Today in History: The first flight over the North Pole took place
In 1926, a 16-man crew became the very first to fly over the North Pole, flying over the Arctic in the airship named Norge .
The 16-man crew, which included Norwegians, Americans and Italians, was not only part of the first Arctic flight, but also what is regarded as the first verified visit to the North Pole.
On a voyage that was delayed several times due to poor weather conditions, the crew departed from Rome on 10 April just after 9am, four days later than planned.
They were flying on board the Italian-made, 106m-long, 26m-wide airship, Norge, which was designed by Umberto Nobile and manufactured in 1923.
They reached Pulham, England, six hours later. From there they were due to fly to Oslo, Norway, but could only do so on 12 April owing to more poor weather.
The airship then set off for Gatchina near Leningrad (modern-day Saint Petersburg), Russia, from Oslo at 1am on 15 April, reaching Leningrad 17 hours later, after more delays because of dense fog on the way.
The airship was hangared for a week for repairs and maintenance for the trip to the North Pole and was scheduled to depart Gatchina on 24 April but was again delayed, this time because the mast at Ny-Ålesund, Spitzbergen, Svalbard was not ready.
It eventually departed from Gatchina on 5 May, crossing the Barents Sea to reach Ny-Ålesund.
The final stretch across the polar ice and the North Pole began on 11 May, departing from Ny-Ålesund.
The expedition eventually reached the North Pole, shortly after 1am on 12 May, at which point the Norwegian, American, and Italian flags were dropped onto the ice from the airship.
Relations between Nobile and expedition leader, Roald Amundsen, had grown icy and got even worse when Amundsen noticed that the Italian flag dropped by Nobile was larger than the other two.
The expedition never reached its final destination of Nome, Alaska, USA, as the airship was forced to land at the Eskimo village of Teller, Alaska on 14 May due to worsening weather and ice encrustations on the propellers, which were breaking off and causing damage to the fabric hull.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
