Henry Larsen (explorer)

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Henry Larsen on the RCMPV St. Roch

Henry Asbjørn Larsen (September 30, 1899 – October 29, 1964) was a Norwegian-

Canadian citizen in 1947). In 1928, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP).

RCMP service

In 1928 the RCMP commissioned St. Roch for Arctic service. During its first voyage into the Arctic, Larsen served as mate under a captain that the RCMP hired, but, once in the Arctic, Larsen was appointed captain. Larsen commanded St. Roch for most of the next two decades, rising to the rank of sergeant. In the final years of Larsen's career, he was the senior RCMP officer in the Arctic. Following his command of St. Roch, Larsen was promoted to inspector with responsibility for all Arctic detachments. For the first 12 years that the ship was in commission, Larsen and his crew took supplies to scattered RCMP posts in Canada's far north. St. Roch was specially constructed to be able to survive being frozen-in all winter. During the winter, the RCMP officers who formed her crew used dog sleds to turn St. Roch into a floating RCMP outpost. During this time, St. Roch was the only Canadian presence in the far north, carrying out various governmental duties.

Exploring the Northwest Passage

1940-1942: west to east

This journey was the second ship crossing of the

Somerset Island. He then continued through Prince Regent Inlet, Lancaster Sound and the Davis Strait, reaching Halifax on 11 October 1942.[2]

1944: east to west

This was the third ship crossing of the Northwest Passage, the second east–west crossing and the first to be made in one season (7,295 miles in 86 days). Instead of the standard route along the coast he used the

Victoria Island
. Just one day before this post had been supplied by the Fort Ross which had sailed from Halifax and through the Panama Canal and Bering Strait. With about a month left before the ice would probably close in, he hurried west, passed through the Bering Strait and reached Vancouver on 16 October.

Larsen's explorations and Canadian sovereignty

Some believe the real purpose of the voyages of discovery was not to patrol the Arctic searching for evidence of German infiltrators, but rather to protect Canadian interests from her American allies. There were difficulties in the American/Canadian alliance during World War II, manifested during the construction of the Alaska Highway.[citation needed]

Legacy

CCGS Henry Larsen in St. John's Harbour, 2010

In 1946 he was awarded the

Patron's Medal for his achievements.[3] In 1959, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded him their first Massey Medal.[4]

Larsen Sound, a body of water located in the Arctic to the west of Boothia Peninsula and north of Victoria Strait, was named for him. In 2000, as a millennium project, the RCMP renamed one of its vessels the St. Roch II, and sent it to recreate Larsen's first voyage. The St. Roch is currently located in the Vancouver Maritime Museum, where visitors can view and board the ship. The Canadian Coast Guard also named an icebreaker CCGS Henry Larsen to honour him.

In the Stan Rogers song "Take It from Day to Day" a crew member aboard St. Roch laments of how "Larsen's got us under his thumb."

There is a public elementary school in Ottawa named in his honour. It was opened in 1987.

Notes and references

  1. Canadian Citizenship Act 1946
    came into effect.
  2. ^ Univ of Calgary: Across the Northwest Passage: The Larsen Expeditions
  3. ^ "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. ^ Vancouver Maritime Museum Archived 2008-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  • Glyn Williams, "Arctic Labyrinth",2009, Chapter 21

External links

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