Wednesday 13 November 2024Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59
Polar night, day 19 of 112. The sun returns 15 February.
Svalbard Wire starts on 26 October 2026. Pages before that date show the history of the island.
This week in history, 12 November
1942
On 12 November 1942 a lifeboat from the British steamer Chulmleigh, wrecked on a reef off Sørkapp, was thrown ashore at Kapp Linné, at the mouth of Isfjorden; nine of its men were found alive there by a Norwegian patrol on 2 January 1943. On 14 November a lifeboat from the Soviet steamer Dekabrist landed on Hopen, where four of its crew lived through the winter.
History Store norske leksikon
From the timeline, Hunting and expeditions
1926
In the 1920s Ny-Ålesund was at the centre of international attention because of expeditions towards the North Pole. The Amundsen, Ellsworth and Nobile flight with the airship Norge started from there in 1926. The mast built for the airship expedition still stands and is counted among the settlement's important cultural monuments.
History Store norske leksikon
Svalbard