Strange interlude at Virgohamna, Danskøya, Svalbard, 1906: the merkelig mann, the engineer and the spy

Abstract

Just over a century ago, the American journalist Walter Wellman first tried to reach the North Pole by airship. Despite the hoopla that surrounded the expedition, it was a fiasco and the attempt became a quirky and somewhat obscure episode in the history of polar exploration. In this issue of Polar Research, we present two complementary contributions about this event. The first paper, below, is a collaboration between Penn State University Abington College archaeologist P. J. Capelotti, engineer and airship historian Herman Van Dyk and Swiss aeronautical historian Jean-Claude Cailliez. It presents new data on the initial operations of Wellman’s attempt to reach the pole in 1906.

Keywords:

• North Pole
• Wellman
• Nansen
• Savlbard
• Airship
• Motor sledge
• Zeppelin.