Bratvaag Expedition
Encyclopedia
The Bratvaag Expedition was a Norwegian
expedition in 1930 led by Dr. Gunnar Horn
, whose official tasks were hunting seals and to study glaciers and seas in the Svalbard
Arctic
region. The name of the expedition was taken from its ship, M/S Bratvaag of Ålesund
, in which captain Peder Eliassen had sailed the Arctic seas for more than twenty years. The Bratvaag Expedition had a secret, but important mission: the annexation of Victoria Island
for Norway
. Although a successful landing on the island was achieved, Victoria Island was later annexed by the Soviet Union
. The Bratvaag Expedition became nevertheless well-known due to the findings on Kvitøya
of the long-lost remains of the Swedish
explorer S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897
.
adventurer Arnold Pike, sighted the island and named it after the yacht.
According to the Spitsbergen Treaty, Norway
was ceded the sovereignty of the Svalbard
Archipelago in 1920, comprising all the islands situated between 10° and 35°E and 74° and 81°N. Although Victoria Island is situated only less than 35 nautical miles (c. 62 km) off the Norwegian
island of Kvitøya
(White Island), it lies east of the Norwegian territories. Consequently, the island was considered Terra nullius
, until a Soviet decree in 1926 that claimed a Soviet sector in the Arctic region that also included Franz Josef Land
and Victoria Island.
After a failed attempt on Franz Josef Land and the landing of a Soviet expedition there in 1929, the Norwegian efforts were concentrated on securing Victoria Island for Norway. The ship M/S Bratvaag with its mixed crew of sealers and scientists headed for the Arctic Sea in the summer of 1930, with the purpose of claiming Victoria Island in the name of the ship's owner Harald M. Leite.
was typically inaccessible to sealers and whalers since it usually was surrounded by a wide belt of thick polar pack ice. It also was often hidden from view by thick ice fogs. It was known, however, to be prime hunting ground for walrus. It had been an exceptionally warm year in 1930 and the sea was virtually free of ice. The fog was light that afternoon, so some of the men decided to approach White Island to hunt walrus and to do a little scientific exploring. The sealers went ashore and began the hunt for walrus. During the stay two of the hunters, Olav Salen and Karl Tusvik, discovered a bit of metal sticking out of the snow. When they approached they saw it was part of a boat sticking out of the ground. In the boat was a lot of equipment frozen in ice, including a boatswain's hook with the words "Andrée's Polar Expedition, 1896" engraved upon the visible portion. At that point captain Eliassen came to the island and it was decided to investigate further; the scientists were invited to join them.
The find lay on the north west side of a rocky hill and one of the first things found was the partial skeleton of a man, half buried in the snow and ice. The skeleton had been disturbed by bears, and much of the upper part of the body was missing, but a monogram on the jacket identified the body as being that of Andrée. A number of instruments and other artifacts were found, including a diary, but the pages of the diary were sealed together by glue which had dissolved and re-frozen over the entire booklet and could not be opened. Nearby was the boat half buried on its side in ice and half filled with ice. When Eliassen and the scientists looked through the ice, they saw clothing, equipment, a furled Swedish flag and bones.
Several yards from the camp, one of the men found what appeared to be a grave with a skull lying loose on the rocks. It was assumed that the person had been buried under a cairn of rocks but the grave had been disturbed by animals. From this tomb, the searchers were able to retrieve much of the skeleton. It was probably the grave of Andrée's companion, photographer Nils Strindberg
because of initials on his clothing.
The group decided they must take as much of the find as possible aboard the Bratvaag to ensure proper burial of the bodies and to allow scientists to examine the artifacts and determine their authenticity. They felt they could not leave the materials in place as the weather and animals might further destroy the find. In addition, they knew it might be years before another group could land on White Island
. In a packet of books near one end of the boat, Eliassen found the expedition's observation book which he was able to open somewhat. The captain believed this book had been written by Strindberg
, the scientific member of the expedition. The flyleaf of the book was inscribed: "The Sledge Journey, 1897" indicating that the journal was written after the group had left the balloon.
