Amundsen and Ellsworth 1925 Arctic Expedition Glass Plates Dietrichson

The collection consists of 23 hand-colored glass lantern slides of images taken during the 1925 Arctic expedition attempt by Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth to fly to the North Pole using a pair of Dornier Do J Wal (Whale) (Do 16) flying boats.

Roald Amundsen was an accomplished Norwegian explorer. American Lincoln Ellsworth was the son of a multimillionaire, with degrees from Columbia and Yale, trained as an aviator during World War I. Together, with four other men, they attempted to fly to the North Pole using a pair of Dornier Do J Wal (Whale) (Do 16) flying boats, simply named N24 and N25. Each aircraft had twin Rolls-Royce 365-hp water-cooled Eagle engines mounted on top of the wing structure, one facing forward, the other facing aft. The Dorniers were constructed with duralumin flat-bottomed fuselages and projecting sponsons to stabilize the craft in the water. The expedition left from King's Bay Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Norway on 21 May 1925. The N24 was piloted by Norwegian naval Lieutenant Leif Dietrichson, with Ellsworth and mechanic Osker Omdal. Amundsen was aboard the N25 with Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen as pilot and German mechanic Ludwig (also known as Karl) Feucht. After several hours of flight, the N24 engine temperature began to rise uncontrollably, and by 5:00 am on the 22nd Amundsen decided to land both planes to refill the tanks. They were still over 120 miles from the Pole and had drifted off course, 22 degrees west. It would take 25 days of surviving the Arctic climate before they could free the planes from the ice by creating a hard ice runway using only makeshift tools. On June 15, the six men took flight aboard the N25, leaving the crippled N24 behind. Almost 24 hours later they were able to land on the choppy waters of the Hinlopen Strait, where they flagged down and were able to board the Sjoliv, a Norwegian seal-hunting ship, for their final journey back to King's Bay. By June 25th the N25 was safely recovered and on July 5th Amundsen and Ellsworth with the rest of the crew flew the N-25 to Olso for a heroes' reception and audience with King Haakon of Norway.