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Roald AmundsenPrint Page 
The sculpture commemorates Roald Amundsen and his historic visit to Hobart in his ship Fram in 1912 where he telegraphed the success the first expedition to reach the South Pole. The sculpture was presented to the people of Tasmania on 8 March 1988. The plaque was unveiled on the 14th December 1991.
Originally located at the University of Tasmania, Antarctic Studies at Sandy Bay the sculpture was relocated in 2016 to the IMAS Waterfront Building at Battery Point.
Amundsen who was born in 1872 near Oslo, Norway, and is one of the most successful polar explorers ever born. Amundsen's career of adventure began at the age of 15, originally studying medicine, but dropping out to go to sea where he soon moved his way up to the rank of mate. His first experience in the Antarctic was with Adrien de Gerlache`s 1899 Belgica Expedition.
He became the first to travel the Northwest Passage, in his ship Gjoain 1903-06. After this expedition, plans were assembled to drift across the North Pole but news arrived of Peary`s successful attainment of the pole which caused Amundsen to make new secret plans for an expedition to the Antarctic and the subsequent capture of the South Pole. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen and four others stood at the South Pole, a month before Robert Scott.
On 7 March 1912 , his ship Fram reached Hobart, where Amundsen quickly learned there was as yet no news from Scott. He immediately sent telegrams to his brother Leon, to Nansen and to King Haakon, briefly informing them of his success. The next day he cabled the first full account of the story to London's Daily Chronicle, to which he had sold exclusive rights. Fram remained in Hobart for two weeks; while there she was joined by Douglas Mawson's ship Aurora, which was in service with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Amundsen presented them with a gift of 21 of his surviving dogs
Amundsen disappeared with five crew on 18 June 1928 while flying on a rescue mission in the Arctic. It is believed that the aeroplane crashed in fog in the Barents Sea, and that Amundsen and his crew were killed in the crash, or died shortly afterward. None of the bodies was found.
Location
| Address: | 20 Castray Esplanade, IMAS Waterfront Building, Battery Point, 7004 |
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| State: | TAS |
| Area: | Foreign |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -42.886111 Long: 147.335278 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Sculpture |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Exploration |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Tuesday 8th March, 1988 |
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Roald Amundsen. 1872 - 1928
Norwegian naval Captain and polar explorer who lead the first expedition to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911.
The American sculptor, Victor Lewis, made the original plaster work when Amundsen was in Seattle in 1921. The cast is one of three made for Einar Sverre Pedersen, aviator, explorer and business man, who brought it to Hobart with the Norwegian Circumpolar Expedition in 1988.
The sculpture was presented to the people of Tasmania on 8 March 1988, to commemorate the Expedition vessel Fram's historic visit to Hobart, where Amundsen dispatched news of his triumph to the world.
Institute of Antarctic and Southern Cross Studies
University of Tasmania
14 December 1991.
