Henry Asbjørn Larsen was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 explorer. Larsen was born in Norway, like his hero, Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen

Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....

. Like Amundsen, he became a seaman

Seaman

Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

. Larsen immigrated to Canada, and became a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 citizen in 1927 (Canadian citizen in 1947). In 1928, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 (RCMP).

RCMP service

In 1928 the RCMP commissioned the St. Roch for Arctic service. During its first voyage into the Arctic, Larsen served as mate under a captain that the RCMP hired, but, once in the Arctic, Larsen was appointed captain. Larsen commanded the St. Roch for most of the next two decades, rising to the rank of Sergeant. In the final years of Larsen's career, he was the senior RCMP officer in the Arctic. Following his command of the St. Roch, Larsen was promoted to Inspector

Inspector

Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...

 with responsibility for all Arctic detachments.

Exploring the Northwest Passage

For the first twelve years that the ship was in commission, Larsen and his crew took supplies to scattered RCMP posts in Canada's far north. The St. Roch was specially constructed to be able to survive being frozen-in all winter. During the winter, the RCMP officers who formed her crew would use dog sled

Dog sled

A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...

s to turn the St. Roch into a floating RCMP outpost. During this time, the St. Roch was the only Canadian presence in the far north, carrying out various governmental duties.

World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 provided Larsen an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his hero and compatriot. In 1940, the St Roch was sent on a mission to travel from the Western Arctic to the Eastern Arctic. The St. Roch completed the West to East voyage in 1942, taking 28 months to do so. For most of these 28 months the St Roch was frozen-in. The St. Roch was the second vessel to traverse the Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...

, and the first to do so from west to east. Upon her arrival in Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 the St. Roch was given an extensive refit, giving her a larger engine, a deckhouse, and increasing her accommodation. The refit was completed in time for her to make the return voyage to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

 during the ice-free period, completing her voyage in less than eighty-six days.

For her first transit of the Northwest Passage, Larsen had followed Amundsen's route. For her return voyage, Larsen explored a more northerly route, through the Prince of Wales Strait, which had not been completely navigated.

In 2000, as a millennium

Millennium

A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....

 project, the RCMP renamed one of its vessels the St. Roch II, and sent it to recreate Larsen's first voyage.

Larsen's explorations and Canadian sovereignty

Some believe the real purpose of the voyages of discovery was not to patrol the Arctic searching for evidence of German infiltrators, but rather to protect Canadian interests from her American allies. There were difficulties in the American/Canadian alliance during World War II, manifested during the construction of the Alaska Highway

Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon...

.

Larsen Sound

Larsen Sound

Larsen Sound is an Arctic waterway in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada.It is located south of Prince of Wales Island, west of the Boothia Peninsula, north of King William Island and east of Gateshead Island...

 — a body of water located in the Arctic to the west of Boothia Peninsula

Boothia Peninsula

Boothia Peninsula is a large peninsula in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic, south of Somerset Island. The northern part, Murchison Promontory, is the northernmost point of mainland Canada, and thus North America....

 and north of Victoria Strait

Victoria Strait

Victoria Strait is a strait in northern Canada that lies in Nunavut off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean. It is between Victoria Island to the west and King William Island to the east. From the north the strait links the M'Clintock Channel and the Larsen Sound with the Queen Maud Gulf to the south...

 — was named for him. In 1959, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society

Royal Canadian Geographical Society

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society is a Canadian non-profit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada — its people and places, its natural and cultural heritage and its environmental, social and economic challenges.-History:The...

 awarded him the first Massey Medal

Massey Medal

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society awards the Massey Medal annually to recognize outstanding personal achievement in the exploration, development or description of the geography of Canada. The award was established in 1959, by the Massey Foundation, named for industrialist Hart...

.

CCGS Henry Larsen

The Canadian Coast Guard

Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...

 named an icebreaker

Icebreaker

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...

, the CCGS Henry Larsen

CCGS Henry Larsen

CCGS Henry Larsen is a Canadian Coast Guard T1200 Class Medium Arctic icebreaker serving in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region and based in St John's, Newfoundland....

, to honour Larsen.

External links

• pictorial essay of the St. Roch
• picture and brief biography of Henry Larsen
• lit.lib.ru bio - Henry Of "Big Ship" by Doreen Larsen Riedel