Leif Dietrichson (1 September 1890 disappeared 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

officer and

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

pioneer. He is most famous for joining

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

and

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was an American polar explorer, engineer, surveyor, and author. He led the first Arctic and Antarctic air crossings. Early life Linn Ellsworth was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 1880. His ...

in the 1925

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

Expedition. In 1928, Dietrichson disappeared with Amundsen and four others as they travelled in their flying boat to join the search for survivors of the crash of the airship ''Italia'' during the expedition of

Umberto Nobile Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the Aviation between the World Wars, years between the two Worl ...

Early life

Leif Ragnar Dietrichson was born at

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

, Norway. He was the son of Dr. Kristian Adolf Gustav Emil Dietrichson (1858–96) and Birgitte Lynum (1860–1940). He was a cousin of

Bernt Balchen Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Disting ...

, and nephew of

Oluf Christian Dietrichson Oluf Christian Dietrichson (3 May 1856 – 20 February 1942) was a Norwegian explorer and military officer. He was a member of the Greenland expedition of 1888 led by Fridtjof Nansen, the first documented crossing of Greenland. Oluf Dietric ...

, who had been with the

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

expedition to Greenland (1888–89).

Career

In 1911, Dietrichson became a commander with the in Bergen Steamship Company (''Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskap''). When the Norwegian Navy Air Force was established in 1915, he became one of the pioneers. He started flying in 1916 and traveled to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the spring of 1918 for further training. Later that year he became chief of the plane boat station in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

, a position he had until he died. Dietrichson participated in

's North Pole expedition in 1925, which reached 87° 43' N.On 21 1925 May two

Dornier Wal The Dornier Do J ''Wal'' ("whale") is a twin-engine German flying boat of the 1920s designed by ''Dornier Flugzeugwerke''. The Do J was designated the Do 16 by the Reich Air Ministry (''RLM'') under its aircraft designation system of 1933. De ...

aircraft boats, N-24 and N-25, took off from

Ny-Ålesund Ny-Ålesund ("New Ålesund") is a small town in Oscar II Land in the west of the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard. It is situated on the Brøgger peninsula (Brøggerhalvøya) and on the shore of the bay of Kongsfjorden. The company town is owned ...

on the island of

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

. N 24 was led by Dietrichson, with Lincoln Ellesworth as a navigator and Oskar Omdal as a mechanic. N 25 was led by

Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (7 June 1890 – 3 June 1965) was a Norwegian aviation pioneer, military officer, polar explorer and businessman. Among his achievements, he is generally regarded a founder of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Background ...

, with Roald Amundsen as a navigator and

Karl Feucht Karl Feucht (24 December 1893 - 30 June 1954) was a German flight mechanic and polar explorer. In 1925 he was one of two mechanics aboard the two Dornier Wal flying boats in which Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen mad ...

as a mechanic. After 7 hours of flight, the expedition made an emergency landing due to motor difficulties. N-24 landed but was damaged. After 25 days the six man crew managed to fly back to

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

in the N-25.

Disappearance

Dietrichson disappeared together with a five-man crew on 18 June 1928 during the Roald Amundsen-led rescue mission searching for

and his crew of the missing airship ''

Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

''.

References

External links

The Search for the ''Italia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrichson, Leif 1890 births 1920s missing person cases 1928 deaths Explorers of the Arctic Missing aviators Norwegian aviators Norwegian polar explorers People from Ringerike (municipality) Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1928

Early life

Career

Disappearance

See also

References

Related reading

External links