Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did Roald Amundsen become the first person to sail through the Northwest Passage?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Map of the Arctic region highlighting the Northwest Passage, a maritime route shown with a red line connecting the Atlantic Ocean near Greenland to the Pacific Ocean via the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, passing north of Canada and Alaska through the Bering Sea. Major islands and surrounding countries such as Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), the United States (Alaska), and Canada are labeled.
Northwest Passage

Roald Amundsen became the first person to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage by sea in 1905. He achieved this feat by leading an expedition aboard the Gjøa, a converted 47-ton herring boat, accompanied by a crew of six.12

The expedition departed in 1903 and spent three years navigating the treacherous middle section of the passage through Canada’s Arctic Archipelago. Amundsen completed the transit of the passage proper by August 1905, when he reached Cape Colborne in present-day Nunavut. Following this, the crew wintered on the Yukon coast at Herschel Island before resuming their journey in August 1906. The mission concluded later that month when they arrived in Nome, Alaska, to a hero's welcome.12

While others had previously attempted to find or traverse the route—often meeting with disaster—Amundsen’s successful voyage marked the first time the passage was fully conquered by ship.1