As a final gesture, the group erected a memorial cairn on the hill where they had located the body of Andrée. In the cairn they put a bottle with a note: "In this place, the Norwegian Expedition to Franz Josef Land
found the relics of the Swedish Andrée Expedition. White Island
, August 6, 1930, Gunnar Horn."
On August 8, they met with a sealer out of Tromsø
, returning home and agreed to send a message to the Norwegian authorities of the find, since the Bratvaag crew and scientists wished to finish their hunting and scientific work before returning to harbor.
Next to the claim sign, building materials, nails and a hammer were placed. They were sufficient to build a 2 x 3 m cabin, but it was not possible to secure the cabin against a storm, so it was not erected. The landing party left the island at 07:55 and Bratvaag headed for Franz Josef Land
. There they continued their scientific investigation and hunting, as well as building a cabin at Cape Forbes, Zemlja Georga, in which they left provisions.
. On September 2, they were met there by scientists charged by the Swedish and Norwegian governments to take possession of, and preserve, the find. The remains of Andrée and his colleagues were carried to the Tromsø Coast Hospital for study and preparation for burial. They were later brought to their homeland Sweden
, where the return of the bodies was grandly celebrated including a speech by the king Gustaf V, and they were buried with great honors. Andrée is interred together with Nils Strindberg
and Knut Frænkel
at the cemetery Norra begravningsplatsen
in Stockholm
.
The recovered artifacts provided vital information about the fate of the Andrée expedition that for 33 years had remained one of the unsolved riddles of the Arctic. The chance discovery in 1930 of the expedition's last camp created a media sensation in Sweden
, where the dead men were mourned and idolized.
Despite the efforts done with the Bratvaag Expedition at Victoria Island, Norway never officially claimed the island later, probably due to fear of upsetting the Soviet Union. In September 1932, it became known that the Soviet Union had annexed the island.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
expedition in 1930 led by Dr. Gunnar Horn
Gunnar Horn
Gunnar Hansen Horn was a Norwegian petroleum geologist and Arctic explorer. He is most renowned as the leader of the Bratvaag Expedition that found the long-lost remains of S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 at Kvitøya in 1930....
, whose official tasks were hunting seals and to study glaciers and seas in the Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
region. The name of the expedition was taken from its ship, M/S Bratvaag of Ålesund
Ålesund
is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, and the center of the Ålesund Region. It is a sea port, and is noted for its unique concentration of Art Nouveau architecture....
, in which captain Peder Eliassen had sailed the Arctic seas for more than twenty years. The Bratvaag Expedition had a secret, but important mission: the annexation of Victoria Island
Victoria Island (Russian Arctic)
Victoria Island is a small Arctic island situated at 80°9'N 36°46'E, halfway between the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land. This westernmost of all Russian Arctic islands is about 14 km² and almost completely covered with ice...
for Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Although a successful landing on the island was achieved, Victoria Island was later annexed by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The Bratvaag Expedition became nevertheless well-known due to the findings on Kvitøya
Kvitøya
Kvitøya is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is located at , making it the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway...
of the long-lost remains of the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
explorer S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897
S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897
S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 was an ill-fated effort to reach the North Pole in which all three expedition members perished. S. A. Andrée , the first Swedish balloonist, proposed a voyage by hydrogen balloon from Svalbard to either Russia or Canada, which was to pass,...
.
Background
Victoria Island was discovered on July 20, 1898 by two Norwegian sealing captains, Johannes Nilsen and Ludvig Bernard Sebulonsen. The next day, captain P. W. Nilsen of the steam yacht Victoria, owned by the EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
adventurer Arnold Pike, sighted the island and named it after the yacht.
