Disaster in the Arctic: the final voyage of the Karluk.

In June 1913, the 129-foot Karluk, a former Aleutian whaling ship, embarked on a bold Canadian expedition to survey the northern coast of Canada. Departing from British Columbia, the Karluk aimed to navigate the waters north of Alaska and rendezvous with another vessel, the Alaska, at Herschel Island, near the Alaska-Canada border. While the Karluk planned to chart the Beaufort Sea, the Alaska was tasked with studying Arctic wildlife and vegetation.

The expedition was spearheaded by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a 33-year-old Canadian anthropologist renowned for his work with the Inuit people. Stefansson had gained recognition for immersing himself in Inuit culture, documenting their lives and customs, which were still shrouded in mystery in the early 20th century.

The Karluk stopped in Nome to collect sled dogs and later at Point Hope to hire two Inupiaq hunters. Near Barrow, at the Cape Smythe whaling station, the ship brought aboard two more Native hunters, Kataktovik and Keraluk, along with Keraluk’s wife Keruk and their two young daughters, Helen and Mugpi.

As the ship pushed eastward, ice conditions worsened, and by August 13, the Karluk was permanently trapped in ice approximately 235 miles east of Barrow and the same distance west of Herschel Island. Over the ensuing weeks, ocean currents carried the ice-locked vessel westward along the Alaskan coastline. On September 19, faced with the likelihood of a winter marooned in the Arctic, Stefansson left the ship to hunt caribou near the Colville River. Accompanied by the two Point Hope hunters and several expedition members, he planned to return within ten days. Stefansson left instructions for Captain Robert Bartlett to leave a beacon on the ice to guide him back if the drifting ship accelerated.

By September 23, the Karluk began drifting at an alarming pace, moving 30 to 60 miles daily. Stefansson was unable to locate the ship upon his return and spent the next year exploring the Arctic with his companions.

As winter approached, Captain Bartlett prepared for the worst, unloading supplies and setting up a camp on the ice near the Karluk. By early 1914, the ship had drifted 50 miles north of Wrangel Island, off the Siberian coast. On January 10, the ice crushed the Karluk’s hull. The ship sank the next afternoon, leaving 22 men, one woman, two children, 16 dogs, and a ship’s cat stranded in the Arctic’s frozen expanse, 50 miles from land. Bartlett marked the ship’s demise by playing Chopin’s Funeral March on a Victrola before stepping off the doomed vessel.

Despite having adequate food and shelter initially, survival ultimately required reaching Wrangel Island. However, towering pressure ridges, some over 100 feet high, blocked the way. On January 21, a scouting party of four men left to find a route but never returned. Their remains were discovered a decade later on nearby Herald Island, with no definitive cause of death, though carbon monoxide poisoning was suspected. Another four-man team set out on February 4 but also vanished.

The remaining group persevered, enduring a harrowing trek through the pressure ridges. By March 12, 17 survivors reached Wrangel Island. With dwindling food supplies and several injured members, Bartlett decided to seek help. Accompanied by Kataktovik, he departed on March 18 with a dogsled team. The pair journeyed over ice to mainland Siberia and continued overland to the Bering Sea coast. From there, they boarded a whaling ship to St. Michael, Alaska, arriving on May 24. Bartlett then relayed news of the disaster to the Canadian government.

Back on Wrangel Island, the survivors faced worsening conditions. Hunger and discord grew as food supplies dwindled. In May, two men died from nephritis caused by improperly prepared dried meat. In June, another man was found dead in his tent from a gunshot wound, though it was unclear whether the death was an accident, suicide, or murder. The group survived on scant rations of birds and eggs, amidst ongoing disputes.

Efforts to rescue the stranded group faced setbacks. In June, Captain Bartlett persuaded the American revenue cutter Bear to attempt a rescue. However, after encountering impassable ice near Wrangel Island, the ship had to return to Nome for coal. Meanwhile, Burt McConnell, Stefansson’s secretary, secured the assistance of the King and Winge, a newly built Seattle vessel chartered for Arctic expeditions. The King and Winge reached Wrangel Island on September 7, 1914, rescuing the 14 remaining survivors. They were transferred to the Bear shortly thereafter and arrived in Nome on September 13, 1914, to widespread relief and celebration.