The Disastrous Attempt To Reach The North Pole In A WW1 Submarine | Frozen North | Timeline
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- Опубліковано 19 січ 2024
- Submarines are cramped and uncomfortable at the best of times. Now imagine trying to reach the North Pole in a Submarine built in 1916 without heating or insulation. That was the fate of the crew of the Nautilus in this daring and ill-fated expedition to reach the pole in a submarine.
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In my mind, the man's reputation as an explorer is far exceeded by his skills as a recruiter. He got 20 people to operate a one-dollar submarine on a trip to the end of the world.
I’ll write the following verbatim;
Men Wanted
for hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success
Ernest Shackleton
😮 CRAZY S.O.B'S
$1 Sub! For a Trip under the ice to the north pole! And no one said maybe you should think about this?
Balls of Steel! And utter madness!!!
Sounds like something a tweaker at 7/11 would suggest nowadays
@@SCRB1GR3D98😂😂😂 sounds about right!
The fact that he was able to persuade others to join him was either due to a relative lack of technical knowledge, testament to the human spirit, or simple psychopathy.
Whilst this made a cracking story, I found it difficult to reconcile Sir Hubert's fearless spirit, inspired curiosity, and heroic determination with a reckless optimism of spectacular proportions.
Truly a fantastic thing for sir Hubert to be honored by the captain who had the mind to take his ashes to the pole. Quite a moving gesture
indeed truly
You nailed it Daniel! Best comment!
All guts & little glory. Brave men all. In a time when men were actually men!
Yes good on him to honor his memory in this way
respect is all we want....
About thirty years ago I shared a table at a fondue restaurant in Zurich with an 80 year old man who told me about a submarine with rails or skids on top so it could go under the ice. I didn’t know if he was just making it up. I think he said he was working on the ship that was towing the submarine. Glad to hear he wasn’t crazy.
The boat has no heating. This feels like an insane over site. A different time, I’m aware, but that’s, just crazy for a volunteer journey.
Even cars of the day had heaters 🤔
A heater needs fuel, there isn't enough space for fuel for a heater on a submarine.
I can see a possibility to heat by using the cooling water of the engine for heat and or electric heaters driven by a generator coupled to the engine or propeller shaft.
But the engines were diesel which produce heat when running, that would have been east to make use of @@chadimirputin2282
Allowing the insides to freeze was as suicidal as opening the sea valves.
I’m Australian and I have to admit I’ve never heard of him and his feats, he should be more widely known especially in his home country 🇦🇺
Peter Fitzsimons wrote a really good book about his life (The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins: Australia's greatest explorer). I highly recommend it.
Jeff Maynard has also published a book containing over 200 of Wilkins incredible photographs (The Illustrated Sir Hubert Wilkins).
It's a travesty that he isn't a household name, but it seems he was a very private individual who had zero interest in self promotion other than as a means to an end to fund his scientific expeditions.
I'm an Aussie also and I'm in my 50's and history mad and I have never heard of this great man either, seems he fell through the cracks in Australian history, probably because he did all his exploration out of the USA. Mawson's the one we were taught about, probably because Australian's did more at the "South pole" being closer to home than the North pole?.
Onya, our Fitzy 🦘🇦🇺‼️
But agree Hubert Wilkins exploits are wildly unknown 😮
I traveled with the USNPGS on MIZEX aboard the Polar Queen and the RV Haakon Mosby. Enjoyed a fun Summer on the Ice as a technician, helper. Sure wish I had known then about Sir Hubert Wilkins and his crew. Met wonderful people up North. Best part of my life. Also found out I too get seasick (after ten years of Navy duty without turning green once.)
@@1936Studebaker He also sold Smithy the Southern Cross.
My heart is elevated by the captain spreading the great early explorer’s ashes - at last - at the pole!!
Where deemed at my first thought that Vanity has no depths…this bravely pursued expedition was of noble intent and scientific benefit!
