following day the ship went southward, and found some drift-ice off Kapp Løwenørn on the 1 4th . From Kapp Møsting to Skjoldungen the ice lay about 20 nautical m iles off the coast. A eall was made at Sørfjorden in the Skjoldungen district, where the expedition tried to eatch ehar (SaI m o alpinus) in the river at Troll botn , but the result was only one ba rreI of fis h .
On Aug. 1 5 t h e "Brandal " went in to open sea a n d eontinued southward . Between U manak and Kapp Torden skjold there was a belt o f d rift-ice up to 25 m iles from the eoast. Torgilsbu was reaehed on Aug. 1 6, and supplies landed. On the 20th the ship visited Lindenow
fj orden, where a new h u t was put up, the old one h aving been blown into the sea i n 1 933. Also the h ouses in H ornfj orden and Mortensen
fjorden were inspected. O n the 23rd "Brandal " returned northwards, and after a call a t Faxafj . , Iceland , where some whale meat was reeeived from the Norwegian fl oating factory "Labor " , the expedition returned to Brandal on Sept. 7.
Expedition t o North-East Greenland.1
•
The purpose of the expedition was to relieve the meteorological station of Myggbukta and the hunting stations between 72° N and 76° N . The expedition sailed i n the MIS "Polarbjørn " o f Brandal, under Skipper Kristoffer Marø. The ship was fitted with an ech o-sounder and radio direction finder. The expedition was led by J oh n Giæver, Secretary of N S I U . Besides the crew, the ship carried 1 5 men who were going out to winter in Greenland, viz. J ohan H o l m , wireless operator, t h ree hunters fro m Norwegian h u n ting company Arktisk Næringsdrift AlS,
I Geographical names wri tten as on the m ap Eirik- Raudes-Land. 1 : mill. [Oslo 1 932J .
Søren Richter's h unting expedition, H erman And resen's hunting ex pedition eonsisting of two men, and Sigurd Tolløfsen's hunting expedition of six men.
Severai Swedish and N o rwegian tourists also accompanied the expedition under the leadership of the Finnish ornithologist Ludvig M unsterh jel m . They were : Ligner and Frih erre Anders Koskull (Swedes) , a n d Kr. Del
phin, Solicitor; Bredo Diesen, Den tist; and Dr. Alf Bjercke ( N o rwegians).
A Germ an publicist, Vitalis Panten burg, was also on board.
"Polarbjørn " left Ålesund on J uly 2 1 and reached the edge of the Greenland Ice a bout lOa nautical miles off the coast i n about 7 4° N on July 26. N avigation continued in iee and fog until the 28th , when Jacksonøya was sighted. lee cond itions were very difficult, and near land great floes of polar ice had packed together. The ship entered a na rrow lane of water at Arundeløya off H o m e Forland during the night and followed it northward to the Youngsund, the entrance of whieh, however, was locked by a great floe, that after some trouble was passed near K. Mary. I nside San døya the fj ord was free fro m ice.
At K. Mary they met t h e SIS "Quest" of Bodø, h o m eward bound with the expedition of the Freneh Count Gaston Micard. The ship had wintered at the head of Loch Fine and reached t h e open sea a week later at Kong Oscars Fjord.
"Polarbjørn" first visited the h unti n g station o f Revet in Copeland
fjorden and then landed five men o f the Tolløfsen expedition to eatch ehar i n the river under Zaeken berg in the extreme n orth of Youngsund , while the ship went south. " Pola rbjørn " , h owever, ran aground here, and had to wire SIS "Veslekari " for help, wh ich was suceessfully given on Aug. 3 .
Andresen a n d h i s m a n went ashore at K . H erschel, and s o m e coal and petro I was unloaded at K. Stosch, whereupon the ship sailed down the fj ord and southward to Myggbukta. The ice was not broken here, and " Polarbjørn " had to continue to Frans J osefs Fjord on Aug. 7, where h ouse m a terials were brought ashore about 1 0 kilometres west of K. FrankIin.
At K . H u m boldt on Ym erøya two men went ashore, and a fishing party was landed at the river on Strindberg Land. Through Antarcticsundet the ship reached Kong Oscars Fjord , and called at the h u nting station of Sunnmørsheimen on K . Petersens, where two h unters, N ils H an ken and Karsten Sulabak, who had wintered since 1 934, em barked for N orway . From here the ship h a d to force the tightly packed ice to Antarctichamna, w here the arch æologist Søren Richter and his m e n went ashore with provisions. T h e ship n o w returned u p Kong Oscars Fj ord , and on Aug. 1 2 some coal was unloaded at the N orwegian hunting station on ElIaøya. A visit was also paid to the Danish station on the same island, w here two men, H . Staub a Swiss geologist, and Arne Phil bert a Dane, were Iying ill. After consulting Dr. Ligner, the two men were offered a passage to Norway in "Polarbjørn ". Th is they
eould not d o without the permiSSIOn of Dr. Lauge Koeh, who was then beset in the iee in Seoresby Sund, and did not get out till the l atter part of September.
