Norge was a semi-rigid Italian-built airship that carried out the first verified trip of any kind to the North Pole, an overflight on 11 through 14 May 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America. The expedition was the brainchild of polar explorer and expedition leader Roald Amundsen, the airship's designer and pilot Umberto Nobile, and the wealthy American adventurer and explorer Lincoln Ellsworth who, along with the Norsk Luftseiladsforening (Norwegian Airways Association), financed the trip which was known as the Amundsen–Ellsworth 1926 Transpolar Flight.
Design and development
thumb|left|upright=0.5|Fragments from Norges tail
Norge was the first N-class semi-rigid airship designed by Italian aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile and its construction began in 1923. As part of the sales contract to the Aviation Society, the airship was refitted for Arctic conditions. The pressurised envelope was reinforced with metal frames at the nose and tail, with a flexible tubular metal keel connecting the two. This was covered with fabric and used as storage and crew space. Three engine gondolas and the separate control cabin were attached to the bottom of the keel. Norge was the first Italian semi-rigid to be fitted with the cruciform tail fins first developed by the Schütte-Lanz company.
On 15 April 1924, N-1 was carried away from its base at Ciampino aerodrome by a violent wind gust. Two soldiers and a mechanic, who were unable to let go from the mooring lines, were carried and dashed to death.
Polar expedition
thumb|Norge prior to departure at Ciampino Airport
In 1925, Amundsen and Nobile met in Oslo, where the explorer proposed an airship expedition across the Arctic. With a contract in place, Nobile modified the already completed N-1 for flight in arctic weather. As the expedition was being financed by the Norwegian Aviation Society, the refitted N-1 was christened Norge (English: Norway). The flight north was to leave Rome on 6 April but was delayed due to strong winds and departed at 09:25 on 10 April. Norge arrived at RNAS Pulham Airship Station in England at 15:20 but due to bad weather, the ship was not moored inside the hangar until 18:30. Delayed again by weather, Norge left Pulham for Oslo at 11:45 on 12 April.
At 01:00 on 15 April 1926, Norge left Ekeberg in Oslo for Gatchina near Leningrad. Slowed by dense fog along the way, the airship arrived at 19:30 after a flight of 17 hours. After the arrival at Gatchina, Nobile announced that Norge would remain in the hangar for a week for engine overhaul and maintenance; this included the addition of collapsible rubber boats for emergency use. Although scheduled to leave Gatchina as soon as the weather allowed after 24 April, the airship's departure was delayed another week as the mooring mast at King's Bay, Spitsbergen, had not yet been completed due to adverse weather. Although Nobile was anxious to leave for Spitsbergen even if the mast and shed were not completed as he was concerned about the weather, the departure from Gatchina was postponed once again.
Norge finally left Gatchina at 09:40 on the morning of 5 May to proceed to Vadsø in northern Norway, where the airship mooring mast still stands today. The expedition then crossed the Barents Sea to reach King's Bay at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.
The 16-man expedition included Amundsen, the expedition leader and navigator; Nobile, the dirigible's designer and pilot; Lincoln Ellsworth, wealthy American outdoorsman and expedition sponsor, and polar explorer Oscar Wisting who served as helmsman. Other crew members were 1st Lt. Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, navigator; 1st Lt. Emil Horgen, assistant navigator Fredrik Ramm, journalist; Frithjof Storm-Johnsen, radioman; Flying Lt. Oscar Omdal, flight engineer; Natale Cecioni, chief mechanic; Renato Alessandrini, rigger; Ettore Arduino, Attilio Caratti and Vincenzo Pomella, mechanics. Nobile's little dog, Titina, who accompanied him everywhere, was also aboard as mascot. Relations between Amundsen and Nobile, which had been lukewarm at best, were aggravated by the uncomfortable conditions in Norge's unheated, noisy control car and deteriorated further when Amundsen saw that the Italian flag dropped by Nobile was larger than either of the others. Amundsen later recalled with scorn that after he and Ellsworth had dropped the flags of Norway and the United States onto the ice, Nobile began tossing overboard armfuls of different flags and banners and Norge had become "a circus wagon of the skies", an occurrence Nobile later claimed Amundsen had greatly exaggerated.
After crossing the pole, the airship's propellers became encrusted with ice to such an extent that pieces of ice breaking off were flung against the outer cover of the ship, causing several rips and tears in the fabric.