In 1926, Amundsen and fifteen other men (including Ellsworth, Riiser-Larsen, Oscar Wisting, and the Italian air crew led by aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile) made the first crossing of the Arctic in the airship Norge* designed by Nobile.
They left Spitsbergen on 11 May 1926, and they landed in Alaska two days later.
The three previous claims to have arrived at the North Pole— by
Frederick Cook in 1908;
Robert Peary in 1909;
and Richard Evelyn Byrd in 1926 (just a few days before the Norge)
—are all disputed, as being either of dubious accuracy or outright fraud.
If their claims are false, the crew of the Norge would be the first verified explorers to have reached the North Pole.
If the Norge expedition was actually the first to the North Pole, Amundsen and Oscar Wisting would therefore be the first persons to reach each geographical pole, by ground or by air, as the case may be.
Airship specification and design
Norge was the first N class semi-rigid airship designed by Umberto Nobile and its construction started in 1923.
As part of the selling contract [as the Norge] it was rebuilt for Arctic conditions.
The pressurised envelope was reinforced by metal frames at the nose and tail, with a flexible tubular metal keel connecting the two.
This was covered by fabric and used as storage and crew space.
Three engine gondolas and the separate control cabin were attached to the bottom of the keel.
Lifting gas: hydrogen
First Flight: March 1924 as N-1; April 1926 as Norge
Length: 106 m
Diameter: 26 m
Gas capacity: 19,000 m³
Performance: 115 km/h
Payload: 9,500 kg
Engines: 3 Maybach total power of 780 Hp/582 kW
Source: Wikipedia
* Norge (No- as in the English word "not", r- as in "are", g- short as in "golf" and e- short as in "echo").
Norge is the Norwegian name for Norway.
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