" Polarbjørn» therefore left the station without the two men and arrived at H oelsbu i n Moskusoksefj orden on Aug. 1 3. H ere Levin Winther, the h unter, had made a reeord-eateh o f 1 42 foxes, taken by h i m alone. The following day the fishing party on Strind berghalvøya embarked with 46 barreIs of G reenland ehar. The fish had been eaught with a easting-net and a fishtrap of wire.
The ship now proeeeded down Frans j osefs Fjord , landed eoal at the hunting huts on Gausshalvøya, ca lied at K. H u mboldt, and on Aug. 1 5 i n the even ing she lay off Myggbukta tn paeked iee, fog, and rain.
That evening Giæver reeeived a request fro m Dr. Lauge Koeh to take the two men who were on Ellaøya to N orway, and the ship had to return th rough the Sofiasund to ElIaøya, where Staub and Phil bert were taken on board in the m orning of Aug. 1 7. " Polarbjørn» returned for Myggbukta by the sam e route, but 20 k m south of K. Bennet she was stopped by tightly paeked drift-iee. I n the m orning of the 1 8th the ice eame from the the north towards land, and the ship j ust managed to round K. FrankIin and escape into Frans j osefs Fjord , where the iee was paeked 50 km inwa rds from the entranee. A she-bea r with th ree eubs was shot here. The following day the iee slackened, so that the ship eould force its way into more open sea at H old-with-H ope.
Myggbukta, however, was paeked with iee, and a motorboat had to follow a narrow lane of water along the sh ore to reaeh the m eteoro
l ogieal station with provisions. Henry H aug, the wireless operator, and Edward G. Bird, an English ornithologist, who had wintered, now left the station for Norway, whereas Bird's brother, Charles Bird , would stay another winter.
The ship eontinued its eourse northward , landed some eoal on j acksonøya and ealled for Tolløfsen's fish ing-party in the Youngsund on Aug. 2 1 . They h ad got 2 1 barreIs of ehar. Also the eoal , that had been diseharged earl ier was now taken on board . Aage H ansen, the Danish hun ter had wintered on Sandodden for three years and now wished to return home, but Dr. Koeh refused ; th is was also the case with the two Swiss geologists on Eskimoneset. " Polarbjørn» then eontinued northward to land Tolløfsen's expedition. Along Wollaston Forland there was seattered iee, but in the Pendulumstretet and north-east of Bass Rock the winter-iee was still un broken. Only south of Shannonøya a narrow la ne of water stretehed inwards to K. Tramnitz. Closer to land there was un broken iee as far as eould be seen. It was thus i m possible to reaeh Kuhnøya, where two men should have been put ash ore. The rest of Tolløfsen 's party intended to go ashore in Roseneath
bukta and on K. Beurmann inside of Koldeweyøya ; eonsequently
«Polarbjørn" m ade her way fart her north along the outer coast of Shannonøya, but off K. Pansch she met heavy ice, which was penetrated to 75 ° 40 ' N and about 1 8° W, but further advance proved to be i m possible here. As the ice pressed fro m the north, «Polarbj ørn " had to return southward , and Tolløfsen' s expedition was obliged to retu rn to N orway.
A Danish hunter, H ennings, who embarked at Sandodden for H ochstetter Forland had now to be returned; m oreover, food was needed for the homeward trip, as there were j9 men on board. The ice was now so packed at Pendulumøya that the ship was forced to sail 30 nautical miles in an easterly direction before a passage was found perm itting the entry into Claveringfjorden . On Aug. 24, when the expedition visited K. H e rschel, a heavy off-shore gale forced the ship to make for K. Mary to seek shelter. The following day Hennings was landed at Sandodden and the ship m ade ready for sea , while a hunting
party was ashore and shot two m usk-oxen. On Aug. 25 in the evening
«Polarbjørn" started for N orway, and already at midday the following day she was in the open sea after having passed an ice-belt 95 naut.
m iles broad . On the 28th the ship called of Jan Mayen, where two men fro m the N orwegian meteorological station, Arne Erlandsen, wireless operator, and Kvive Andersen, e m barked for, N orway. At 5 a. m. on Sept. 1 the expedition reached Ålesund .
. Scientific work was not carried out on this expedition.
Svalbard.
The N S I U had no expedition to Svalbard in 1 937, but one of our hydrograph ic surveyors, Captain Rolf von Krogh , visited the island s to lay out spar-buoys and inspect beacons.
Work during, the Winter of 1937-38.
