Spitsbergen Cruise Photos

From: MS Nordstjernen cruise review

Ny-ålesund

A less obvious but more historic monument to Roald Amundsen and his polar explorations was the airship pylon at the edge of town.

In 1926, Amundsen left Ny-ålesund for the North Pole on the airship Norge. He was accompanied by the airship's designer, the Italian Umberto Nobile, and Lincoln Elsworth, an American businessman who financed the expedition. The three men and their dirigible succeeded in flying over the North Pole, and they landed in Teller, Alaska.

Two years later, after Nobile and the Norge's sister ship Italia disappeared on a second North Pole expedition, Amundsen joined the search party and died when his airplane crashed. (Nobile and his crew were rescued.)

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