| Norge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Other name | N-1,I-SAAN (Italian registration number) |
| Type | N-classsemi-rigid airship |
| Owners | Umberto Nobile et al |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1923 |
| First flight | March 1924 as N-1; April 1926 asNorge |
| Fate | Dismantled atTeller, Alaska, for transport to Europe. Never flown again. |
TheNorge was asemi-rigid Italian-builtairship that carried out the first verified trip of any kind to theNorth Pole, an overflight on 12 May 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America. The expedition was the brainchild of polar explorer and expedition leaderRoald Amundsen, the airship's designer and pilotUmberto Nobile and the wealthy American adventurer and explorerLincoln Ellsworth who, along with theNorwegian Aviation Society [no], financed the trip, which was known as the Amundsen-Ellsworth 1926 Transpolar Flight.
Norge was the first N-classsemi-rigid airship designed by Italian aeronautical engineerUmberto Nobile and its construction began in 1923. As part of the sales contract to the Aviation Society, the airship was refitted for Arctic conditions. The pressurised envelope was reinforced with metal frames at the nose and tail, with a flexible tubular metal keel connecting the two. This was covered with fabric and used as storage and crew space. Three engine gondolas and the separate control cabin were attached to the bottom of the keel.Norge was the first Italian semi-rigid to be fitted with the cruciform tail fins first developed by theSchütte-Lanz company.[citation needed]
On 15 April 1924,N-1 was carried away from its base atCiampino aerodrome by a violent wind gust. Two soldiers and a mechanic, who were unable to let go from the mooring lines, were carried 300 feet (91 m) and dashed to death.[1]
In 1925, Amundsen and Nobile met in Oslo, where the explorer proposed an airship expedition across the Arctic. With a contract in place, Nobile modified the already completed N-1 for flight in arctic weather.[2] As the expedition was being financed by the Norwegian Aviation Society, the refitted N-1 was christened theNorge (English:Norway).[2]
On 29 March 1926, at a ceremony at the aerodrome in Ciampino, theNorge was handed over to the Norwegian Aviation Society.[3] The flight north was to leaveRome on 6 April but was delayed due to strong winds and departed at 09:25 on 10 April. TheNorge arrived atRNAS Pulham Airship Station in England at 15:20 but due to bad weather, the ship was not moored inside the hangar until 18:30.[4] Delayed again by weather, theNorge left Pulham for Oslo at 11:45 on 12 April.[5]
At 01:00 on 15 April 1926, theNorge leftEkeberg in Oslo forGatchina nearLeningrad. Slowed by dense fog along the way, the airship arrived at 19:30 after a flight of 17 hours.[6] After the arrival at Gatchina, Nobile announced that theNorge would remain in the hangar for a week for engine overhaul and maintenance; this included the addition of collapsible rubber boats for emergency use.[7][8] Although scheduled to leave Gatchina as soon as the weather allowed after 24 April, the airship's departure was delayed another week as themooring mast at King's Bay, Spitsbergen had not yet been completed due to adverse weather.[9] Although Nobile was anxious to leave for Spitsbergen even if the mast and shed were not completed as he was concerned about the weather, the departure from Gatchina was postponed once again.[10][11]
TheNorge finally left Gatchina at 09:40 on the morning of 5 May to proceed toVadsø in northern Norway, where the airship mooring mast still stands today. The expedition then crossed theBarents Sea to reach King's Bay atNy-Ålesund,Svalbard.[12] There Nobile metRichard Evelyn Byrd preparing hisFokker Trimotor for his North Pole attempt.[12] Nobile explained theNorge trip was to observe the uncharted sea between the Pole and Alaska where some believed land to be; at the time, Nobile believedRobert Edwin Peary had already reached the pole.[12] King's Bay would be the dirigible's last stop before crossing the pole. TheNorge then departed for the final stretch across the polar ice on the morning of 11 May, at 9:55.[13]
The 16-man expedition included Amundsen, the expedition leader and navigator; Nobile, the dirigible's designer and pilot; Lincoln Ellsworth, wealthy American outdoorsman and expedition sponsor, and polar explorerOscar Wisting who served as helmsman. Other crew members were 1st Lt.Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, navigator; 1st Lt. Emil Horgen, elevatorman; Capt. Birger Gottwaldt, radio expert, DrFinn Malmgren of Uppsala University, meteorologist;[12]Fredrik Ramm, journalist; Frithjof Storm-Johnsen, radioman; Flying Lt. Oscar Omdal, flight engineer; Natale Cecioni, chief mechanic; Renato Alessandrini, rigger; Ettore Arduino, Attilio Caratti and Vincenzo Pomella, mechanics. Nobile's little dog, Titina, who accompanied him everywhere, was also aboard as mascot.[12]
On 12 May at 01:25 (GMT), theNorge reached the North Pole, at which point the Norwegian, American and Italian flags were dropped from the airship onto the ice.[14] Relations between Amundsen and Nobile, which had been lukewarm at best, were aggravated by the uncomfortable conditions in theNorge's unheated, noisy control car and deteriorated further when Amundsen saw that the Italian flag dropped by Nobile was larger than either of the others. Amundsen later recalled with scorn that after he and Ellsworth had dropped the flags of their countries onto the ice, Nobile began tossing armfuls of different flags and banners overboard and theNorge had become "a circus wagon of the skies", an occurrence Nobile later claimed Amundsen had greatly exaggerated.[15]
After crossing the pole, the airship's propellers became encrusted with ice to such an extent that pieces breaking off were flung against the outer cover, causing several rips and tears in the fabric.
The ice forming on the propellers as we went through the fog, and hurled against the underside of the bag, had pretty well scarred up the fabric covering the keel, though it had not opened up the gas bags or caused any hydrogen loss. We had used up all our cement in repairing the fabric..."[12]
On 14 May, theNorge reached the Inupiat village ofTeller, Alaska, where in view of worsening weather, the decision was made to land there rather than continue on toNome, about 70 miles (113 km) away.[12] TheNorge was reportedly damaged somehow during the landing and was dismantled and shipped back to Italy for repairs and refurbishing that was never undertaken.
The three previous expeditions that claim to have reached the North Pole—led byFrederick Cook in 1908,Robert Peary in 1909, andRichard E. Byrd in 1926 (just a few days before theNorge)—are all disputed as being either highly inaccurate or totally false. Some of those disputing these earlier claims therefore consider the crew of theNorge to be the first verified explorers to have reached the North Pole.
TheNorge specifications is as follows.[16]
General characteristics
Performance