Turns out it was a lie he just put some crushed up ramen noodles in a container and said it was his ashes. They said they were laughing for hours reading about it in the news😂😂
Far from a disaster; the expedition was a massive scientific success.
your right but much more tempting to click disaster than success
How so, explain.
Not been funny but if you think that was a massive success I would hate to see your failure just say don't get to mad😅😅
@@adriantowe278 what dose not been funny mean. No jokes
@@taylorthomas2089 I was just joking you sound like a serious guy don't take offence
What a beautiful and poetic ending. He made it to the pole in the end. Fantastic documentary. Highly enjoyable.
A visionary who was ahead of his time.
This was no disastrous expedition, the first steps are always the most difficult.
An excellent documentary.
That was a long journey from a roo hunter in South Australia
Thanks for posting
The first space explorations went bad also. And some later visit to Titanic... despite all the knowledge we have now.
What a bozo . Get a better boat no diving planes? Crazy.
Ok good on getting the scientific info.
good point, however the title got me to look at the post - AMAZING . what a story and to imagine this is all real. Amazing
@@steevrawjersIf you've never heard of Sir Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition....That story will make your head explode. That's probably one of the most incredible survival stories in the world.
An extraordinarily brave man who won a Military Cross as a photographer rescuing men under fire. Bloody good cameraman too. Crazy brave, but a calculated bravery. Australians know too little of him
He remains the only Australian official photographer from any war to have received a combat medal.
He was a real Aussie. Plan to go under the ice of the North Pole. Old obsolete sub for 1 Dollar a year. No heating. "Ah no worries mate"
Yeah nah yeah nah yeah she'll be right
Bogan 4 life 🤠🙏
@@ianmangham4570 (American translation) I remain loyal to my backwoods hillbilly origins, despite exploring new places a world away.
@@SubvertTheState 🙏
She’ll be right mate
I'm Australian and it's a shame that we don't know about this man....hats off to him.
Aww, the end had me in tears. A beautiful tribute.
Yes me too
Imagine that; renting a mothballed WWI submarine for just $1 year to research the great northern ice expanse known as the Arctic with the center rendezvous point being the fabled North Pole with not just any airship, but an actual Zepplin! Now that is what ADVENTURES are made of!! Their ambitions back then were nothing shy of that of the SPACE RACE some 40 years later (just my opinion, of course).
True. Those folks had real testicular fortitude.
Not to belittle the space race, but these expeditions were very poorly funded and were pushed by the sheer dedication of a few men compared to a nationwide funding backed with the greatest minds a government could recruit.
Idky my brain read: The Dinosaurs Attempt to Reach North Pole in a WW1 Submarine 😂
Same
Nothing a Balam Industries sponsored field trip to the North Pole can’t handle.
Me too
I do that, too. All too frequently. Scanning rather than reading? 🤷♀️
Same
why was i about to cry when they had to sink her? she brought everyone back alive, bravo, it’s 2024 and your name and voyage are still being talked about. amazing story.
Crewman touring the submarine for the first time: "Gee kinda cold in here. Where are the heaters?"
Sub designer: ...
Hubert was also a newsreel photographer before ww1. During that war he was an official Australian Army photographer responsible for many of the iconic photos from that war. There is a UA-cam video of passengers disembarking from Hindenburg in New York and being interviewed.
Disastrous? Failed perhaps but a long way from disastrous. They achieved some important firsts and good science was conducted by the crew in what was a very out of date submarine. A fascinating story about a man who is barely known in his home country. Australia loves to celebrate really disastrous explorations like Bourke and Wills. Perhaps the fact that Sir Hubert didn't die during the expoloration, didn't make him interesting enough for Aussies. One of the best doccos I have ever seen.
You have a point. Bourke and Wills explored a very challenging home continent, though. That ensured that we learnt about B&W in school.