Topographers ( L uncke, Solhei m , Askheim). Work with the planigraph co m m enced on Oct. 1 5, 1 937. The owners of the planigra p h , the N S I U and the N GO, agreed upon the following : The N S I U to use the appa ratus i n the months of j anuary, April, May, August and December, and the N GO in February, March , june, july, October and N ovem ber.
The first map constructed fro m the air photograph s on the scale of l : 50 000 was of the area south o f H ornsund. The coast-Iines in the eastern part of Sval bard were corrected fro m the air photographs.
A general map of Svalbard on the scale of l: 2 mill. was drawn by Scott- Ruud. In j anuary the planigraph was used for the construetion of an Antaretie map (see p . 45). Major P. A. Grinaker, geodesist to the Geographical Survey of N o rway, carried out the following com putations :
The points of the Swed ish-Russian Arc-of-Meridian Expedition 1 899- 1 902 were re-computed to rectangular coordinates (Gaussian) in the system of Vestspitsbergen.
Orvin continued to work on the pa per ( " Das Festungsprofil auf Spitzbergen " ) published i n Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 18, and a geological map of Sval bard ; he prepared plans for the new m eteorological station at Torgilsbu and was in charge of the fitting out of the relief expedition in the " Veiding " (see below) .
H o rn worked on t h e place-names o f Svalbard , d i d the correspon
d ence and various routine work. From J une 4 to 1 4 he attended the Conferenee on Oil Shale and Can nei Coal a rranged by the I nstitute of Petroleum and held in Glasgow on the 6th-I l th J une, 1 938.
On Jan . 24, 1 938 it was decided by the Storting to put the salaries of the personnei on a regulation basis fro m July 1 , 1 937. From July l, 1 938 the personnei became members of the Government Pension Fund (Statens pensionskasse).
In the spring of 1 938 Hoel was a m ember of a comm ittee to advise upon the scientific work to be carried out by a proposed East Greenland expedition o f the French Count Gaston Micard (see p. 24).
Expeditions in the Summer of 1938.
Expedition to South-East Greenland.
The " Veiding " of H a m m e rfest, Skipper Olav Bogstran d , arrived a t Oslo on J uly 1 4 to load provisions and m aterials for the new h ouse to be built at Torgilsbu, and left again on the 1 9th . She carried the following passengers : Ragna r Eggesvik, the new wireless operator to Torgilsbu, Mrs. H ansine Eggesvik, and Arne Pedersen . Arne Robøle, electrical engineer, accompan ied the exped ition to erect the new long
wave station, and Rolf and Magn us Grini, building contractors, to erect the new station h ouse. On the 24th the Faeroes were passed and on the 29th G reenland was sighted. Soon after a belt of d rift ice was met with , and they sailed along the ice edge, being now about 80 naut.
m iles from Torgilsbu. On the 31 st they reached the station, having sailed through much ice. The " Veiding" remained h ere until Aug. 20, during which time the new station was built and wireless equipment installed .
On the homeward voyage many icebergs were encountered . On the 26th Cape Nord in Iceland was passed, the following day Langanes, and on the 3 1 st the " Veiding " reached Ålesund .
Fig. I. The m eteorologicaI station i n Torgilsbu, built i n the summer of 1938.
O. Robøle phot. Aug. 1938.
Expedition to North-East Greenland.
This year the M/S " Polarbjørn» was again sent out to relieve the meteorological station at Myggbukta and the N orwegian huntin g stations i n North-East Greenland. Marø was skipper and Giæver leader o f the expedition. The following men went out to winter in Greenland : Egil Rogstad , wireless operator, Kongsvinger, and for Arktisk Næringsdrift AlS Eilif H erdal, Oscar Bang, Bjarne Akre· and Oddvar Akre ; Sigurd Tolløfsen's expedition, including besides himself, Bjarne J acobse n , Bjarne Dalsbø, and Øivind Tolløfsen. For Count Gaston Micard' s expedition (see p. 24) the ship carried severai tons of goods and the aviator J ess Tillier. This year, too, tourists took part in the expedition : Baron Anders Koskull, Alvestad, Sweden ; Lars Erik Lam m , Director, Goteborg ; and Consul Dan H uun, Bergen. Peder H enden, journalist, was also on board.
The " Pola rbjørn " left Ålesund on J uly 2 1 , and reach ed K. H er
schel at Gael H a m kes Bay a fter a record crossing of only five days.
On J uly 29 Tolløfsen's men were put ashore at the river under Zackenberg on the nort.h side of the Youngsund to catch char, and the ship then went to Revet in Copelandfj o rden, where Coun t Gaston Micard's ship " En Avant" (Ex " Ringsel") took over the goods belonging to his expedition (see p. 24). Miss Louise A. Boyd of San Francisco in SIS " Veslekari " was on the south side of Revet at the same time.
H ut materials were landed a t Leirbotten, and provlslOns for Herman Andresen were put ashore at K. Hersch el. The ship then went south to Myggbukta on the 2nd , and visited K . H u mboldt, on Strindberg
halvøya, and H oelsbu in Moskusoksefj orden on the following days.
