The Belgica antarctic expeditions

The Belgica

On 16 August 1897, captain Adrien de Gerlache left Antwerp for the Antarctic on a robust three-master which he named Belgica. Several years of perseverance were needed to fund and organize his expedition. The Belgica was originally a Norwegian whaling boat, the "Patria" built in 1884. She was reinforced and converted into a scientific ship for the needs of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-1899. She was 34 meters long and 7,5 meters wide; her displacement was 338 m3 and she was equipped with an auxiliary steam engine of 35 horse power.

Adrien de Gerlache, captain of the Belgica, was, after the expedition, appointed curator at the "Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle".

The crew

The crew included 9 Belgians (among which for the staff: Adrien de Gerlache, captain, Georges Lecointe, first mate, Emile Danco, in charge of geophysics, Jules Melaerts, third officer), 6 Norwegians (among which Roald Amundsen, as second officer), 2 Poles (Henryk Arctowski, geologist, oceanologist and meteorologist, and Antoine Dobrowolski, assistant meteorologist), 1 Romanian (the naturalist Emile Racovitza) and 1 American (the surgeon-anthropologist Dr Frederick Cook).

The Belgica trapped in the Antarctic pack ice for 380 days.

The first Antarctic wintering

Besides this innovative multinational composition, the Belgica expedition was the first Antarctic expedition of a purely scientific nature and it was also the first to overwinter in the austral polar night, achieving in this way a complete annual cycle of observations. The French explorer Charcot didn't hesitate to say: "The South Pole was conquered because de Gerlache, the first, dared to face an Antarctic wintering". Upon leaving "Tierra del Fuego" on 14 January 1898, the Belgica was, from that moment, completely isolated from the world. Between January 23rd and February 12th, new territories were discovered among which a 170 kilometres long strait west of Graham Land, which was charted in detail and later called "Gerlache Strait". Twenty landings where made on lands and islands around the strait. They bear today the names of Danco Land, Brabant Island, Liège Island, Antwerp Island, Mount Solvay, Mount Osterrieth, Cape Errera, etc… Entering then the Pacific Ocean, the Belgica sailed along the pack ice to enter resolutely on 28 February 1898 in the ice fields to gain a high southern latitude. The season being advanced, the pack ice closed on 10 March 1898. For twelve months, the icebound ship was threatened to be destroyed several times and drifted over 3200 kilometres. It was only after great efforts, by sawing a channel towards the open water, that the Belgica was released from the ice on 14 March 1899. The expedition lost two men who would never return home: the sailor August Wiencke and lieutenant Emile Danco.

The scientific harvest

The Belgian Antarctic Expedition 1897-1899 returned with an important scientific harvest: bathymetrical and hydrological soundings, numerous botanical and zoological samples, a large amount of oceanographical, meteorological, geomagnetical, glaciological and geological observations which resulted in a great number of renowned scientific publications, evidence of its success.

Emil Racovitza, the Romanian naturalist of the Belgica in his laboratory built on deck.

The zoological and botanical material collected by the Belgian Antarctic expedition of the Belgica (1897-1899) was studied by no less than 78 scientists all over the world. Several hundreds of unknown species of marine or terrestrial plants and animals have been discovered in the Antarctic and in Tierra del Fuego.

Publication of the scientific results of the Belgica was organised by the "Commission de la Belgica" which was located at the "Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle" (today the Institute). The last volume was published in 1949.