According to the Spitsbergen Treaty, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
was ceded the sovereignty of the Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
Archipelago in 1920, comprising all the islands situated between 10° and 35°E and 74° and 81°N. Although Victoria Island is situated only less than 35 nautical miles (c. 62 km) off the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
island of Kvitøya
Kvitøya
Kvitøya is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is located at , making it the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway...
(White Island), it lies east of the Norwegian territories. Consequently, the island was considered Terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
, until a Soviet decree in 1926 that claimed a Soviet sector in the Arctic region that also included Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
and Victoria Island.
After a failed attempt on Franz Josef Land and the landing of a Soviet expedition there in 1929, the Norwegian efforts were concentrated on securing Victoria Island for Norway. The ship M/S Bratvaag with its mixed crew of sealers and scientists headed for the Arctic Sea in the summer of 1930, with the purpose of claiming Victoria Island in the name of the ship's owner Harald M. Leite.
Finding of the remains of S. A. Andrée's expedition
White IslandKvitøya
Kvitøya is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is located at , making it the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway...
was typically inaccessible to sealers and whalers since it usually was surrounded by a wide belt of thick polar pack ice. It also was often hidden from view by thick ice fogs. It was known, however, to be prime hunting ground for walrus. It had been an exceptionally warm year in 1930 and the sea was virtually free of ice. The fog was light that afternoon, so some of the men decided to approach White Island to hunt walrus and to do a little scientific exploring. The sealers went ashore and began the hunt for walrus. During the stay two of the hunters, Olav Salen and Karl Tusvik, discovered a bit of metal sticking out of the snow. When they approached they saw it was part of a boat sticking out of the ground. In the boat was a lot of equipment frozen in ice, including a boatswain's hook with the words "Andrée's Polar Expedition, 1896" engraved upon the visible portion. At that point captain Eliassen came to the island and it was decided to investigate further; the scientists were invited to join them.
The find lay on the north west side of a rocky hill and one of the first things found was the partial skeleton of a man, half buried in the snow and ice. The skeleton had been disturbed by bears, and much of the upper part of the body was missing, but a monogram on the jacket identified the body as being that of Andrée. A number of instruments and other artifacts were found, including a diary, but the pages of the diary were sealed together by glue which had dissolved and re-frozen over the entire booklet and could not be opened. Nearby was the boat half buried on its side in ice and half filled with ice. When Eliassen and the scientists looked through the ice, they saw clothing, equipment, a furled Swedish flag and bones.
Several yards from the camp, one of the men found what appeared to be a grave with a skull lying loose on the rocks. It was assumed that the person had been buried under a cairn of rocks but the grave had been disturbed by animals. From this tomb, the searchers were able to retrieve much of the skeleton. It was probably the grave of Andrée's companion, photographer Nils Strindberg
Nils Strindberg
Nils Strindberg was a Swedish photographer who was one of the three members of S. A. Andrée's ill-fated Arctic balloon expedition of 1897. Before perishing on Kvitøya with Andrée and Knut Frænkel, Strindberg recorded on film their long doomed struggle on foot to reach populated areas...
because of initials on his clothing.
The group decided they must take as much of the find as possible aboard the Bratvaag to ensure proper burial of the bodies and to allow scientists to examine the artifacts and determine their authenticity. They felt they could not leave the materials in place as the weather and animals might further destroy the find. In addition, they knew it might be years before another group could land on White Island
Kvitøya
Kvitøya is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is located at , making it the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway...
. In a packet of books near one end of the boat, Eliassen found the expedition's observation book which he was able to open somewhat. The captain believed this book had been written by Strindberg
Nils Strindberg
Nils Strindberg was a Swedish photographer who was one of the three members of S. A. Andrée's ill-fated Arctic balloon expedition of 1897. Before perishing on Kvitøya with Andrée and Knut Frænkel, Strindberg recorded on film their long doomed struggle on foot to reach populated areas...
, the scientific member of the expedition. The flyleaf of the book was inscribed: "The Sledge Journey, 1897" indicating that the journal was written after the group had left the balloon.