Hut m aterial was also landed between K. Bull and Waltershausenbreen and on the western side of the middle part of Geologfj orden, and coal was put ashore at Eleon orebukta and in Vargbukta.
On Aug. 8 the ship visited the inner part of Frans Josefs Fjord , w�ere h ut-materials were put as hore east of the mouth of Kierulffj orden and in a small valley between Svenskeneset and Attestupan . After a trip into Reinbukta hut-materials were landed on the south side under
Payertoppen.
The " Polarbjørn " sailed south to Antarctichamna, where the archæologist Søren Richter, his assistant, and 17 live foxes were ernbarked for the voyage home. Richter had also collected m uch a rchæological material. Returning up the fj ord she landed provisions at K . Petersens, where Peder Sule bak was to remain another winter, and from h ere the ship continued north ward to Moskusoksefjorden.
At the head of the fjord they met M/K " Gran d e " with Ole Klokset's expedition.
On Aug. 1 3 thirty barreis of cha r were taken on board , and the fishing party consisting of Framnes H ansen, Johan J ohansen , Anders Godager and Levin Winther em barked . At Myggbukta the wireless operator, J ohan H o l m , came on board . All these men were going home to N orway. From Myggbukta the ship went to Zackenberg in Youngsund where the Tolløfsen expedition em barked with 1 2 barreis o f char. The next place visited was K . Maurer on Kuhnøya, where provisions were unloaded for Tolløfsen's expedition. Then a call was made at the Danish station K . Rink for Baron Koskull, who on jul y 29 had gone northward fro m Zacken berg i n the motor boat with the m ate, K ristoffer Marø, to hunt walrus. He had passed the station and was now farther north.
From here " Polarbjørn" went to J onsbu in Peterbukta, where Sigurd and Øivind Tolløfsen disem barked with provisions , and the English ornithologist, Charles Bird , came on board ; h e had wintered here in Myggbukta but had gone north in the spring to gather collections on H ochstetter-Forland. I n th e strait west of Shannonøya there was then un broken ice, so th e ship went east of the island and up to the hunting station of Ottostrand at Roseneathbukta, where Dalsbø and J acobsen landed with provisions on Aug. 8. A letter left here by Baron Koskull told that he had gone farther north to K . Ritter six days earlier, but on the ship's calling at K. Ritter nobody was found . After some search they fortun ately found h i m on the west side of Koldeweyøya ; soon afterwards bad weather with mist set i n .
" Polarbjørn " went back to Ardencaplefjorden and land ed hut m aterials at K. Buck. H ere the ship was delayed by the ice, which pressed her in to the mouth of Granjeanfjorden .
The expedition also sought to capture calves of m usk-oxen to be taken to N orway, but only full-grown animals were found. Previously a young musk-ox bull h ad been captured in Moskusoksefj o rden. Later a calf was captured in Loch Fine. Already in 1 929 musk-oxen had been captured i n East Greenland and transferred to Svalbard where it was th ought they would thrive, fin ding there conditions similar to th ose in N orth- East Greenland . The experiment proved successful. In 1 932 m usk-oxen were taken from Greenland to Norway and brought to the m ountain region of Dovre in Central Norway. H owever, some of the animals had met with accidents, and in order to supplement the small stock left, more animals had to be brought from Greenland.
The " Polarbjørn " was delayed by storm at K. Rink on Aug. 2 1 and then went th rough heavy ice to Pendulumøya. From here there was an open lane of water southward along the coast. On Aug. 24 the " Polarbj ørn " left Greenland for Norway. The ice-belt of the depth o f 70 naut. m iles was rather scattered , so the ship reached the open sea already on the next day. On the 27th they called at the island of jan Mayen where 1 0 British scientists, led by Alexander King, of the I m perial College Expedition 1 938, and Olaf øyen, a Norwegian, from the meteorological station e mbarked. The British expedition
em barked according to an agreement between the expedition leader and the N S I U .
Expedition t o Svalbard.
The expedition sent out by NS I U in 1 936 had for its m ain purpose the aerial survey of Svalbard (see Skr. Svalbard og Ishave�. Nr. 73) . During that survey 3300 photogra m s were taken, covering two-thirds o f the island group, viz., Vestspitsbergen , Barentsøya, and Edgeøya.
To finish this work another expedition was sent out in 1 938, whose main task was to ph otograph the remaining parts fro m the air. If time permitted , hyd rographic work and the erection of beacons was a1so be carried out.
The vessel o f the expedition, the whale-catcher " H aug I ll" , left Kristian sund in Norway on july 1 2 and reached Tromsø on th e 1 5th . A slip for the airplane had to be built on the after-deck of the vessel , and certain other work w a s also d o n e a t the Tromsø mechanical works.