We tend to be a bit poor at celebrating success and really good at celebrating failure :) @@gaia-australis
Like Gallipoli? That's not an Aussie thing particularly ---- the MSM, YT, etc cash in on fear-mongering negativity. I think the main difference between braggadocious nations like the USA and Australia is the Aussies' emphasis on toughness in the face of difficult odds. Gallipoli. The Kokoda Trail. The Desert Rats. Bourke and Wills. Living within Australia, it's harder to appreciate the differences between Aussie attitudes and other Western Nations. @@WesternAustraliaNowAndThen
was totally expecting the sub to end up like the Titan. happy to find out the title is an exaggeration and the crew of the nautilus all made it back
For real “disastrous” made me expect it to end with everyone dying.
Thank you, wonderfully made documentary on an expedition I knew nothing about. Excellent narration & incredible film footage
Fantastic story , hats off to these forgotten hero's and their artic journey and experiments they did.
Ex SADiver who has dived the North Atlantic in the mid 90's and many arctic dives who very much enjoyed this documentary and respects to this pioneering work done by all the crew of the Nautilus.
Does that make you a HAPPYIVER presently?
What a brilliant man, and what a wonderful farewell. I beg to differ though, the expedition was not a disaster but an achievement that led the way in understanding the climate.
Hubert wilkens property still exits at mt bryan in south Australia, that place is located in a really dry and hot area of the state, you would think hubert would be and overland explorer with camels, but he instead goes to the antartic! Maybe he just wanted to get aways from the stinking hot south australian heat!
Lol
Yes I can definitely relate to Hubert Wilkens wanting to get away from South Australia after a while.
Polar exploration is so interesting. The suffering they experienced and the bravery they displayed is difficult to comprehend.
No one died and they DID make a bunch of cool scientific discoveries. They failed the mission but I wouldn't call it a disaster. Fun to learn about!
Bravo, Sir HUBERT--- I salute you, Sir!
Huh, rents a Submarine for a dollar a year? Hot damn, that's a deal...
Great to be watching this when it’s 1°F outside. 🥶
IKR? I plan on re-watching this in August.
Sounds like good swimming weather.
“The boat has no heating.” What! 😳 Who would go to the North Pole in an unheated boat? I can’t believe how stupid that sounds. What were they thinking?
This was a diesel powered submarine. It would seem you could run the coolant through a heat exchanger to heat the submarine. This wasn't rocket science and the concept was well known at the time.
Kind of makes you wonder what they did to keep warm. LOL
Sleep while bundled up.
I believe I read somewhere they masturbated multiple times daily to keep warm.
Yes, they have that heat from the engine, but the sub walls are uninsulated metal, and immediately absorb that heat and transfer it to the sea.
"We'll try for the north pole by submarine!" "So you made sure to give it some extra insulation, right?" "Ummmm...."
All that money, time and effort to put this arctic expedition together and nobody thought to bring a heater?
@hectorheathcote
What money? That's why he had rented a used sub from WW2 for a $1 a year, because there weren't any funds.
Incredible determination, courage and stupidity in equal amounts made this adventure unique and scientifically important. That diver who went in to do a manual prior-check the submarine showed a different level of courage... They definitely made them different in those days.
Yeah, in those days they made idiots.
@@davidhoward4715 Quite the contrary. Without these types of guys, we would never have progressed as a society.
@@davidhoward4715those "idiots" allowed us to progress, as a society, as scholars.
those men were mentally & physically tougher than old boots & some . i can’t imagine enduring those conditions for a day . sleeping beneath a blanket against frost covered steel pipework ?
Thank you for a fantastic documentary about a great era in history - and even greater & braver men.
Love these old school long form history documentaries! Reminds me of watching the history channel back in the day!
What a great story, this is the type of history school children should be taught.
I can't believe they managed to make it back!
Absolutely great documentary!
Never heard about this expedition! Be lovely if they could raise the boat. It looks quite solid.
Came for the WW1 submarine, stayed for the exploration... 😂😂😂 and I'm not into exploration content, but WW1/2 content
Learned something today.... Thank you, 😊
RIP Nautilus.. you was a good sub.. we will all sorely miss you.. 😭
I didn't know this story.
Fascinating.
