12 Facts About The Fram

Before the Fram, Arctic exploration faced huge dangers and near impossibility.The Fram was commissioned, but Arctic exploration attempts carried serious risks.The main danger, besides freezing temperatures and wild animals, was ships not built for the Arctic ice pack.

See.whenever a ship headed northit met floating ice sheets that froze fast to the boat sides. More ice packs hit the ship, freezing all sides and putting huge pressure on the hull. This pressure eventually cracked and broke the ship, which is not good when you are thousands of miles from home in the freezing Arctic Ocean.

To map the northern areas, explorers needed a special ship. They needed the Fram.

In the mid-1880s, scientists guessed a current ran east to west under the Arctic Ocean. The theory failed because ships could not go far enough north. The Arctic Ocean's floating ice blocked entry for even the bravest sailors.

So, 23-year-old Fridtjof Nansen hired shipwright Colin Archer to build a ship that wasdesigned to lift above the Arctic's floating ice.This kept momentum and allowed movement. The Framdesign let the ice pack pressure push the ship over the ice, preventing total destruction while it moved. That mission was to go further than ever before.

This gave the ship its name: the Fram, which means“Forward.”

When theFramwas built in 1891, Fridtjof Nansen wanted the expedition to succeed despite lacking supplies and technology.

He made sure the ship held enough supplies tofeed dogs and 12 men for five years, and Nansen improved the expedition's science by making things more comfortable for his team. He added a windmill to power an electric generator that ran heaters and lights for the crew.

TheFramalso had insulation to handle the cold.

When Nansen announced his plan to sail to the North Pole, people across Norway and the world got very excited. They saw it as a great idea. Half a million crowns were raised to fund the expedition, not countinga 20 thousand crown donationfrom the King of Norway himself.

Because of Nansen's standing as a strong explorer, when it was time to fill the Framwith its 12-person crew, Nansen got applications from hundreds of people, some capable and others not.

Nansen claimed a French woman wrote a letter, tired of life, offering 'services' for adventure before she went to a convent. That application got rejected.

Nansen's 1893 voyage with the Fram suffered.The FramTwo things stopped the Fram. First, the Arctic current Nansen studied lacked the strength to push the Fram.The FramFram could not push through the thick Arctic ice.

Second, Nansen underestimated the Arctic's cold. The Fram faced extreme cold.The Fram –Like other ships, the Fram froze to an ice floe for nearly three years.. The men ate walrus and polar bear meat before returning home.. The men ate walrus and polar bear meat before finally going home.

That said, the Fram performed well on its first trip. It kept its men warm and safe in the Arctic wasteland. Nansen and his crew also gathered important Arctic data before leaving again.FramThe Fram performed well on its first voyage. It kept its men warm and secure in the Arctic wasteland. Nansen and his crew gathered vital Arctic information before setting off again.

Hopes existed that the Arctic current might carry the Fram.The FramAcross the North Pole, Nansen and his men planned for freezing in an ice pack. That is.Nansen basically counted on this..

While trapped in the ice, each crew member used their time for science. They gathered data on the ice and sea below. The crew also watched the Aurora Borealis.

During the Fram's time in the ice,Framit moved 189 miles in a straight line. It reached 82°30'N, the record for the northernmost expedition.

Though the Fram never hit the North Pole,FramFram never reached the North Pole. When Nansen and his team returned, they received hero treatment. Nansen's leadership secured his legacy. He earned medals from global geographical societies. Pop culture also recognized him.

Today, Norwegian mountaineers with ice-caked beards in harsh conditions look like this.The look is said to be, “the full Nansen.”

Norwegian sailor Otto Sverdrup wanted to travel. He worked on his uncle's ship at age 17.

In 1888, Sverdrup joined Fridtjof Nansen’s Greenland ice cap crossing after over 15 years of work. Three years later, Sverdrup helped design and rig the Fram.Three years later, Sverdrup helped design and rig the Fram.The Fram chose Sverdrup as its first official captain.Sverdrup became its first official captain.Sverdrup managed the Fram when Nansen and a small team tried to reach the Arctic Pole on skis.Sverdrup was in charge of the Fram.Sverdrup was in charge of the Fram when Nansen and a small team tried to reach the Arctic Pole on skis.

