Roald Amundsen bought the small sloop Gjøa as a practical ship for ice-filled Arctic waters and began strengthening it for polar travel. This purchase set up his plan to complete the Northwest Passage while also doing careful scientific work, especially magnetic observations.
Amundsen and his crew sailed from Kristiania (Oslo) on Gjøa, beginning the expedition that would attempt a full ship transit of the Northwest Passage. The voyage was planned as a multi-year effort, with time built in for survey work and wintering when sea ice closed in.
The Gjøa stopped at Beechey Island, a key landmark linked to earlier Northwest Passage attempts, including the Franklin expedition. Amundsen’s team explored the area and took measurements, connecting their journey to the long history of failed and costly searches for a route through the Arctic.
Amundsen brought Gjøa into a sheltered natural harbor on the southeast coast of King William Island, later known as Gjoa Haven. The ship soon became trapped by ice, turning the harbor into a base for two long winter stays and for detailed scientific and mapping work.
At Gjøahavn, the expedition built a small observatory to collect magnetic data for an extended period. This work mattered because the north magnetic pole shifts over time, and Amundsen wanted accurate observations rather than only a fast transit through the Passage.
Using sled travel from the Gjøahavn base, Amundsen and his team carried out field surveys toward Boothia Peninsula to improve knowledge of magnetic conditions near the north magnetic pole. The work showed a strategy of careful winter-based science and travel over sea ice, not just ship navigation.
When ice conditions finally eased, Gjøa departed Gjøahavn and continued westward through the remaining, difficult channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This marked the transition from a science-focused base camp phase back to the main goal of completing the sea route.
After moving through the last major unsolved links of the route, the expedition reached Cape Colbourne. This stage signaled that Gjøa had effectively connected the route through the archipelago to waters closer to the western exit of the Passage.
By early September, heavy ice stopped Gjøa near King Point (close to Herschel Island), making another wintering unavoidable. The area had whalers and other ships caught in ice, and the expedition continued magnetic recording while preparing for months of isolation.
To report the expedition’s progress to the outside world, Amundsen left the icebound ship and traveled overland by dog team to reach telegraph lines at Eagle City. The trip shows how communication depended on long, risky winter travel across the Arctic landscape.
Second engineer Gustav Juel Wiik, who also worked on magnetic and weather observations, became ill and died during the King Point wintering. His death highlighted the expedition’s human cost, even after the most difficult navigation was largely behind them.
With summer opening the sea routes again, Gjøa resumed sailing and arrived at Nome, Alaska, marking the first successful full ship transit of the Northwest Passage. The end point mattered because it showed the route could be navigated in practice—though only with patience, wintering, and local knowledge.
After reaching the Pacific side, Gjøa continued south and anchored in San Francisco, where the expedition was widely celebrated. This marked the expedition’s transition from field work to public recognition and preservation of the ship as a historical symbol of the Northwest Passage achievement.
Roald Amundsen's Transit of the Northwest Passage (1903–1906)