Thomas Vilhelm Garde (22 October 1859 – 24 June 1926) was a Danish naval officer, distinguished for his explorations in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. Garde became a sub-lieutenant of the

Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

in 1880, rising to the rank of First

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1881,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1898,

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 1908 and

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 1918. He retired from active service in 1921.

Explorations

Garde was junior leader of the Umiak Expedition of 1883-85 led by Gustav Holm. They thoroughly explored the coast of southeast Greenland, by journeys from Cape Farewell using

umiak The umiak, umialak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac, oomiak, ongiuk, or anyak is a type of open skin boat, used by the Yupik peoples, Yupik and Inuit, and was originally found in all coastal areas from Siberia to Greenland. First used in Thule people, Thule ...

boats. Garde explored

Lindenow Fjord Lindenow Fjord or Kangerlussuatsiaq, is a fjord in the King Frederick VI Coast, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. History Igdlukulik, an archaeological site with the ruins of a former Inuit settlement lies by the shore where the Nørrea ...

(62° 15' N), where have been found the Scandinavian ruins on the east coast. Wintering at

Nanortalik Nanortalik (, ), formerly Nennortalik, is a town in Nanortalik Island, Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,072 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the List of cities and towns in Greenland, eleventh-largest ...

, he discovered between there and Cape Farewell 200 live

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s, of which 70 had a sea face more than a mile (1.61 km) wide. During his 1893 surveys of the Julianehaab district in the southwest of Greenland, he made a long journey over the Greenland

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description By definition, ice caps are not constrained by topogra ...

, which proved to be of unsuspected height. In his trip of 13 days he traveled 180 miles (290 km) across the ice and reached an elevation of more than 8000 feet (2438 m). He was awarded the Roquette medal by the

Société de Géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...

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. In 1897, he led the

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n icebreaker ''Nadeshny'' from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. He became a commander in the Royal Danish navy, chief of staff, from 1908 to 1911 Assistant to the Minister of the Navy and in 1918

. Garde's narratives of his explorations appeared in ''Meddelelser om Grønland'', ix, xvi (50 volumes, Copenhagen, 1876–1912). His observations formed the foundation for the first complete description of

West Greenland Kitaa, originally Vestgrønland ("West Greenland"), is a former administrative division of Greenland. It was by far the most populated of the divisions, being home to almost 90% of the total population. The divisions were de facto replaced by s ...

waterways, including information about wind and ice.

Works

* ''Meddelelser om Grønland'' (50 vol. 1876–1912) * ''Beretning Om Konebaads-Expeditionen Til Grønlands Østkyst'' (with Gustav Holm) (1889) * ''Beskrivelse Af Expeditionen Til Sydvestgrønland'' (1893) * ''Un été au Groenland'' (in French) (1895) * ''Vindkort over den nordligste Del af Atlanterhavet og Davis-Stræde konstruerede paa Grundlag af Observationer tilhørende det Danske Meteorologiske Institut'' (1900) * ''Windcharts of the Northernmost Part of the Atlantic and of Davis-Strait constructed on the Basis of Observations belonging to the Danish Meteorological Institute'' (1900)

Honours

The Garde Nunataks ''(Garde Nunatakker)'' in

were named after him by the 1909–12 Alabama Expedition. *

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

; Commander 1st Class (1919) * Danish Service medal in gold (1921)

Notes

* History of Greenland Danish polar explorers Explorers of the Arctic 1859 births 1926 deaths {{Explorer-stub

Explorations

Works

Honours

See also

Notes