Morning journal and courier., 1892-12-05
DIR. Nansen,s Polar Expedttiop.

fore the Royal Geographical society In
London few evenings ago:
DR.. Nansen said there were two methods
| of trying to obtain the result he longed
for-frst, to build a ship so constructed
thzt it could Withstand the pressure of the
ice, and, living in this ship, to float across
the ice; or, second, to take only boats
along, encamp on an iee-hoe, and live
there while floating across. His plan was
based on the use of both these methods.
He had now built wooden ship as small
and as strong as possible; 1t was Just big
enough to carry provisions for twelve men
for FIVE or six years, besides the necessary
fuel; her sizs was about six hundred tons
displacement with light cargo She would
have an engine of one hundred and sixty
indicated horse power, giving her q speed
of six knots with a consumption of two
and three fourth tons of coal in twenty
four hours. With sails alone she would
probably attain a speed of eight or nine
knots under favorable circumstances. She
would consequently be no fast vessel nor
good sailer; but this was of relatively
little importance on an expedition like the
present, where they would have to depend
principally on the speed of the current
and the ice movement, and not that of the
ship.
A ship's ability to break her way through
the psck-ice did not at sll depend on her
speed, but on her steam power and her
shape. For il was naturally the thing of
importance 20 get a strong ship, and the
most important feature in her construc-
ton was that she should be built on such
lines as would give her the greatest power
|s.E - - ~
Her sides must not be perpendicular, as
those of ships generally were, bat must
slope from the bulwArks TO the keel, SO
that the hoes should get no hold of her
when they were pressed together, but
should glide downward along her sides
and under her, thus tending TO lift her out
of the water. The vessel ought to be as
small as possible, as the lighter she wsa
the more easily she would BE- lifted by the
ice, and the less pressure there would be
on her sides. 1t was also easier TO make q
small ship strong than big one. A small
ship had other advantages, As It was more
convenient to navigate and 10 handle in
the ice, and ii was easier to fnd good and
ssfe places for il between the floss. As
great length was a weakness during the
pressure and twisting of the psck-ics, the
l chip ought also to be as short as her neces-
| sary bearing capacity would allow. The
| result Of this in connection with the very
4 sloping sides was that the new ship wss
| disproportionstely broad compared with
| her length. Her breadth was about one
third of the latter. Flat sides were
Il avoided as much as possible near the
4 places that would be most exposed &c
the attack of the ice, and the hull had
plumP and rounded formR. Thsre were
1 no sharp, projecting corners; every edge
was broken and rounded. Even the keel
did not project very much; it was al
most covered by the plankings, and only
three inches were visible outside the ice.
skin, and the ehsrp edges were quite
4 rounded. On the whole the ship would,
4 he hoped. leave no place for the ice ia
catch hold of. RouGd and slIppery like
an eel, she would escspe it's cold and
strong grasp. TIE ship would be pointed
st both ends, ard, GU the whole, resem
blsd very much a Norwegian pilot-bost
or, as he was told, Scotch buckie-boat
only that she, of course. was carsyel
built, and that the keel and the sharp bot
tom were cut off.
/ The bottom was near the keel compare
lively fat, in order that the ship should
have something to rest on without being
capsized in case she should be completely
lifted on to the Ice. Both stem and
stern were considerably curved in order
that the ice should get no hold there. The
stem was also much sloped, because II
would then more easily force the ice foes
under her when she was breaking her way
through the ice. The thickness Of sides
| of the ship was twenty-eight to thirty-twC
inches-a cold mass of pitch pine, oak and
| greenhesrt, with a little pitch between.
| The whole was like ons coherent mass, and
| the ship might almost bs considered as II
l built of solid wood She would be rugged
n r.
| the ssils of which were very easy to han
die from the deck. Everything had beer
done to provide a snug and comfortable
saloon and cabins. The principal dimen
sions OF the vessel were a. follows: Length
of keel, one hundred and one feet; length
at water-line, one hundred and thirtee-
feet; length over all, one hundred and
twenty eight feet; beam at water-line
srnidsbip. excluding the lice sheathing,
thirty-three feet; creates. beam, excluding
| the "ice-sheathing," thirty-si1 feet; depil
moulded, seventeen feet; drAught witt
light cargo, twelve feet. The hull, witt
! boilers filed, weighed about four hundret
and twenty tone. With displacement o
! | eight hundred tons, the vessel had conse
3 | quenuy bearing capacity for three hun
e | dred and eighty tons of coal and cargo
e | Equipment and provisions were not hkel,
to weight much more than sixty or seven
ty tons; thus three hundred or three hun
dred and twenty tons bearing csPscit
would be left for coal and fuel, and thi
| was enough for about four months steam
ing with full speed. Probably, however
they would not be able to make use Of th
' engines more than two months after the
had been loaded with coal for the las
time. A great quantity would thus
= left for heating and cooking during th
winters. For heating purposes they woul
slso carry petroleum. which had the grei
: advantage of giving light besides. Thel
= would also be as much electric lighting
possible by means of dynamo or a wall
!. mill on deck. For the cooking they woul
n carry alcohol. The vessel was launohe
o at Lsurvik on October 26, and was name
Fran, which meant forward" 81
would certainly Be the strongest vess
7 ever used in the Arctic regions. She hs
been built with great care, and he felt ce
:, tain that abe could be crushed only in
quite extraordinary combination of ci
cumstances. With this vessel aud q ere
l. of twelve strong and well picked men, b
J. sides an equipment for ave or six year
as good in all respects as modern appl
l snces could afford, he thought the ente
prise had Q good prospect of success.
IL 1t was his intention to stsrt next Eprin
i, The first goal would be the New Siberis
at Islands or the mouth of the Lena rive
,e After some uncertainty he now thought
going through TO the Kara sea On resc
,s ing the sea north of the Lena delta
IN | should have to wait for the right momel
"a 70 60 northward along the western eoAs
10 of the New Siberian IslAnds, and Try
fts reach the furthest possible point north
open water. This would probably be
August or the hrst days Of Septsnb,
ne The current caused by the warm va,
on from the Lena river would certainly be
ne great help 10 them, As 10 seemed 10 be
~ great influence during the summer, p,
az ~ duclng an extensive open ses, In which Q
IN of the boats from the JeAnns,le wss ev
wrecked. To be able to navigate the 81
art properly through the ice he thought
is using captive balloons; bat the equipm'
the especially the steel cylinders with
lis compressed hydrogen-wss go heavy L
use he feared Ii would be too difficult to ca
- them in a small ship, and they "
also very expensive he feared that
ns. should have to give than up. When {
,bi- could get no further they would
ave nothing left but to run into the Ice ct
not most favorable spot, and tEon there Il