On july 16 the " H aug I ll" left Tromsø for Svalbard . The mem bers of the expedition were as follows : Adolf H oel , leader and geologist ; Rolf von Krogh. skipper and hydrographic surveyo r ; Reidar Lyngaas, m ate and hydrographic surveyor ; Bernhard Luncke, leader of the air survey and air photographer ; N ils Romnæs, chief of the air pilots, airplane
2
wireless operator and cinematographic photographer ; Kjell Lassen-U rdahl, air pilot; Martin H a m re, air pilot; Hans Strandrud, air mechanic; H a rald Chri stoffersen , ship wireless operator. Two assistants were engaged by the expedition and the crew num bered 7 men, m aking a total of 1 8 men on board.
The pl ane with pilots was hired from Norsk Luftfoto AlS, Oslo.
It was a Stinson seaplane, highwing monoplane with a engine of 320 h.p.
With a crew of 3 men, outfit, camera , wireless, emergency ration s, rubber boat, etc. it had a cruising range of 4 hours (say 640 km).
The aerial camera was of Zeiss m ake, fil m size 1 8 x 1 8 cm, and had a rrangements for both oblique and vertical photographs. 12 rolls of Agfa " Aeropanfil m " were sufficient for 3300 exposures.
" H aug 1I I " arrived at Longyearbyen on the 1 9th. While the vessel was coaling, von Krogh , H oel, and Lyngaas went on board the vessel of the Governor o f Sval bard (th e Sysselmann) , " Maiblomsten " , to lay out spar-buoys. Odd Clemetsen , secretary in the Ministry of Trade, who was visiting Spitsbergen , was also on board. The spar.-buoys had been obtained from the N o rwegian Lighthouse Department. The anchor stones had a weight of perhaps 200-300 kg. The spar-buoys, along with some older ones from 1936, had been kept at the dock of Longyearbyen. Two spar-buoys were laid out at the mouth of Grøn
fjorden, four at Forlandsrevet. After h aving visited Ny-Ålesund on j uly 2 1 , where the old coal-mining plant was inspected , the "Maiblom
sten " returned to Adventfjorden , where Clemetsen left. Spar-buoys (2) were now placed on M inisterbåen in Sassen fj orden, and off Rev
neset on the north side o f the mouth of Adventfj orden. The spar-buoys which had been fixed at Forlandsrevet were of the small type, but, as the depth this year was found to be 5 metres, von Krogh decided to put out the heavy spar-buoys instead. The last spar-buoy was placed on the 7 . 5 m shoal off the quay in Ny-Ålesund.
On july 25 the expedition sailed northward and the vessel anchored off Crozierpynten in Sorgfj orden on the 26th. The same day the first air survey flight was undertaken. In the morning of the following d ay the plane was in the air for four hours, this being the record for the whole trip. In the night between the 28th and 29th a short flight was again undertaken. That night the hunting sloop " Hornfjeld " entered the bay, h aving met a strong wind i n H inlopenstretet. Th is strong wind had also been observed in H inlopenstretet and Wijdefjorden by the airmen , while there was a caIrn in Sorgfj orden. After two sh orter flights Romnæs and Lassen- U rdahl flew to Longyearbyen on the 30th to fetch the mai!. The vessel had in the meantime sailed to Verlegen
huken, on whose northern point the building of the big beacon was commeneed. When " H aug 1I I " was back i n Sorgfj orden the weather had changed, making it im possible for the plane to return fro m Advent
fjorden until Aug. 6. Whil e waiting for the plane a beacon, 5 m etres
Fig. 2 . The Stinson plane being taken on board the "Haug I ll" i n Sorgfjorden after a survey flight. The special-shaped derrick was mounted for this purpose.
A. Hoel pho!. July 28, 1938.
h igh, was built on Fosterneset, and stone cairns on the west and east side of the fjord inside of Crozierpynten, and on the east side o f the m outh of Sorgfjorden. The plane returned in the evening of the 6th , but t-he next day flying conditions were again bad and the vessel sailed to Verlegenhuken, where the big beacon (3.0 x 3.4 x 4.0. m) was finished.
Adverse weather continued the fol lowin g days and the time was spent in repairing the Swedish houses (wintering station of the Swedish Arc
of-Meridian exped ition 1 899- 1 900). Some Quaternary terraces were levelled. On Aug. 1 3 " H aug Ill" p roceeded to Adventfj orden to coal, and on the way a beacon 4 metres h igh was put u p on Gråh uken (Grey Hook). During the stay a t Ny-Ålesund two survey flights were m ade, whereupon the plane flew to Adventfj orden to await the vessel, which a rrived on the 1 5th. The next day H oel sailed for N orway in the collier " Dagny I", and von Krogh was left in charge of the expedition. The " H aug Ill" went north again on the same day. The beacon on Verlegenh uken was painted black. In Mosselbukta the vessel' anch ored off the Swedish station (wintering of the expedition of A. E.
