Myggbukta, meaning "Mosquito Bay" in Norwegian, 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 ...

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

station (Myggbukta Radio/LMG)Jan S. Krogh.''Nęrmere beskrivelse av kystradiostasjonene''
/ref> located on the coast of Eastern

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

in present-day

King Christian X Land King Christian X Land ( da, Kong Christian X Land) is an area of northeastern Greenland. History This area was named after King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland (1870 – 1947), who rose to the throne in 1912. At the time of the Three-year ...

. The site is located at the head of

Mackenzie Bay MacKenzie Bay is a relatively small embayment of the western extremity of the Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica, about northeast of Foley Promontory. On 10 February 1931 the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) sighte ...

, in the area of the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

Hold with Hope Hold with Hope is a peninsula in eastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone. Geologically Hold with Hope is a place of great interest. Geography Hold with Hope is located between Loch Fyne in th ...

. Administratively it belongs to the

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas all consist mostly of sea) ...

History

The station was established by Johan A. Olsen in 1922, who named the place appropriately, for it is located in one of the worst mosquito-infested areas of Eastern Greenland ( no, mygg). However, on the way back to Norway in 1923, the Norwegian sealer ANNI 1 which had brought the expedition to Greenland in 1922 was crushed in the offshore pack ice and all men on board perished. Thus the station was discontinued after only one year of operation. In 1924 Myggbukta station was repaired by

Gunnar Isachsen Gunnerius Ingvald Isachsen (3 October 1868 – 19 December 1939), was a Norwegian military officer and polar scientist. From 1923, he was the first president of the Norwegian Maritime Museum. Early years He was born in Drøbak, Norway in 1868 a ...

and it was manned by the Foldvik expedition in 1926. In 1930 was completely rebuilt and operation was continuous, sending daily weather reports from the site. On 27 June 1931 five Norwegian hunters with

Hallvard Devold Hallvard Ophuus Devold (8 November 1898 – 10 September 1957) was a Norwegian Arctic explorer, trapper and meteorologist. He was instrumental in the attempt to establish Eric the Red's Land in 1931. His brother Finn Devold (1902–1977) share ...

annexed Erik the Red's Land to Norway from the station, proclaiming: Myggbukta thus served as ''de facto'' capital of this short-lived Norwegian territory, although ''sysselman'' ("Governor") Helge Ingstad overwintered at the more southerly station Antarctic Havn. Together with

Jónsbú Station Jonsbu was a Norwegian hunting and radio station (Jonsbu Radio/LMW) located on the coast of Eastern Greenland in present-day King Christian X Land. Administratively the area where the hut stood belongs now to the Northeast Greenland National ...

in Hochstetter Foreland, as well as

Storfjord Storfjord ( se, Omasvuotna ; fkv, Omasvuono) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hatteng. Other villages in Storfjord include Elvevoll, Oteren, and Skibotn. ...

Torgilsbu Torgilsbu was a Norwegian hunting, meteorological and radio station (Torgilsbu Radio/LMQ) located on the King Frederick VI Coast, Southeastern Greenland. Administratively the area were the hut stood belongs now to the Kujalleq municipality. The ...

and

Finnsbu Finnsbu was a Norwegian hunting, meteorological and radio station (Finnsbu Radio/LMX) located on the King Frederick VI Coast, Southeastern Greenland. Administratively the area were the hut stood belongs now to the Sermersooq municipality. The s ...

further south,Recent Norwegian Expeditions to Southeast-Greenland, Gunnar Horn
/ref> Myggbukta became part of the Norwegian contribution to the

International Polar Year The International Polar Years (IPY) are collaborative, international efforts with intensive research focus on the polar regions. Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer, motivated the endeavor in 1875, but died before it first occurred i ...

1932–33. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in September 1940, patrol boat Fridtjof Nansen of the Free Norwegian Navy, destroyed the radio equipment, leaving Myggbukta in bad condition. The station was rebuilt in the summer of 1946, resuming operation until 1959 when Norwegian state subsidies were withheld forcing the station to close down.

Bibliography

*Spencer Apollonio, ''Lands That Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland'', 2008

References

External links

*
Site with photo of Myggbukta
Ruins in Greenland 1931 in Norway 1922 establishments in Norway History of Greenland {{greenland-geo-stub

History

Bibliography

See also

References

External links