Expedition history

THE BOAT AND THE EXPEDITIONS

Phace 1 : Maud departed Norway in July, 1918 under the command of Roald Amundsen, with the aim to get deliberately stuck in the ice pack above the Bering Strait and drift across the Arctic Ocean. Maud was well equipped with scientific apparatus for making meteorological, geophysical, and oceanographic observations and lots more. Harald U. Sverdrup was in charge of the expedition’s scientific work. During the next three winters, with the vessel icebound off the Siberian coast, important scientific measurements were made, but the goal of drifting to the North Pole was unrealized.
In August, 1921 the Maud reached Seattle for overhauling and preparations were made for another attempt.

Phase 2 : During the second phase of the expedition (1922-1925), the Maud was locked in the ice for more than two years and drifted northwest as far as the New Siberian Islands. Once released, the vessel headed eastward under its own power, but the expedition was forced to spend one more winter icebound during 1924-25. The Maud finally returned to Nome, Alaska in August, 1925. Later the same year the ship was arrested in Seattle and sold to Hudson Bay Company.
Five years later the ship sunk in its moorings in shallow water in Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island , North Canada.
Today 80 years later what is left from the old wreck still lies in the same place , covered by ice and snow most parts of the year.



The frames of Maud were made extremely solid to give maximum structural strength to withstand the pressure of the ice and the round shape of the hull made the ship be lifted up by the ice.



Launching day of Maud, 7th of June 1917. Roald Amundsen proclaims; “You are made for the ice. You shall spend your best years in the ice and you shall do your work in the ice. With the permission of Her Majesty the Queen I name you “Maud”



Maud moored in Oslo harbour summer 1917 ready to bunker for an expedition in the Arctic expected to last for 5 years or more.



Maud well positioned at home in its right element, proudly resting on to of the icepack in the Arctic. A familiar view for the small crew over several years.