Roald Amundsen's seaplane or flying boat, together with the Royal
Norwegian Navy, the Norwegian Aviation Museum in Bodø, Kongsberg
Maritim AS and Context TV GmbH.
Roald Amundsen was the greatest
explorer of his time. Among his other feats, he was the first to cross
the North-West Passage, and he led the first expedition to reach the
South Pole. On June 18, 1928, Amundsen, adventurer and explorer, set
out on what would be his final expedition in a Latham 47 seaplane.
Amundesen took off from Tromsø with a
group of French pilots in an attempt to rescue his most bitter rival,
the Italian general and explorer Umberto Nobile. The Italian had
had an accident with his airship “Italia” on the return leg
of an expedition to the North Pole. Amundsen was asked to lead the
rescue operation, which turned out to be his final, honourable, task.
At 06.45 on a fateful June day in 1928, the last message from
Amundsen's aircraft was picked up; thereafter, silence.
More than 80 years later, in August
2009, Sperre AS took part in a major expedition to search for
Amundsen's Latham 47. The Royal Norwegian Navy and the Coast Guard
also brought their finest vessels to the search. The goal of every
member of the expedition was the same; to find the wreck of
Amundsen's plane, and thus solve the mystery of the disappearance of
the legendary Arctic explorer.
The film about Amundsen's mysterious
disappearance and the ambitious expeditions was premiered on March 11
this year, and received very good reviews. It will soon also be shown
on Norwegian television.