N ordenski61d 1872-73).
On the 17th the bay was sounded, but as it was found to be a poor air base the expedition sailed eastwards to Murch isonfj orden , and·
"H aug Ill" anchored i n the bay on the north side of the southern
point of Kvalrosshalvøya. Th e point was named Flyodden. I n the evening and early the following m orning su rvey flights were made.
Later the sky became overcast and the opportunity was taken to over h a u I the plane, wh ile the hydrographic surveyors made a survey of the h arbours on both sides of the point. The following days bad weath er prevailed, partly with snow, but on the 24th it was possible to make three flights. On the 26th and the 27th p hotographic flights were again undertaken and the whole o f Nordaustlan det and the region of H i n lopen
stretet were now fin ished. In the evening of the 27th the plane was taken on board and the " H aug I I I" sailed southward th rough H i n lopen stretet, but owing to the fog she had to turn back and anchored north of Sparreneset. At this point a shoal, 2 metres i n depth, was discovered.
As the anchorage h ere has a stony bottom and is otherwise bad, the vessel shifted next morning to the south side, where the anchorage is much better with a sandy and clayey bottom .
About m id-day the weather i m p roved a n d with a high N W wind the course was shaped for Kong Karls Land. In the evening, a fter they had passed Franzøya, the wind changed to NE and the sea beca me rough , m aking it difficult to carry on owing to the plane on the afterdeck.
They decided to anchor off Lindemannodden on the south coast of N o rdaustlandet and the next day they sailed eastward to Wa hlbergøya . As the weather got worse, the trip to Kong Karls Land had to be abandoned, the " H aug I ll" sailing northward again . At the small island of Moffen the beacon was repaired and painted . The beacon on Amster
damøya was also painted , and on Aug. 30 the vessel anchored a t N y
Ålesund. The spar-buoy here had been carried away by an iceberg.
The next day they sailed southwards. The spar-buoys in Forlandsundet were left in their place, as fishing vessels m ight stil l use the sound , but t h e spar-buoys on Ministerbåen and Revneset were removed again and brought to Longyearbyen. The " Vesle kari " , with the American Boyd expedition , was also in the harbour and a visit was paid on board the ship. On' Sept. 2 the spar- buoys i n Grønfj orden were removed and Barentsburg was visited . On the return voyage to Longyearbyen a request was received from the Min istry of Trade to search for three missing hunters i n the area of Bastianøyane, Kong Karls Land, and the island of Hopen. On Sept. 5 and after having coaled, the " H aug I I I "
left Longyearbyen and reached Wahlbergøya a t the southern entrance to H inlopenstretet on the the fol lowing day. A hut on this island was examined. Wilhel møya was the next call. With the plane the Bastian
øyane, the country at Kappa Pyer, and the new h ouse below Måkeberget,I were searched. As no trace of the hun ters could be found, the plane was taken on board again and the course shaped for Kong Karls Land.
l S e e Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 73, p. 70. T h e mountain i s here w rongly called Måkejjellet.
H owever, scattered cal f-ice and fog were met with and soon the ice became so close and the fog so thick that the vessel had to stop.
Later the fog lifted somewhat and by steering N E open water was reached. Svenskøya was sighted and in the even ing " H aug I I I " anchored off Antarcticøya. On Sept. 8 the weather was fin e and the voyage was continued south of Svenskøya and to the east coast o f this islan d, where two huts were searched. The vessel anch ored in the bay east of Kapp Altmann on Kongsøya and as the weath er was good a f1ight was made and the remaining part o f Kong Karls Land was photographed i n j ust over two hours. Flying low the plane searched the country, but no signs o f the hunters could be seen . Th e aeroplane had thus made it possible to search all these islands in the course of a few hours, whereas it would have taken days for the ship to d o so. A fter mid night th e course was set for H open , which was sighted at 1 p. m . on the 9th , but soon the island disappeared in the fog. Two nautical m iles off the north-east point land was again sighted. On the 1 0th the " H aug I I I "
was on the east side of the island. In a motor-boat the coast was searched, but nothing unusual could be seen . A case of serious illness had now occurred on board and on the 1 1 th the course was set for H ammerfest in N orway to seek medical aid. H owever, as the patient improved the vessel altered her course and sailed to Tromsø, where she arrived i n the evening of ihe 1 3th. The aeroplane was unloaded and the flying staff left the expedition here. In the evening of the 1 8th the " Haug I I I " reached Oslo.
Survey Work. From the air it could be ascertained that most of the glaciers had retreated , but in some places where the glaciers are likely to debouch into fj ords (stretching in land from the present glacier front) the glacier fronts had advanced a great deal. This was particularly the case with the so-called Bråsvellbreen ( " Sudden swell glacier " ) on the south coast of N o rdaustlandet, and also with N egribreen on the west side o f Storfjorden.
