Boats trapped in ice

[formosa aus]

I have been reading about two very different polar explorers whose ships got caught in ice. Shackleton in 1914 - 17 whose ship “Endurance” got unintentionally stuck in ice in the Wendell sea (Antarctica), drifted north with the ice, got crushed and sank.

Nansen’s expedition 1893-96 in a Colin Archer designed ship “Fram’” with shallow rounded bilges designed to avoid being crushed by ice deliberately got trapped in the ice and drifted with the ice for a couple of years. He got the closest anyone had at that time got to the North Pole and then got releases from the ice on the other side of the ice cap and Fram was able to sail back to Norway.

Very different geographic conditions obviously with land in Antartica and only sea ice at North Pole but amazing stories.

Endurance weighed 350 tons and I wondered if anyone had thoughts of how Shackleton could have avoided being crushed? I was thinking maybe cutting the masts down and making an inclined plane on the ice and using the steam capstan and cables and blocks to pull herself out of the ice. Thanks

[RaymondR]

The vessel Fram and the Scandinavian explorers who used her grossly illustrate the vast superiority of research and development and pragmatic planning over the British "muddle through" method.

Endurance was a fairly standard, slab sided, design for the vessels of the time and it was inevitable that if it became trapped in any extensive ice pack and was crushed.

Nansen developed the concept of a vessel which would ride up and sit on top of the ice when subjected to crushing forces in an ice pack. Colin Archer designed the vessel and it worked exactly as designed.

Amundsen used the vessel for his south polar expedition which was beautifully planned and executed in comparison with the disastrous mess which was the British attempt under Scott.

[chrisr]

i've been onboard Fram in the museum in oslo. fascinating...seems incredibly small for what they did

cheers,

[Toccata]

Of interest the hull thickness of Fram is enormous, close to a metre.
The Fram also had a retractable rudder (and propeller).
Notably she survived the North Pole expedition, was refitted and in 1910 - 12 she went further south than any other ship at the time (78deg 41' south)
Perhaps someone who has seen her in the museum in Oslo, could post a photo of the hull structure?

[noelex 77]

It is still done today with modern yachts. KM Yacht builders and I am sure others have produced some yachts with this capability.

This photo is from Dykstra's website. They are the yacht designers of the Bestevaer series.

[El Pinguino]

Plenty of photos out there of the hull form.

[El Pinguino]

There is a cross section in this link
Basis
That sort of form lets the ice force your hull upwards.

What you don't want in ice is 'tumblehome' --- you can look that up for your self and you will see why not.

[formosa aus]

Thanks for the replies. One day I must visit Fram, fascinating.

[onestepcsy37]

the most historically famous 'trapped in ice' was the franklin expedition which left england in 1845 with two ships and 129 men. they were on a mission to conduct scientific experiments in the high latitude and, of course, find the fabled northwest passage. they went fast in ice in 1847, abandoned their ships in 1848, and attempted to hike back to canada. none of them were ever seen again. in 2014 the underwater wreck of one of the ships was found, and a year later, the other.


in 1903 another explorer left norway heading for the arctic and in 1906 he arrived in alaska - he and his crew of six were the first europeans to cross the northwest passage. he actually would have completed the voyage a year sooner but he decided to winter over with the eskimos to learn the skills they used to survive in the arctic - skills that would serve him well when just four years later he borrowed nansens ship, fram, to mount an expedition to the south pole.


he told nansen and his entire crew that they were going to the north pole so the british would not think he was competing with them in a race to the south pole. once at sea he told his crew where they were really going and offered to put them ashore at a whaling station in the south atlantic if they did not want to go. they all went with him. roald amundsen and his team of three others reached the south pole in december of 1911.


and if that wasn't enough, in 1926 he led an expedition to the north pole by dirigible - the airship norge - and became the first person (and crew) to reach the north pole and verify it. peary's claim to the be first at the pole is widely disputed. many now believe he was short by about 150 miles.

[phlygh]

There's a book at the Gutenberg project, (free digital books) titled "The Open Polar Sea" by I Hayes, 1865.It is a fascinating read about an expedition to Greenland that over wintered in the ice.

[RiverRat37]

Here are two more recent books (smaller boats) that dealt with craft frozen in the ice. Both are first-rate reads with terrific anecdotal stories (like a cat's ear breaking off! -- not to worry the sailor stuck it back on and it grew okay). That one by Alvah Simon is: North to the Night. He had to fight to keep his boat from being driven under by ice.
The other one is Tristan Jones stuck in the ice for two years with his 3-legged dog. The best part of that story (and there are many) is how the fishermen that found him treated him -- hint: they were Danes (or was it Icelanders) who knew how to deal with someone out of sight of humans for so long. It's a psychological issue that was brilliant and very enlightening to me. That is titled: ICE!

[goboatingnow]

Amundsen actually knew what he was doing , the British expeditions were basically entitled amateurs “ having a great time” on someone else’s money. It’s a wonder so many actually survived. In particular Scot was woefully unprepared largely ignorant of any native techniques and dependant on poor choices for transport.

While Amundsen made no attempt at any “ science “ the British explorers in fairness made some attempts to advance science in the area. But in the raw business of covering ground in the extreme cold , they were totally outclassed.

[chrisr]

here are some pix of Fram in the museum in oslo

i've got more if anybody wants to see them

cheers,

[JPA Cate]

^^^^^^

Thanks for those, Chris. Very interesting.

Ann

[ggray]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Amundsen actually knew what he was doing , the British expeditions were basically entitled amateurs “ having a great time” on someone else’s money. It’s a wonder so many actually survived. In particular Scot was woefully unprepared largely ignorant of any native techniques and dependant on poor choices for transport.

While Amundsen made no attempt at any “ science “ the British explorers in fairness made some attempts to advance science in the area. But in the raw business of covering ground in the extreme cold , they were totally outclassed.

I'm not sure how "great (a) time" the Brits or anyone had that far south.

And regarding choice of transportation, I think Scott was trying to find an alternative to animals in those extremes, on the logic or emotion that men had the choice to put themselves in suffering and life threatening conditions, but the animals did not.

The book "The Worst Journey in the World" illustrates both points.