Roald Amundsen Biography, Facts, Ship and South Pole

Publish date: 2024-05-19

Table of Contents

Roald Amundsen Biography

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer best known for his missions in the south and north Polar Regions. He was the first man to reach the South Pole and a first man to reach both Poles.

He was born on 6 July 1872 in Borge, Østfold, Norway as a fourth son of Jens Amundsen, respectable ship owner. At the age of 21, he started his life at the sea with a goal to live his life as a explorer. After a unsuccessful two year Antarctic mission led by the Adrien de Gerlache, he returned to Europe where he prepared for his first solo discovery.

Amundsen was born to a family of Norwegian shipowners and captains in Borge, between the towns Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg. His parents were Jens Amundsen and Hanna Sahlqvist. Roald was the fourth son in the family. His mother wanted him to avoid the family maritime trade and encouraged him to become a doctor, a promise that Amundsen kept until his mother died when he was aged 21. He promptly quit university for a life at sea.

Amundsen had hidden a lifelong desire inspired by Fridtjof Nansen’s crossing of Greenland in 1888 and Franklin’s lost expedition. He decided on a life of intense exploration of wilderness places.


Roald Amundsen

In 1903, he embarked on a mission to find the route trough the Northwestern Passage – small stretch of sea located between Arctic and Northern Canada that was previously unsuccessfully explored by several famous navigators John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Henry Hudson, and James Cook. Traveling on a ship named Gjøa with six crewmembers, he successfully traveled trough those frozen waters gaining the knowledge of the lands and survival skills of the Northern people.

Ms Roald Amundsen | Roald Amundsen Ship

MS Roald Amundsen is an upcoming new hybrid powered Hurtigruten expedition cruise ship. She will be built by Kleven Yards of Norway and is expected to be launched in 2018.In 2019, the ship will offer expedition sailings along Norway’s coast. Besides, MS Roald Amundsen will become the first hybrid ship to sail the Northwest Passage.

Length: 140 m
Draft: 5.3 m
Capacity: 530-1018
Status: Ordered
Beam: 23.6 m (77.43 ft)
Builders: Kleven Verft, Ulsteinvik

How Did Roald Amundsen Die

He died in a plane crash in June 22, 1928.

What Is Roald Amundsen Known For

Roald Amundsen was an explorer of the North and South Poles. He led the first expedition to reach the South Pole and was the first person to visit both the North and South Pole.

Roald Amundsen South Pole

The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. The South Pole expedition took 99 days and he arrived at 3 p.m. of December 14th 1911. He had initial plans had focused on the Arctic and the conquest of the North Pole by means of an extended drift in an icebound ship.

He was going to explore the North Pole, but he heard that Robert Peary claimed to be the first one to go to the North Pole, so he secretly had plans to go to Antarctica in a race with British explorer Robert Scott. The expedition’s success was widely applauded, though the story of Scott’s heroic failure overshadowed its achievement in the United Kingdom. Amundsen’s decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment was criticised by some.

Roald Amundsen Vgs

Roald Amundsen High School was established as Oppegård Gymnasium in 1970. It changed to a school in in 1975. The school has around 500 students divided into education programs for study specialization and sports subjects. On December 15, 2011, on the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole, the county council adopted the proposal to change the school’s name from Oppegård High School to Roald Amundsen High School. The name officially entered into force on 1 August 2012

For more information click here.

CONTACT
Tel: 66 99 69 30
E-mail: post@roaldamundsen.vgs.no
Visiting Address: Bregneveien 2, 1412 Sofiemyr
Postal Address: PO Box 97 1411 Kolbotn

Roald Amundsen Quotes

  • How did I happen to become an explorer? It did not just happen, for my career has been a steady progress toward a definite goal since I was fifteen years of age.

  • Victory awaits him who has everything in order – luck, people call it
  • Glad as we were to leave it behind, I cannot deny that it was with a certain feeling of melancholy that we saw it vanish. We had grown so fond of our beacons, and whenever we met them we greeted them as old friends. Many and great were the services these silent watchers did us on our long and lonely way.
  • I may say that this is the greatest factor: the way in which the expedition is equipped, the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order, luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time, this is called bad luck.
  • “Oh, as usual,” they shouted back; “no bottom.” I mention this little incident just to show how one can grow accustomed to anything in this world.
  • The holiday humour that ought to have prevailed in the tent that evening — our first on the plateau — did not make its appearance; there was depression and sadness in the air – we had grown so fond of our dogs.
  • We see many fine sunsets here, unique in the splendour of their colour. No doubt the surroundings in this fairyland of blue and white do much to increase their beauty.
  • “Is this really a Polar ship?” people asked; … our paper-supply which was in all respects as fine and elegant as it could be: … From one of the largest houses in Christiania we had a complete set of kitchen utensils and breakfast and dinner services, all of the best kind. … We carried an extraordinarily copious library; presents of books were showered upon us in great quantities. I suppose the Fram’s library at the present moment contains at least 3,000 volumes.
  • We must always remember with gratitude and admiration the first sailors who steered their vessels through storms and mists, and increased our knowledge of the lands of ice in the South.
  • The English have loudly and openly told the world that skis and dogs are unusable in these regions and that fur clothes are rubbish. We shall see — we shall see.

    • ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7u7PRZ6WerF%2Bau3DDyKSgaKqflrmlecCmrKeco5q7bq7IqJ6rmaCdxm6ywJyrrGWjnbaxecCnm2arn6rBqXnPqKOeZWJk