Despite less favourable weath er conditions, the survey programme was more or less carried out. I n 44 flying hours 2 1 78 photogra m s were taken covering an area of a bt. 25 000 km 2. For other purposes 1 4 hours were spent i n the air. 2500 m cinematographic film s were taken.
Coal lnvestlgations in Svalbard.
On behalf o f the Min istry of Commerce D r. j . Gram , chemist to the Norwegian State Railways, and G. Horn of the N S I U visited Spits
bergen to test coals especially with regard to their suitability for coking purposes. Gram stayed i n Longyearbyen (Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap) fro m J u ly 2 1 to Aug. 1 , and H orn fro m J uly 16 t o Aug. 3 1 . Coal sam ples were taken from Mines 2 and 1 at
U Arrows show diredion and where every 10lh pholograph is laken
Seale
L
o
Fig. 3. General map showing flying series 1 93 6 and 1 938. Map of flying series in 1 93 6 is shown in fig. 20 in Skr. Svalbard og Ishavet. Nr. 73.
BL
Longyearbyen, fro m the company 's p rope rty in Grønfjorden, and their Sveagruva m ine at Braganzavågen . Coking tests were carried out by Gram in the laboratory in Longyearbyen , using an electric oven . Other coal samples were also collected by H orn. From Aug. 5 to the 1 2th Horn accompanied Sysselmann Marlow in the " Maiblom sten " on an inspection cruise a round Spitsbergen . The examination of the coal samples was continued after the return to Oslo, and coking tests were carried out at the Drammen Gas Works. One sample was also tested the' Oslo Gas Works. A report covering the work and the resuIts was submitted to the Min istry of Comm erce by Dr. Gram ) n Decem ber.
Work during the Winter of 1938-39.
From Sept. 28 to Oct. 8, 1 938 Hoel attended The Fifth I n ternational Congress of Photogram m etry in Rome (see p . 49). The topographers (Luncke, Solheim, Askheim) : In addition to the usual computation work, etc., a report on the geodetic work carried out in Spitsbergen , Bjørnøya (Bear I sland), a n d East Greenland w a s prepared for the I n ternational U n io n of Geodesy and Geophysics, General Conference in Washington 1 939. The a rea between H o rnsund, Sørkapp, and Stor
fj orden was constructed fro m the air photograph s. For the benefit of the hydrographic work the costal a rea between Dei Sju I s fjella and Raudfjorden was constructed. The planigraph was lent for construction work on an Antarctic map (see p. 45) . Askheim attended a p hotogra m
m etrical course at Jena in the spring of 1 939.
Our new hydrographic surveyor, Reidar Lyngaas, worked on the corrections of the charts, and the filin g of older survey m aterial.
I n April ( 1 939) he acted as secretary to the Svalbard ice-breaker committee (see p . 50) when it sailed to Svalbard in the naval coast and fishery inspection vessel " Fridtj of N ansen " in order to study the ice conditions i n the spring and other m atters of i nterest i n connection with the proposed ice- breaker. The mem bers of the comm ittee were K . Østbye, Commodore, Norwegian N avy ; J ohan Anker, ch airman of the Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani A ktieselskap, and Adolf Hoel.
Orvin was occupied with various geological work, etc. and H orn continued the work on the place-names of Svalbard , translated the paper by Orvin on the geology of Spitsbergen, etc.
Miss Kinn Gliickstad, who han been on the clerical staff of the N S I U since 1 928, retired at the end of 1 938. Christine Marie Gliickstad was born on May 23, 1 873 in H alden and died on Oct. 5, 1 940 in Oslo.
We wish to record our appreciatio n of her long and able service.
Miss Alfhil d Baden (b. 20/9 1 905) was em ployed to fill the vacancy (from 1/2 1 939).
Relief Expedition for Count Gaston Micard in North-East Greenland.
