William Frederick Carl Nindemann (April 22, 1850 – May 6, 1913) was a German-born American Arctic explorer and recipient of the Congressional Silver Jeannette Medal.

Biography

William Nindemann was born on April 22, 1850, in Gingst, on

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

– Germany's biggest island, the part of the Province of Pomerania in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He graduated in 1865 and moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1867, where he served as a quartermaster on a yacht.

''Polaris'' expedition

He joined the ''Polaris'' expedition, which sailed from

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

on July 3, 1871. On October 15, 1872, the –leaking badly—crew was ordered to land provisions; while thus engaged the floe broke, and Nindemann with eighteen others drifted southward for 196 days without seeing the ship again. Nindemann and the others were rescued by the on April 29, 1873. After returning to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, Nindemann volunteered on the ''Tigress'' in her search for the ''Polaris''.

''Jeannette'' expedition

In 1879, he joined the crew of the ''Jeannette'' expedition to reach the North Pole. After the sank in the ice and the party made it to the

Lena Delta The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basin of ; thus ...

on the northern coast of Siberia, on October 9, 1881, Captain

George W. De Long George Washington De Long (August 22, 1844 – ) was a United States Navy officer and explorer who led the ill-fated ''Jeannette'' expedition of 1879–1881, in search of the Open Polar Sea. Career ''Jeannette'' expedition In 187 ...

sent the two strongest members, Nindemann and Louis P. Noros to find aid for the starving crew. Taking a southern course, they wandered until October 21, when they were met by a native, who took them to Kumak Surka, where they sent a message through a Russian exile to

George W. Melville George Wallace Melville (January 10, 1841 – March 17, 1912) was a United States Navy officer, engineer and Arctic explorer. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1861 and served as an engineer during the American Civil War. He was a member of thr ...

—''Jeannette''s chief engineer—who afterward joined them at Bulun. Subsequently, Melville, James H. Bartlett, and Nindemann explored the delta for traces of De Long's party, and on March 15, 1882, they found the bodies of De Long and his companions.

Later life

In 1890, Nindemann was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for his feats of heroism and endurance during the ''Jeannette'' expedition. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, he took several submarines to Japan for the Holland Submarine Boat Company. He served in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. Nindemann invented a tong for the gaff of fore-and-aft rigged vessels, which was patented in 1883, and was the author of an 1885 pamphlet entitled ''A German Sailor's Journey to the North Pole'', edited by

Karl Knortz Karl Knortz (28 August 1841 Garbenheim, Rhenish Prussia – 27 July 1918 North Tarrytown, New York) was a German-American author. Biography He was educated at the gymnasium of Wetzlar, and the University of Heidelberg. He emigrated to the Unite ...

. William Nindemann died on May 6, 1913, in

Hollis, New York Hollis is a residential middle class, middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of His ...

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nindemann, William F. C. 1850 births 1913 deaths 19th-century American explorers Prussian emigrants to the United States Jeannette expedition American people of the Spanish–American War Polaris expedition Shipwreck survivors American explorers of the Arctic