Godfred Hansen Island is an uninhabited island of the
Greenland Sea,
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 i ...
.
History
Formerly known as Olga Island ''(Olgas Ø)'' —the name used by C.S. Poulsen— and ''Ragnas Ø'' —the name used by Henning Bistrup— at the time 1906–08
Danmark Expedition
The Denmark expedition ( da, Danmark-ekspeditionen), also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast, and as the Danmark Expedition after the ship, was an expedition to the northeast of Greenland in 1906–1908.
Despite being ...
, the island was renamed in 1932 by the
Gefion Expedition after
Godfred Hansen (1876 - 1937), Danish polar explorer and first officer of the
Gjøa
''Gjøa'' was the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Roald Amundsen traversed the passage in a three-year journey, finishing in 1906.
History
Construction
The square-sterned sloop of 47 net register tonna ...
, the first ship that made the
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
. The new name of the island was approved only after his death in 1937.
Gefion Havn is the harbour on the south coast of Godfred Hansen Island. It was named after three-masted Danish
schooner ''Gefion'' of the Gefion Expedition which anchored in this harbour and unloaded building material for a hunting hut in 1932. The hunting station Ålborghus was built at the time of the 1938–39
Mørkefjord Expedition
Mørkefjord, meaning in Danish "The dark fjord," is a fjord in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland.
History
Mørkefjord was named by the 1906-1908 Denmark expedition, which established a second weather station at Mørkefjord, in orde ...
by the
Nanok East Greenland Fishing Company
Nanok East Greenland Fishing Company (1929–1990), generally known as Nanok, was a Danish company in Greenland, mainly active in the hunting and trading of arctic foxes for their fur.
A cultural organization with the objective of propagating k ...
''(Østgrønlandsk Fangstkompagni Nanok A/S)'' in Gefion Havn, replacing the former hunting hut. The station was manned during the 1938–41 and 1945–52 periods, being maintained by
Sirius Dog Sled Patrol
The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol ( da, Slædepatruljen Sirius), known informally as ''Siriuspatruljen'' (the Sirius Patrol) and formerly known as ''North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol'' and ''Resolute Dog Sled Patrol'', is an elite Danish naval unit. I ...
''(Slædepatruljen Sirius)'' until 1988.
Geography
Godfred Hansen Island is a coastal island located east of
Queen Louise Land
Queen Louise Land ( da, Dronning Louise Land; kl, Nuna Dronning Louise) is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National P ...
in SW
Dove Bay
Dove Bay ( da, Dove Bugt) is a bay in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. It is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park area.
Etymology
Dove bay is said to have been the legendary ''Breidifjòrdr'' of the Sagas of Icelanders. ...
, south of
Germania Land
Germania Land or Germanialand is a peninsula in northeastern Greenland. Despite the high latitude it is largely unglaciated.
History
This peninsula was named by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, leader of the Danmark expedition, to commemorate its survey ...
. The island has an area of 115 km ² and a shoreline of 53.7 kilometres.
UNEP
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The Nørresund is a sound on the north side of the island and Sønderstrand is a flat coastal stretch in the south.
Stakken is a small island east of Godfred Hansen and Sylbugten is a bay on the eastern side of the island, north of a mountain named Sylen. Gåsefjeldet is another mountain located north of Ålborghus Station.
See also
* List of islands of Greenland
References
Uninhabited islands of Greenland
{{Greenland-geo-stub