Carl Anton Larsen | |
|---|---|
 Carl Anton Larsen | |
| Born | (1860-08-07)7 August 1860 Østre Halsen,Norway |
| Died | 8 December 1924(1924-12-08) (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | sailor,ship captain,whaler, andAntarcticexplorer |
| Spouse(s) | Andrine Larsen, née Thorsen |
| Parent(s) | Ole Christian Larsen and Ellen Andrea Larsen, née Engelbrightsen |
Carl Anton Larsen (7 August 1860 – 8 December 1924)[1] was aNorwegian-bornwhaler andAntarctic explorer who made important contributions to the exploration ofAntarctica, the most significant being the first discovery offossils for which he received the Back Grant from theRoyal Geographical Society.[2] In December 1893 he became the first person toski in Antarctica on theLarsen Ice Shelf which was subsequently named after him.[3] In 1904, Larsen re-founded a whaling settlement atGrytviken on the island ofSouth Georgia.[4] In 1910, after some years' residence on South Georgia, he renounced his Norwegian citizenship and took British citizenship.[5] The Norwegian whale factory shipC.A. Larsen was named after him.
Carl Anton Larsen was born in Østre Halsen,Tjolling, the son ofNorwegiansea captain Ole Christian Larsen and his wife Ellen Andrea Larsen (née Thorsen).[1][6] His family subsequently relocated to nearbySandefjord, the home of the Norwegian whaling industry, where at the young age of 9 he went to sea in a smallbarque with his father chasing seals and trading across theNorth Atlantic withBritain, returning to go to school during the fall and winter. He continued this for a number of years, until his curiosity for the sea was so strong he enrolled himself in navigation school where he passed the exam for foreign-going mate at the age of 18.[7] Having been to Britain a few times in the previous years he realized the importance of knowing more languages and taught himself English andSpanish.
Larsen was eager to get work as an officer on a ship, but due to economic difficulties in Norway at the time, he could not achieve that. This was a setback, but he went to work at sea as a cook, learning the importance food played in keeping men happy.
He finally got a position aboard the barqueHoppet out of Larvik, assecond mate, thenfirst mate andsenior officer below the captain. He was 21 and knew he had to study again so he came ashore and soon became ashipmaster.
Upon becoming a shipmaster, Larsen needed a ship of his own. This was more than he could afford so instead he bought a share of an old barque called theFreden. It was not smooth sailing for Larsen as the barqueFreden was all but wrecked after his first voyage. He soon got her fixed, only to be faced with another setback: nobody had any freight he could carry. This turned out to be a stroke of luck as he decided to go on his first whaling experience, huntingbottlenose whales just off the coast of Norway. Larsen was a born whaler and soon filled the Freden with whales and went on filling her until 1885 when he realized that he could not use theSvend Foyn gun with little chaser-steamers like the modernwhalers. It was time for a newer ship.[7]
Between 1892 and 1894 Larsen led a Norwegian whaling reconnaissance expedition to Antarctica, in command of theJason. TheJason was a ship Larsen was familiar with as he had been aboard it during the voyage that carriedFridtjof Nansen toGreenland during his east–west crossing in 1888.[8][9] They spent the 1892–93 summer exploring the waters and shores ofGraham Land, returning the following summer to investigate theWeddell andBellingshausen Seas. The sea ice was particularly light in 1893, allowing theJason to sail to 68° 10' south, further south than had previously been achieved, and indeed no other traveller would penetrate so far south along theLarsen ice shelf for nearly a century.[10]
Larsen added significantly to understanding of the geography of the area, discovering theLarsen Ice Shelf and theJason Peninsula, two of 12 features named in Larsen's honour, as well as theFoyn Coast inGraham Land,King Oscar Land, andRobertson Island. He also identified two active volcanoes and many groups of islands, and was first to record a colony ofemperor penguins although, as the species was unknown to him, he mis-identified them asking penguins.[11] The colony was not rediscovered until 2014. His expedition also discovered fossilised plant remains onSeymour Island,[11] and was the first to return fossils from the region;[10] the site has continued to yield significantpaleontological results.
