Johan Kjeldsen

Johan Kiil Kjeldsen (1840 – 1909) was a Norwegian skipper. He took part in many Arctic expeditions and is credited with the discovery of Kvitøya.

Early life

Kjeldsen was born in the village of Bakkejord on Kvaløya. He went on his first Arctic voyage in 1856.

Master of Isbjørnen

In 1871, he served as captain of the sloop Isbjørn for Karl Weyprecht and Julius Payer on an expedition to probe the area between Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya for navigability. They first attempted to reach Gillis Land from the east coast of Svalbard. Gillis Land had been sighted by Dutchman Cornelis Giles in 1707, but had proven elusive since. Many supposed that it was a fairly large landmass. Kjeldsen and the Norwegian crew were opposed to this route, as they knew from experience that the ice conditions in that area were typically bad. This view was proven correct when the ship was unable to advance and damaged by ice. Having no success here, Isbjørn sailed east and managed to push far into the Barents Sea. Weyprecht was not impressed by Kjeldsen and the Norwegian crew, he thought they were not sufficiently committed.

Nevertheless, due to the favourable ice conditions encountered north of Novaya Zemlya, Weyprecht and Payer were able to launch the Austro-Hungarian North Pole expedition the following year, which attempted a crossing of the North-East Passage in the steam ship Tegetthoff. In preparation for that expedition, Kjeldsen and Isbjørn were employed by expedition sponsor Count Wilczek to lay a cache at Cape Nassau on Novaya Zemlya, in case Tegetthoff should be forced to return this way. Members from both ships helped place coal for refueling, 1120 kg of bread, and 560 kg of instant pea soup in a crevice sealed with rocks. In 1874, the Tegetthoff expedition members did end up having to retreat to Novaya Zemlya after their ship was crushed in the ice, but after accidentally rowing past the depot, they decided to continue and rely on the provisions they still had.

Further seafaring and discovery of Kvitøya

After that, Kjeldsen sailed for some years as a sealing master. In 1876, he solved the mystery of Gillis Land, when he discovered Kvitøya at .

In 1881, he was one of the ice masters on the steamer Pallas, the first commercial tourist cruise to Spitsbergen. In 1882, he worked as ice master for the Austro-Hungarian expedition to Jan Mayen as part of the first International Polar Year. He was ice master for Nils Gustaf Ekholm's expedition to Spitsbergen in 1883. Ten years later, he had the same role on a Russian expedition to the mouth of the Yenisey under the command of .

Master of Frithjof

In 1898, Kjeldsen dropped off Walter Wellman and his expedition at Franz Josef Land as master of the barque Frithjof.

In 1903, Kjeldsen, in command of the ship Laura, was tasked with inspecting Baldwin's supply depots in Greenland that Fiala hoped to use on a return trip from the North Pole. The following year, Kjeldsen again attempted to relieve the Americans in Franz Josef Land with Frithjof, but could not reach it.