Author(s): Paul Chaplin

Nautical

In September 1893 the three masted, barque rigged steam ship Antarctic (formerly Cap Nor) sailed from Tønsberg in Norway, under the command of Captain Leonard Kristensen. It was headed for the Southern Ocean on a sealing and whaling expedtion.

After successful sealing around the Kerguelen Islands, the ship headed for Antarctic waters in search of the more lucrative right whale and was positioned off Cape Adare on 24th January 1895. Normally, one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, conditions that day allowed a boat to be lowered in an attempt to land.

This first verified landing on the Antarctic continent started a continuing debate about who was first to step ashore. Three claims were made: expedition Manager, Henryk Bull and supernumery hunting hand, Carsten Borchgrevink, both made claims in their own accounts of the voyage, while a young deck hand hired in New Zealand, Alex von Tunzelmann, described his claim to a local New Zealand newspaper.

On his return to Norway, Captain Kristensen published a very limited edition of his journals, where he too claims to have been first ashore. His claim, made only in Norwegian, was never widely circulated or formally recognised.

In addition to compounding the dispute, his account also gives an insight into his strained relastionship with ''hired hand'' Carsten Borchgrevink and provides fascinating, and at times brutal discriptions of life on a sealing and whaling expeditions.