As a final gesture, the group erected a memorial cairn on the hill where they had located the body of Andrée. In the cairn they put a bottle with a note: "In this place, the Norwegian Expedition to Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
found the relics of the Swedish Andrée Expedition. White Island
Kvitøya
Kvitøya is an island in the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, with an area of . It is located at , making it the easternmost part of the Kingdom of Norway...
, August 6, 1930, Gunnar Horn."
On August 8, they met with a sealer out of Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
, returning home and agreed to send a message to the Norwegian authorities of the find, since the Bratvaag crew and scientists wished to finish their hunting and scientific work before returning to harbor.
The landing on Victoria Island
The expedition continued eastwards and they arrived at Victoria Island on August 8, 1930. At 04:30 a group of seven men went ashore: Horn and Eliassen, botanist Olaf Hanssen, zoologist Adolf Sørensen, Bjarne Ekornåsvåg, and the two trappers Lars Tusvik and Syver Alvestad. They landed on a beach situated on the north-western side, the only place possible to get ashore. The beach was snow-covered and no sign of any other claim to the island was seen. Horn therefore decided to claim the island and raised a sign on the beach, stating: "Victoria Island claimed for Harald M. Leite, Ålesund, Norway. August 8, 1930, G. Horn."Next to the claim sign, building materials, nails and a hammer were placed. They were sufficient to build a 2 x 3 m cabin, but it was not possible to secure the cabin against a storm, so it was not erected. The landing party left the island at 07:55 and Bratvaag headed for Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land
Franz Josef Land, Franz Joseph Land, or Francis Joseph's Land is an archipelago located in the far north of Russia. It is found in the Arctic Ocean north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard, and is administered by Arkhangelsk Oblast. Franz Josef Land consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a...
. There they continued their scientific investigation and hunting, as well as building a cabin at Cape Forbes, Zemlja Georga, in which they left provisions.
Aftermath
On August 30, they were near enough to civilization that they were able to hear on their wireless radio that the world was anxiously waiting for them to come home and that many vessels containing members of the press were vying to be the first to board the boat. They were given governmental orders to proceed to TromsøTromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
. On September 2, they were met there by scientists charged by the Swedish and Norwegian governments to take possession of, and preserve, the find. The remains of Andrée and his colleagues were carried to the Tromsø Coast Hospital for study and preparation for burial. They were later brought to their homeland Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, where the return of the bodies was grandly celebrated including a speech by the king Gustaf V, and they were buried with great honors. Andrée is interred together with Nils Strindberg
Nils Strindberg
Nils Strindberg was a Swedish photographer who was one of the three members of S. A. Andrée's ill-fated Arctic balloon expedition of 1897. Before perishing on Kvitøya with Andrée and Knut Frænkel, Strindberg recorded on film their long doomed struggle on foot to reach populated areas...
and Knut Frænkel
Knut Frænkel
Knut Hjalmar Ferdinand Frænkel was a Swedish engineer and arctic explorer who perished in the Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 of S. A...
at the cemetery Norra begravningsplatsen
Norra begravningsplatsen
Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of Metropolitan Stockholm. The cemetery is located in the municipality of Solna.Inaugurated on June 9, 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables....
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
The recovered artifacts provided vital information about the fate of the Andrée expedition that for 33 years had remained one of the unsolved riddles of the Arctic. The chance discovery in 1930 of the expedition's last camp created a media sensation in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, where the dead men were mourned and idolized.
Despite the efforts done with the Bratvaag Expedition at Victoria Island, Norway never officially claimed the island later, probably due to fear of upsetting the Soviet Union. In September 1932, it became known that the Soviet Union had annexed the island.
Sources
- I. Gjertz, B. Mørkved, "Norwegian Arctic Expansionism, Victoria Island (Russia) and the Bratvaag Expedition", Arctic, Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 1998), P. 330-335 (Available as PDF)
- The End of a Voyage - The Bratvaag Find