The wintering expedition o f the French Count Gaston Micard with the N orwegian Willie Knutsen as co-Iea der, sailed for N orth-East Green
land in the motor vessel " En avant " (ex " Ringsæl " , particulars see p. 63) in the summer o f 1938. The purpose o f the expedition was hunting and various scientific work. Weather reports were thus to be sent to the Meteorologieal I nstitute in Oslo. The main station, named Micard bu, was set up on the east coast of Germania Land in lat. 77° OS' N and 18° 1 8' Long. W, about 4-5 km north o f the " 1 7 km Naze " . Five sub-stations were also built ( Koldewey 1 ., two, Germania Land, three) . I n the spring of 1 939 Count Micard w as taken ill, and wished to be transported home. He charged H oel with the task of a rranging a relief expedition. The " Veslekari" (see p. 63) , Skipper johan Olsen , was hired and Widerøes Flyveselskap AlS provided the plane (Stinson , 320 h. p. Wright motor) with Erik Engnæs ( Lieutenant, Air Arm o f the N orwegian Army) as chief pilot a n d Helge Bjørneby (Lieutenant of the Reserve, Air Arm of the Norwegian N avy) as wireless operator and seeond pilot. Fr. Blom H artvigsen aeeompanied the expedition as physieian, and our hydrographie surveyor, Captain Rolf v. Krogh , N orwegian N avy, was leader. The ship left Ålesund in N o rway on May 13, and on the 19th when the ship was 250 km from Mieardbu and o ff the edge of the drift iee, the plane was put on the water and took off for the flight. Micardbu was safely reaehed and the plane landed in a la ne of open water some distanee from the station. The plane returned the same day with Mica rd and Knutsen . O n board the "Veslekari " the count reeeived medieal attention. The N orwegian eoast was reaehed on the 25th and Count M ieard was fl own to hospital at Oslo.
The men remain ing in Greenland returned to Norway in the summer.
Expedition in the Summer of 1939.
Expedition to South-East Greenland.
M/C " Grande " , Skipper B. H ide, left Ålesund on july 20 to take fresh supplies to Torgilsbu, and the new wireless operators Sverre Aaseth and H arald H o ff. On board was also Rolf Grini, who was to repair the station house damaged by the storm in january. During the voyage Aaseth was taken seriously ill and the ship had to take him to Reykj avik in I eeland, arriving there on the 25th. H ere Aaseth was taken to hospital. After h aving provisioned, the " Grande " left Reykj avik on Aug. 1 and arrived at Torgilsbu during the night of Aug. 5-6th. No d rift iee was met with, but many icebergs were seen o ff the eoast at Cape Walløe. " Grand e " remained in Torgilsbu u ntil the 14th. Provisions, eoal, and building material were brought ash ore and the house repaired.
Eggesvik and his wife had agreed to remain at the station another winter, and only Arne Pedersen , who had also wintered, left in the " Grande "
which arrived at Ålesund on Aug. 23.
Expedition to North·East Greenland.
The vessel cha rtered for this trip was M/C "Polarbj ørn " of Brandal, Skipper Kristoffer Marø, which left Ålesu nd on j uly 15. On board were the following : j ohan j ohansen and Hans Siewers, Hen ry Rudi, Schjøl berg N ilsen. and Levin Winther . with his wife (all hunters for the Arktisk Næringsdrift A/S) ; and Andreas Skaanevik wireless operator. At Ålesund Søren Richter's exped ition, consisting of th ree men, was picked up, and at Tromsø, where the ship arrived on the 18th, the hunter H elland came on board to j oin Sigurd Tolløfsen's expedition. Other passengers were : the Swedish Professor H. W:son Ahlmann and h is assistants : the Swedish meteorologist Backa Erikson , and the N orwegian medical student Kåre Rodahl. The latter was to spend the com ing winter at Revet to continue Professor Ahlmann's glacier survey o n Claveringøya. Further : The N orwegian geologist Miss Brit Hofseth, to make geological investigations on Claveringøya.
The following tourists sailed in the vessel : Ludvig Munsterh jel m , L . Seppanen, and L . Louekari, all Finns : Frantz Wallsten, Swede, jeremi Wasiutynski, Polish student; the N o rwegian author N il s j ohan Rud , journalist of the expedition. Leader was j o h n Giæver. The owner o f the vessel, Martin Karlsen, a l s o m a d e the voyage.
The " Polarbjørn " first sailed to Spitsbergen -- for the benefit of the tourists and reached Ny-Ålesund on the 22nd, wh ence it steered westward. In Lat. 76° 15' and about 200 m iles off the Greenland coast the ice became very close. They sailed SSW and on the 26th they were in Lat. 74° 40' and abt. 100 m iles off Sa bineøya. On the 27th they reached Kapp Herschel. A stop was made at Revet on Claveringøya, where Ahlmann's expedition and Miss Hofseth were put ashore. The hunters Rudi and N ilsen also wen t ashore. and the Polish student left at Wordiebukta. At the mouth of Loch Fine th ey met the well-known American Arctic explorer Bob Bartlett, with h is schooner "Effie M.
Morrissey " carrying a tourist expedition. lce conditions were exceptional this year on the stretch Hold with Hope to Davysundet, th e winter ice in the m outh of the fj ords being still there. O n Attg. 1 the "Polarbjørn "
reached Myggbukta.
j ohansen and Siewers went ashore h ere. The wireless operator Rogstad came on board and was replaced by Skaanevik. Fosterbukta was covered by ice (unbroken winter ice) and the m outh of Frans j osefs Fjord was closed until the m iddle o f August. H owever, on the 1 3th the "Polarbjørn " succeeded i n penetrating Davysund and the sta- tions were all reached from the south . The Richter's expedition was
