Quest to find Amundsen

Oslo – More than eighty years after the disappearance of the explorer and polar researcher Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) Norway is launching a search to find his remains.

This was announced in the Norwegian capital Oslo on Monday. Two navy vessels with high-tech equipment will be searching the area near Spitsbergen where it is thought that Amundsen crashed in his aircraft. Amundsen was helping to find the missing Italian Umberto Mobile, who had disappeared wit h his Zeppelin Italia but later surfaced. In 1911 Amundsen was the first man to reach the South Pole. It was on December 14, 1911, that Amundsen’s team of five, with sixteen dogs, arrived at the Pole (90°00'S). They arrived thirty-five days before Scott's group. Amundsen named their South Pole camp Polheim, which means "Home on the Pole". Amundsen renamed the Antarctic Plateau as King Haakon VII's Plateau. They left behind a small tent and letter stating their accomplishment, in case they did not return safely to Framheim. The team returned to Framheim on January 25, 1912 with eleven dogs. Amundsen's success was publicly announced on March 7, 1912, when he arrived safely at Hobart, Australia.