Erik Eriksen (25 February 1820 - died 1888) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

polar captain. Eriksen was the first to sight and shore

Kong Karls Land Kong Karls Land or King Charles Land is an island group in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean. The island group covers an area of and is made up of the islands of Kongsøya, Svenskøya, Abel Island, Helgoland Island, and Tirpitzøy ...

, commemorated by the strait

Erik Eriksenstretet Erik Eriksenstretet is a strait in the Svalbard archipelago, separating Kong Karls Land from Nordaustlandet. It is named after skipper and seal hunter Erik Eriksen Erik Eriksen (20 November 1902 – 7 October 1972) was a Denmark, Danish po ...

. Eriksen also contributed to the invention of the grenade

harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

used in modern whaling.

Biography

Erik Eriksen was born at

Lyngør Lyngør is a village area on a group of small islands in the municipality of Tvedestrand in Agder county, off the southeast coast of Norway. The village is about northeast of Tvedestrand and approximately southwest of the town of Risør.

in Aust-Agder,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. In 1844, he moved to

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerf ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

, Norway. He sailed as a helmsman and from 1846 as skipper in the surrounding fishing grounds. He also married Anna Birgitte Dehle (1825–1895) with whom he had 10 children. Eriksen was the first to sight and shore

; the strait

between

and

Nordaustlandet Nordaustlandet (sometimes translated as North East Land) is the second-largest island in the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, with an area of . It lies north east of Spitsbergen, separated by Hinlopen Strait. Much of Nordaustlandet lies under la ...

, commemorates him. He later designed a whale harpoon which he carved into a wooden model. He subsequently travelled to

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative c ...

to meet with whaling and shipping magnate Svend Foyn to present him with the model of a proposed grenade harpoon. In July 1868 Erik Eriksen emigrated to the United States leaving his wife and children in Norway. In 1870, Svend Foyn successfully patented and pioneered the modern exploding whaling harpoon and gun. He industrialized production and use of the deck cannons and heavy-caliber harpoons. Erik Eriksen gained neither profits nor the honor for his contribution as Foyn had financed production and development of the harpoon and it was designed while Eriksen was employed by him. However, Svend Foyn did provide financial assistance to Eriksen's family in Hammerfest. Erik Eriksen later died during a blizzard in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

. (Most likely the "

Schoolhouse Blizzard The Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren's Blizzard, School Children's Blizzard, or Children's Blizzard, hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many peopl ...

" of 1888).

References

1820 births 1888 deaths People from Tvedestrand Norwegian polar explorers Explorers of Svalbard Whaling in Norway Norwegian emigrants to the United States Deaths from hypothermia {{hunting-stub

Biography

See also

References