Great documentary! They should raise and preserve the sub. It should be doable as they have raised u-boats before. It's in good condition and not super deep. Thankfully, nobody died so it could not be deemed a grave site that should be left alone. I see no downside other than finding someone to pay for it.
Couldn't they take the boat on shore , and demolished it instead sinking it in the sea?
@@Moodboard39It was a US Navy surplus submarine. Navy had no interest in it.
Seems less risky to go to the moon in a dust bin.
😂 love thay type of absurdism
Thanks@@sonnylambert4893
been done, apparently
Don't be fooled. We have never been to the moon. It was all made up, like many fake narratives the shadow government uses to control us.
This expedition really wasn't disastrous, it was a triumph of scientific exploration hampered by the technological problems of using a retired submarine. The idea of popping up at the North Pole was a gimmick for the newspapers in order to finance the expedition.
This was a great documentary but no one at any point thought it might be a good idea to put a heater on the submarine? That would be the first thing I would think of
I think it is interesting that you say that the Wyoming towed the Nautilus to Plymouth. My grandfather, Steven Jack Sweney, was one of the engine crew on the Wyoming. The Wyoming dispatched a small repair party, of which my grandfather was one, to the submarine to see if they could get her underway. They were able to restore the fresh air system, but not the engines. So, they towed her first to Ireland, and then to Scappa Flow, Scotland, where she was repaired. This was how my grandfather told me the story. I have his photos of the nautilus, taken just before he got into the launch, to assist the Nautilus. The crew of the Nautilus was taking turns outside for fresh air, as their ventilation had failed also. May God bless our mariners, for their bravery and ingenuity.
Sir Huberts intelligence and fortitude are beyond my words.
What a multi-talented, highly intelligent man whose life was well and truly lived to the full!
A fascinating tale, well told. Thank you.
I'm starting to think that there's a fine line between courage and madness...
Close, there is actually a very thin line between intelligence & madness.
Fascinating documentary.
A truly interesting documentary & worth watching.
Indeed
Excellent video,thank you.
It was an informative, wonderful historical coverage and worth watching a documentary about that bold adventure and exploring attempted .
The scientific readings are vastly more valuable than their mission to reach the pole was. Their voyage was a complete success the way I see it.
Wonderful but sad.
One man's drive not forfilled.
What an expedition.
I salute you and your crew.
Excellent story. Amazing amount of film of a great exploration!
No heating?! 🤯
Did they even have heaters back then?
They definitely did. Seems like a major oversight. I'm thinking the diesel engines powering the ship's propellers on the surface would have generated a bit of heat for the crew though.@@Turf-yj9ei
@@Klutechthe engines indeed generate heat, but without insulation, the heat is almost immediately transferred through the steel hull and into the sea.
Good point, the heat generated would have been of little use to them if it was conducted through the uninsulated hull almost immediately. @@ScottHz
I was unaware of this northern expedition, as for the diving fins being sabotaged, I have serious doubts. Men at sea are usually knowledgeable enough not to ever risk their lives sabotaging their own boat, at sea (a bitter cold Arctic Sea) when they know their life is dependent on that boat’s 0:15 well maintained condition.
I agree. Few but the insane would wreck their own lifeboat. I believe that the random floating ice chunks were responsible for the loss of that part of the steering mechanism.
@@bettygreenhansen That makes a whole lot more sense than ….What was the objective? Oh Yeah, they didn’t want to die at sea! So,..Let’s save our lives by sabotaging our own boat at great risk!?….I kinda think chunks of ice like you said make a lot more (Common) sense.
@@johnhenderson131 The logic was, allegedly, that they didn't want to dive under the ice.
What an amazing documentary.
Those old subs weren't the quickest boats. Brave men.
Australian & watch these sorts of shows all the time and I've never heard of him. Shameful that he/they have been mostly forgotten here.
One of the best videos I have ever seen, with copious original footage. My compliments.
They didn't have a chance.
Great documentary!