 Map ofGraham Land, showing Antarctic Peninsula (1) and Joinville Island (4) with Hope Bay between them, Snow Hill Island (6), Vega Island (7) and Paulet Island (10) | |
  Graham Land and its islands Location in Antarctica | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 63°35′S55°47′W / 63.583°S 55.783°W /-63.583; -55.783 |
| Archipelago | Joinville Island group |
After reading of Larsen's journey,Otto Nordenskjöld contracted him to convey a scientific expedition to the area. Larsen thus captained the shipAntarctic, transporting theSwedish Antarctic Expedition south between 1901 and 1904.[12] The sea ice was heavier than in 1893, and – although the ship passed through the iceberg-infestedAntarctic Sound now named after it – the expedition was unable to get further south thanSnow Hill Island.[11] Nordenskjöld's party of six scientists was left there in January 1902 to overwinter, and Larsen planned to return the following summer to pick them up.[10]
Larsen spent the southern winter exploringSouth Georgia, where he found a sheltered harbour, a supply of fresh water, and an abundance of whales. The expedition archaeologist found numerous sealers' artefacts and named the siteGrytviken ('Pot Cove'). Larsen saw the possibilities to establish a land-based whaling station, which he was to develop from 1904.[10] Returning south in December 1902 to collect Nordenskjöld's party, Larsen foundAntarctic Sound choked with ice. Before attempting the more treacherous route aroundJoinville Island, Larsen therefore left three men (Duse, Andersson and Grunden)[11] atHope Bay with instructions to sledge south, contact Nordenskjöld's team, and bring them back to Snow Hill Island in case theAntarctic was unable to reach them. While Larsen headed into theWeddell Sea, the three men found their route blocked by open water and returned to Hope Bay to await Larsen's return.[11]
The pack ice was thick in the Weddell Sea and Larsen, trapped several times, was eventually unable to free his ship. After several weeks, on 12 February 1903,[11] the trapped ship was crushed and sank; the nineteen remaining crew (and the ship's cat)[11] took what they could and crossed the ice to the nearest land,Paulet Island, where they overwintered, surviving (like the team at Hope Bay)[13] on penguins and seals they captured.[11] Nordenskjöld and his team had explored the Larsen ice shelf and Jason Peninsula during the summer; unaware of the fate of theAntarctic but better supplied than the ship's crew, they too settled in for another winter when theAntarctic failed to arrive.
With summer, in late 1903, the three men at Hope Bay decided to make another attempt to reach Nordenskjöld; his location was known to potential rescuers, while theirs was not. Although they veered south-west towardsPrince Gustav Channel, by chance Nordenskjöld's team had also decided to explore that area and the two teams met on 12 October 1903 nearVega Island.[10][11]
Meanwhile Larsen had rowed across Hope Bay from Paulet Island with five men, to rescue the men he had left there. Arriving, they found the deserted hut and a note saying the men had left in another attempt to find Nordenskjöld. Larsen's boat therefore headed south to Snow Hill Island to attempt to find them there. On 8 November[11] the Argentine shipARAUruguay reached Snow Hill Island to rescue the two teams now re-united there; miraculously, Larsen and the five men from his boat arrived later in the afternoon, having seen theUruguay in the distance. TheUruguay then sailed north to collect the remaining crew from Paulet Island. Only one crew member had been lost, succumbing to illness while overwintering on Paulet Island.
In 1904, Larsen settled on the British island ofSouth Georgia in theAntarctic, starting a new era of whaling. On Christmas Eve, 1904, he produced the first whale oil of the season in the newly builtwhaling station ofGrytviken. With capital from Argentine, Norwegian and British sources, he founded the firstAntarctic whaling corporation, theCompañía Argentina de Pesca (Argentine Fishing Company). Within a few years the Antarctic was producing about 70% of the world's whale oil.[14]
Larsen had chosen the whaling station's site during his 1902 visit while in command of theAntarctic.[15][16] Larsen organized the construction of Grytviken―a remarkable undertaking accomplished by a team of 60 Norwegians. As with other buildings, achurch was pre-built in Norway and erected in Grytviken. This typical Norwegian-style church was consecrated as aChurch of Norway church, on Christmas Day, 1913. In 1922, the funeral service forSir Ernest Shackleton was conducted in the church before his burial in the church cemetery.[17] Larsen established a meteorological observatory at Grytviken, which from 1905 was maintained in cooperation with the Argentine Meteorological Office under the British lease requirements of the whaling station until these changed in 1949. Larsen was also instrumental, with his brother, in introducingReindeer to South Georgia in 1911, as a resource for recreational hunting for the people involved in the whaling industry.
Larsen, like other managers and senior officers of the South Georgia whaling stations, lived in Grytviken together with his family including his wife, three daughters and two sons. In 1910, they obtained Britishcitizenship, following an application filed with the BritishMagistrate of South Georgia in which Larsen declared: "I have given up my Norwegian citizens rights and have resided here since I started whaling in this colony on 16 November 1904 and have no reason to be of any other citizenship than British, as I have had and intend to have my residence here still for a long time."[18]
Larsen died in December 1925 while attempting to run a full-scale whale factory ship down towards theRoss Sea.[10]
Media related toCarl Anton Larsen at Wikimedia CommonsCapital:King Edward Point | |||||||
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