Two years after Nansen stopped exploring, Sverdrup dusted off the Fram.Sverdrup dusted off the Framand found a new team of pros ready for the Arctic.

Starting in 1898, two years after the FramFramOtto Sverdrup set out with the Fram for his ice-breaking maiden voyage, hoping to journey up the west coast of Greenland.Sverdrup journeyed up the west coast of Greenland.Sverdrup planned to head across the island’s expanse on a dog sled before going across.

Treacherous conditions blocked that journey. So, Sverdrup sailed west to explore what became Canada’s Arctic Archipelago. Sverdrup pushed the Fram.The Fram.The Fram stayed nearly five years, staying abroad until 1902.

During that time, Sverdrup found several new islands, including one chain he named after himself. Sverdrup and the Fram found these places.The Fram.The Fram charted nearly 260,000 square miles of the Arctic, more area than any prior expedition.

Roald Amundsen was born in 1872 outside Oslo, Norway. The future Antarctic explorer first hit the ocean in 1887.Amundsen reached the ocean at age 15.The sailor quickly rose to mate, gaining a reputation for skill. Amundsen admired explorers before him. Amundsen respected Nansen and his ship, the Fram.The Fram.Roald Amundsen dusted off the Fram for an Arctic expedition, aiming to finish Fridtjof Nansen's original goal.

In 1909, Amundsen began planning to pull the Fram.Amundsen planned to pull the Fram out of mothballs for an Arctic expedition, aiming to finish Fridtjof Nansen's original goal.Amundsen dusted off the Fram out of mothballs for an Arctic expedition, hoping to achieve Fridtjof Nansen's original, unmet objective by the 1910 voyage.Amundsen faced personal debt during the 1910 voyage of the Fram.The Fram prepared for the 1910 voyage.Amundsen was drowning in personal debt., so he thought the best way out of the financial hole was a huge victory for himself and his country. Hearing the North Pole was reached, Amundsen changed his plan, opting to use the Fram to reach the South Pole instead.Amundsen opted to use the Fram to reach the South Pole.Amundsen chose the Fram to reach the South Pole.

Amundsen told his creditors the trip south was for science and he had no record-breaking goals. Only Amundsen’s brother knew the Fram’s true purpose for several weeks before the voyage.Only Amundsen’s brother knew the Fram’s true purpose for the journey.Amundsen did not tell his crew the true purpose until the night before the Fram left.Amundsen did not tell his crew the true purpose the night before the Fram left.The Fram was set to leave.

Around the same time Amundsen headed to the Antarctic, a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott launched to beat the Norwegian team. The British expected to reach the South Pole first because they launched two months before Amundsen’s expedition.The British launched two months before Amundsen’s expedition.The Fram had competition heading to the South Pole.

Scott’s ship, the Terra Nova, was the more capable vessel for the open water stretches each team needed to cross to reach the Antarctic.The Terra Nova., was the more competent vessel for the open water stretches each team needed to cross to reach the Antarctic.The Fram was a marvel on the ice, but in open water, it was less impressive. A British critic wrote, “She has no more sailing qualities than a haystack.”The Fram was a marvel on the ice; in open water, it was far less impressive. A British critic wrote, “[she] has no more sailing qualities than a haystack.”

Scott’s team did not expect Amundsen’s toughness. The Norwegian explorer took the Fram through rough, uncharted waters in the Ross Sea and reached Antarctica first.The Fram.The Fram took the team through rough, uncharted waters in the Ross Sea and beat Scott to Antarctica itself.

Scott and his team faced worsening conditions. Their failed attempt to reach the South Pole left Scott and three others frozen dead in the lonely, frozen deserts of Antarctica.

The British landed in Antarctica. They sent a group to explore the area. They crossed an ice shelf to the Bay of Whales and found that theFramwas already set up and comfortable in Framheim, the home ofFram."

Amundsen set off for the South Pole with a small team. The Fram’screw used the vessel to explore the Antarctic Ocean, reaching 78°41’S.The crew used the vessel to explore the Antarctic Ocean. They reached 78°41’S.

Framearned its second record as the ship that sailed the farthest South in history. TheThe ship earned its second record. It sailed the farthest South in history.sailed more than54,000 nautical miles54,000 nautical milesThis equals two-and-a-half trips around the equator.