Nansen's Fram expedition of 1893–1896 was an attempt by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by harnessing the natural east–west current of the Arctic Ocean. In the face of much discouragement from other polar explorers, Nansen took his ship Fram to the New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze her into the pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the pole. Impatient with the slow speed and erratic character of the drift, after 18 months Nansen and a chosen companion, Hjalmar Johansen, left the ship with a team of Samoyed dogs and sledges and made for the pole. They did not reach it, but they achieved a record Farthest North latitude of 86°13.6′N before a long retreat over ice and water to reach safety in Franz Josef Land. Meanwhile, Fram continued to drift westward, finally emerging in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Fram leaves Bergen on 2 July 1893, bound for the Arctic Ocean
Fridtjof Nansen at the time of his Greenland crossing
Section and Plan drawings for Fram, as agreed between Nansen and shipbuilder Colin Archer
Colin Archer, designer and builder of Fram
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the Fatherland League.
Nansen in 1890
Nansen in 1865 (age 4)
Nansen as a student in Christiania (1880, age 19)
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, whose 1883 expedition had penetrated 160 kilometres (100 mi; 90 nmi) into the Greenland icecap