| Summary: | This is the story of the tragic final voyage of the Karluk as told to author Ralph Hale by the ship's captain, famed Newfoundland master mariner, Bob Bartlett. The leader of the expedition, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, had left the ship on a hunting trip and was unable to return, leaving him to complete those expedition objectives he was able to, and also leaving Captain Bartlett with the ship and her men. The Karluk was soon crushed and then sunk by the Arctic ice, and so Bartlett was left with little choice but to lead his men on the arduous journey over the ice to Wrangel Island. The men eventually found shelter on the island; tragically, several teams of men died on this very difficult venture. Bartlett then left with a single Inuk guide to find Alaska and then returned to rescue his men, only to find several more had died while he was seeking help. Stefansson was later honored for his role in the expedition; Bartlett was censured for taking the Karluk into the ice, but regarded a hero by both the ship's crew and society. Autographed by Bob Bartlett.
|
|---|