Today i learned: Jules Verne never traveled to a depth of 20,000 leagues. That would be Really Really difficult. His book refers to the nautical distance traversed by the Nautilus while submerged. 20,000 nautical leagues is a distance of 70,000 metric miles. 😊
Today I learned: "metric mile" is an informal term that refers to a distance of 1500 meters. I thought you'd made up a new word for "kilometers." 😂
Edit: your math still seems off, though. A league is anywhere between 3.9 to 7.4 km.
Excellent documentary!
1:40 “…about why so little is known about Wilkins legendary expedition”.
Note to the writers: it’s either legendary or it’s little-known. It literally and figuratively cannot be both.
A fantastic accomplishment that few people know about
…That makes perfect sense
I think the expedition can be both little-known and legendary.
It can be legendary in the minds of the few who know of it.
I never knew of him or the adventures in science and real life he was part in. Really well made documentary
That was very enjoyable. Great film.
I think sir Hubert was a brave man for trying, but to dive under the ice without dive planes and put the entire crew in jeopardy was just Reckless, and possibly ego-driven.
Problem is once under ice, what do you use for heating. Engines are off, only battery power. Limited air supply, brave men.
Hey, I'm going to go in a tin can under the Arctic, you in? We'll only be gone for a few months, and, bring a jacket.
Nicely done. I was on the edge of my seat expecting the worst (but knowing Sir Hubert's log existed). Hearst should have helped to hype this amazing expedition more in spite of its incompleted mission
Awesome stuff! and like others I have not heard of this expedition either it deserves more recognition 👍
What a great and interesting documentary, hadn't heard of Sir Hubert Wilkins, and thanks for posting
Say...! Just how many Nautiluses are there anyway?!? I need insulation myself right now.
Seems like there are similarities with Shackleton - he too did not achieve the end goal, but he made important scientific contributions, swallowed his hubris and did his best to get his men safely back home
The new sub dove "more than 3,000 km under the pack ice"?? Is that depth of length it travelled under the pack ice? WHAT
I took it to mean they travelled a journey of 3000 km below the pack ice.
That depth would be well beyond the capability of a submarine at the time.
And as mentioned in the video - the Nautilus' max depth was 200 ft.
@@atticstattic700 feet was the max driving depth of that sub
@@DontThinkso-kb9tc
Not according to this video.
I love the nautilus submarine a lot. I wish it had been preserved in a museum
Very interesting video thank you and please keep the great videos coming from Scotland.
This crew had courage.
Bravery
Great video I really enjoyed it 👍
I’d doubt his airplane had a heater either, those guys were really tough
Life is so diverse so full of bravery and commitment and sadly lost in time. So many people that had a passion, never recognized properly over time.
I think the sailors were smoking that early version of crack .
Craziest idea ever! Bravo!
The BEST was everyone on shore was SHOCKED they came back alive... LOL
What a well done and informative piece about a moment in history that I wasn’t aware of.
What a great video. Thank you for sharing this with us all!
Thank you, this was nicely presented.
he took a boat to the north pole that didn't have a heater? wtf?
Those were real men. Today’s men in the US spend their time smoking weed, playing GTA and saying “bruh” twice per sentence.
Umm.... Shackleton took a heater.@@RobbieWebster
@user-fq4yr2yb9m wood stove on a wooden ship yep fire wood glor all jokes aside shackleton was my first so called hero loved that he cared more about the safety and well-being of his men then his personal ambition and the fact he brought all home safely is glory enough greatest explorer of his time in my opinion
@@RobbieWebsterso because we aren’t all hi ho to go freeze in conditions not meant for humans were not men ? Get a grip
@@RobbieWebsterthese real men seem to be stupid tho
This is an excellent documentary. This expedition by Sir Hubert Wilkins was far from a failure with all the data that they collected under extreme conditions. That they got back safely was even more of a wonder.
Outstandingly done documentary, Thank you!
This was fascinating!
It's interesting that the first submarine to complete that trip under the polar ice was also called Nautilus. The first atomic submarine.
Thank you and excellent documentary
Id get naughty on the nautilus while wearing nautica before getting on the titan sub