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‘One cannot help liking them’: Terra Nova meets Fram

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2011

Meredith Hooper
Meredith Hooper*
Affiliation:
Wolfson College, Cambridge CB3 9BB (MJH@wolfsonemail.com)
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Abstract

During January 1911 two separate expeditions came ashore within ten days of each other in Antarctica. Both were hoping to achieve the South Pole. Robert Falcon Scott's decision to establish his British Antarctic Expedition's winter quarters on Ross Island close to routes explored on his first Antarctic expedition was signalled in advance. Scott had received notification of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen's intention to head for Antarctica but did not know where he planned to land. At 00.05 am on 4 February 1911 the British expedition's vessel Terra Nova unexpectedly came across Amundsen's Fram moored to the ice edge in the Bay of Whales. 14 hours later Terra Nova departed, taking news of Amundsen's location and plans, to deliver to Scott. For those on Terra Nova who kept diaries, the event filled days surrounding the encounter spurred the recording of thoughts, emotions and conversations as well as descriptions: eye witness accounts, allowing us to gain an appreciation of the situation as it was. This material from the British side, together with letters, and diary entries from earlier in the voyage, reveals a more complex account than do expedition narratives published subsequently by several of the participants. Terra Nova's passage along the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf in February 1911 had, in fact, come close to being cancelled. Terra Nova's commander as instructed by Scott was heading for Balloon Bight on 3 February, not the Bay of Whales. Even the ship's departure after a short stay, with everyone still on board, became a matter for intense debate. In addition, the generally very positive attitude of the British towards the Norwegians as expressed in diaries hardened subsequently, at least for some. This paper's focus is on the responses of those on Terra Nova to the encounter. Those of the Norwegians are being explored by other researchers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2012 , pp. 184 - 191
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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