Northwest History. Alaska. Explorers, Exploration & Discoveries.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1921
• Subjects: blizzard; Seattle; Norway; education; Nome; Alaska; Arctic; the vessel Maude; Roald Amundsen; Cape Serge; native; commission; schooner; Dr. Sverdrup; Oscar Wisting; Charles Carpendale; the Diomede islands; Captain Pedersen; the Schooner Herman; Prince of Wales island; south pole; north pole; Chuchuk; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Diomede Islands; East Cape; Maude; North Pole; Pacific; Pedersen; Prince of Wales Island; South Pole; The Schooner; Northeast Passage; South pole
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/91095

Amundsen Ship Blown Ashore: Terrible Blizzard Sweeps Over Vessel Which Was Frozen In For Months./Tow Boat To Seattle./Captain To Bring Out Two Children For Education In Norway. AMUNDSEN SHIP BLOWN ASHORE: Terrible Blizzard Sweeps Over Vessel Which Was Frozen In for Months TOW BOAT TO SEATTLE Captain to Bring Out Two Children for Education in Norway. Nome, Alaska, June 20. -- (By Associated Press.) -- Masses of early Arctic ice last August locked in a rigid grip the vessel Maude on which Roald Amundsen, discoverer of the south pole, hoped to drift past the north pole, and a terrible blizzard swept the schooner ashore, 90 miles from Cape Serge, and smashed her propeller, he said here today. Captain Amundsen appeared in Nome last week with the tidings that his ship was disabled and he would have her towed to Seattle for repairs, later returning to the exploration. He left Norway in 1918, and has been in the Arctic seas 19 months. "When I left Nome early last August," the explorer related, "I proceeded int he vicinity of Cape Serge, where I was to pick up a native family to add to the crew, but the ice conditions were the worst in years, and we were forced to lay to for two weeks, during which time it was impossible to reach shore." 90 Miles in Three Weeks. Captain Amundsen explained that three weeks were required to cover the 90 miles between East Cape and Cape Serge. The Maude had lost a propeller going through the Northeast passage in 1919 and 1920 -- she is a twin screw type -- and was pushing ahead with her remaining propeller. "While working the vessel into Cape Serge a blinding blizzard swept the sea. We had all our anchors out, but the ice floes pushed everything ashores, where we found the other propeller out of commission, but no other damage apparent." There was no chance of escape, he added. The schooner was frozen in for the winter. Between January 31 and April 10 Dr. Sverdrup and Oscar Wisting, two of the Maude's crew, left the vessel, venturing into the Arctic winter, and made an extensive magnetic survey of the interior country. May 27 Amundsen left the Maude in care of the crew and went to East Cape to await the the arrival of a chance ship which might take him to Nome. At East Cape he was the guest of Charles Carpendale, a fur trader. Island Natives Starve. Captian Amundsen said natives on the Diomede islands, informed of his plight, told a Captain Pedersen of the schooner Herman, which lost no time in going to his rescue. Natives at Prince of Wales island were starving, the explorer recalled, and Captain Pedersen stopped to give them food from the ship's stores. Accompanying Captain Amundsen to Seattle will be the 12-year-old daughter of Carpendale, and a 4-year-old Chuchuk native girl. He plans to send them both to Norway to be educated.