Henry Asbjørn Larsen was a Norwegian-Canadian Arctic explorer. Larsen was born on a small island, Herføl, south of Fredrikstad in Norway. Like his hero, Roald Amundsen, he became a seaman. Larsen immigrated to Canada, and became a British subject in 1927. In 1928, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Henry Larsen on the RCMPV St. Roch
CCGS Henry Larsen in St. John's Harbour, 2010
RCMPV St. Roch is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, the first ship to completely circumnavigate North America, and the second vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. She was the first ship to complete the Northwest Passage in the west to east direction, using the same route that Amundsen on the sailing vessel Gjøa had traversed east to west, 38 years earlier.
St. Roch wintering in the Beaufort Sea, 1948.
St. Roch at Vancouver Maritime Museum
St. Roch at Vancouver Maritime Museum
St. Roch at Vancouver Maritime Museum