William Frederick Carl Nindemann (April 22, 1850 – May 6, 1913) was a German-born American Arctic explorer and recipient of the Congressional Silver Jeannette Medal.

Biography

William Nindemann was born on April 22, 1850, in

Gingst Gingst is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

, on

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

– Germany's biggest island, the part of the Province of Pomerania in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. He graduated in 1865 and moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1867, where he served as a quartermaster on a yacht.

''Polaris'' expedition

He joined the ''Polaris'' expedition, which sailed from

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

on July 3, 1871. On October 15, 1872, the –leaking badly—crew was ordered to land provisions; while thus engaged the floe broke, and Nindemann with eighteen others drifted southward for 196 days without seeing the ship again. Nindemann and the others were rescued by the on April 29, 1873. After returning to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, Nindemann volunteered on the ''Tigress'' in her search for the ''Polaris''.

''Jeannette'' expedition

In 1879, he joined the crew of the ''Jeannette'' expedition to reach the North Pole. After the sank in the ice and the party made it to the Lena Delta on the northern coast of Siberia, on October 9, 1881, Captain

George W. De Long George Washington De Long (22 August 1844 – ) was a United States Navy officer and explorer who led the ill-fated ''Jeannette'' expedition of 1879–1881, in search of the Open Polar Sea. Career ''Jeannette'' expedition In 1879, ...

sent the two strongest members, Nindemann and Louis P. Noros to find aid for the starving crew. Taking a southern course, they wandered until October 21, when they were met by a native, who took them to Kumak Surka, where they sent a message through a Russian exile to

George W. Melville George Wallace Melville (January 10, 1841 – March 17, 1912) was an American engineer, Arctic explorer, and author. As chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, he headed a time of great expansion, technological progress and change, often ...

—''Jeannette''s chief engineer—who afterward joined them at Bulun. Subsequently, Melville, James H. Bartlett, and Nindemann explored the delta for traces of De Long's party, and on March 15, 1882, they found the bodies of De Long and his companions.

Later life

In 1890, Nindemann was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for his feats of heroism and endurance during the ''Jeannette'' expedition. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, he took several submarines to Japan for the Holland Submarine Boat Company. He served in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. Nindemann invented a tong for the gaff of fore-and-aft rigged vessels, which was patented in 1883, and was the author of an 1885 pamphlet entitled ''A German Sailor's Journey to the North Pole'', edited by

Karl Knortz Karl Knortz (28 August 1841 Garbenheim, Rhenish Prussia – 27 July 1918 North Tarrytown, New York) was a German-American author. Biography He was educated at the gymnasium of Wetzlar, and the University of Heidelberg. He emigrated to the Unit ...

. William Nindemann died on May 6, 1913, in

Hollis, New York Hollis is a residential middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of Hispanics and South Asians residing in the a ...

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nindemann, William F. C. 1850 births 1913 deaths American explorers Prussian emigrants to the United States Jeannette expedition People of the Spanish–American War Polaris expedition Shipwreck survivors