ICE NAVIGATION 



Robert A. Bartlett 



Polar Ships and Their Construction 



Peary has this to say of building a polar ship: Of all the special 

 tools that a polar explorer requires for the successful prosecution of 

 his work, his ship stands first and preeminent. This is the tool which 

 is to place him and his party and supplies within striking distance 

 of his goal, the tool without which he can accomplish nothing. He 

 says further : The builder should live with his craft from the time the 

 keel is laid till she is complete and has made her trial trips. I do not 

 suppose that any other explorer was so well qualified to say this or 

 could so keenly feel the need of having his own ship to do with her 

 just as he pleased and to go where he pleased. Having to charter the 

 Newfoundland seal hunters at a high figure and within a limited time 

 and area, he had to be content to land his party many miles from his 

 base. Really the first ship built for polar exploration was Nansen's 

 Fram. Nansen learned the lesson of thorough preparation from the 

 long list of hastily improvised ships of the past, the Polaris and the 

 Jeannette being then of recent date. 



As a rule the commander of an Arctic expedition knows little or 

 nothing of wooden ship construction. He therefore goes to a ship 

 designer or architect who, if conscientious, will take advice from 

 well-qualified men. It took many weeks and months and many 

 changes of plans before Colin Archer, builder of the Fram, decided 

 upon the right model and the strength commensurate with safety for 

 the putting together of the Fram. Nansen was extremely fortunate 

 in getting such a man as Colin Archer. 



Captain Scott's Discovery (I shall have to designate her as "Cap- 

 tain Scott's, " for there were several ships of that name) was designed 

 very close to the Scotch whaler type, built in the Stevens Yard, Dun- 

 dee, Scotland, where many steam whalers were built that have made 

 history in Arctic and Antarctic exploration. The Discovery was the 

 last ship constructed in that yard. The art of building wooden ships 

 is now almost lost to Great Britain. Some of them are afloat today, 

 seal hunting in the stormy months of March and April off the New- 

 foundland and Labrador coasts. Some are over fifty years old. The 

 Neptune has brought her owners over one million hair seal. The 

 Terra Nova, not quite fifty years old yet, is going strong and is good 

 for twenty years more. The Coast Guard cutter Bear, an angel of 

 mercy in northern Alaskan waters, is getting well along but is still 



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