Robert Bartlett
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- This article is about the Arctic explorer. For the Alaska senator, see Bob Bartlett.
| Capt. Robert Bartlett | |
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| Born | 15 August, 1875 Brigus, Newfoundland |
| Died | 28 April, 1946 New York City |
| Occupation | maritime explorer |
Captain Robert Abram Bartlett was a notable ice navigator and Arctic explorer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Brigus, Newfoundland on August 15, 1875, Bartlett was the eldest of 10 children and heir to a family tradition of seafaring men. By the age of 17, he mastered his first ship and began a life-long love affair with the Arctic. Bartlett spent more than 50 years mapping and exploring the waters of the Far North and led over 40 expeditions to the Arctic, more than anyone before or since.
Bartlett was captain of the Roosevelt and accompanied Commander Robert Peary on his attempts to reach the North Pole. Bartlett was awarded the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society for breaking the trail through the frozen Arctic Sea to within 130 miles of the pole; yet he was excluded from the final exploring party possibly due to a rivalry between the two men. Bartlett had taken a ship further north than anyone before him and was the first person to sail north of 88° N latitude.
In 1914, Bartlett’s leadership in the doomed Karluk Expedition helped save the lives of most of its stranded participants after leader Vilhjalmur Stefansson abandoned the expedition. After being stranded on Wrangel Island for several months, Captain Bartlett walked 700 miles over the ice to Siberia and across the Bering Strait to Alaska to summon help; he received the highest award from the Royal Geographical Society for his outstanding heroism.
From 1925-1945, at the command of his own schooner, the Effie M. Morrissey, Bartlett led many important scientific expeditions to the Arctic sponsored by American museums, the Explorers Club and the National Geographic Society, and he also helped to survey the Arctic for the United States Government during World War II.
Robert Bartlett died on April 28, 1946 in a New York hospital. Struck by pneumonia he was unable to recover. He is buried in Brigus, Newfoundland. Hawthorne Cottage, Bartlett's place of residence in Brigus, is a National Historic Site.
The Canadian Coast Guard vessel, CCGS Bartlett is named for Robert Bartlett.
[edit] External links
- World-renowned Arctic navigator Captain Bob Bartlett Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland & Labrador - The Story of Captain Bob Bartlett & his home in Brigus, Nfld, Canada
- The Karluk expedition, Bartlett was a hero, Stefansson was not by Ralph M. Myerson
- Robert Bartlett Government of Canada
- Robert Bartlett Canadian Coast Guard
- Robert Bartlett Arctic Museum
- History of the Schooner Effie M. Morrissey with pictures
