Hell on Ice: The Saga of the Jeannette

by Edward Ellsberg

Based on a true the thrilling tale of a ship’s 1879 journey to explore the North Pole—and the crew’s desperate attempt to escape an Arctic ice pack. In the 1870s, newspaperman James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald drummed up excitement and publicity for his paper through highly publicized missions of exploration. In 1879, Bennett’s idea for a voyage was his most audacious to the North Pole. To do this, he hired a team of naval veterans in addition to a smattering of civilians with specialized knowledge in meteorology, whaling, and naturalism. The men on board the Jeannette set off in September of 1879. This would be the last time anyone saw them for two years.   The product of devoted research into personal histories, memoirs, and classified congressional investigation records, Hell on Ice is a remarkable a novelization of history, turning the horrible ordeal of the brave men of the Jeannette into a riveting narrative. Written with a weathered seaman’s familiarity, the story brilliantly captures a most perilous voyage from the perspective of the ship’s chief engineer. The men of the Jeannette endure months trapped in an Arctic ice pack, and then begin a desperate trek for home.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Adventure

426 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Edward Ellsberg (1891-1983) graduated first in his class from the United States Naval Academy in 1914. After he did a stint aboard the USS Texas, the navy sent Ellsberg to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for postgraduate training in naval architecture. In 1925, he played a key role in the salvage of the sunken submarine USS S-51 and became the first naval officer to qualify as a deep-sea diver. Ellsberg later received the Distinguished Service Medal for his innovations and hard work.

Rear Admiral Ellsberg was awarded the C.B.E. by His Majesty King George VI, and two Legions of Merit by the United States Government.

Reviews

[Ashleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was interesting, and painted a picture of survival. It was at times dry though.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

455 pages

5 stars

During the 1870’s, a voyage was planned to discover the North Pole.

Aboard the Jeannette, which departed during September of 1879, were various Naval officers, none above the rank of Lieutenant, and assorted seamen, a doctor, a scientist, several sled dogs and other men who acted in a supporting role.

Lieutenant George Wallace Melville is the narrator of this story. He was the engineer on the voyage. The Captain of the ship is Lieutenant George Washington DeLong. DeLong is known for his calm manner and good temperament.

The story is about the trials and tribulations of the men who lasted for over two years in the Arctic. From a hopeful beginning, the trip was soon to deteriorate. The ship became trapped in the ice for the first winter and the second they could measure their progress by feet. They sprung a huge leak and the description of the men working until they literally dropped to keep the hand pumps going to keep ahead of the leak was discovered and Engineer Melville could get the frozen-up coal pumps going waqsa heroic. The near tragedy was so detailed and colorful that I felt like I was there freezing and exhausted along with the men.

The ice never really did break up. Small opening in the ice would shove the ship along and, without a rudder and almost out of coal, the men could only watch helplessly as the ship inched along.

The men became short tempered, some made absolutely ridiculous claims against their shipmates, or even the captain.

The expedition seemed to go on and on. But, it had to end sometime, one way or another.

This is the story of some awfully brave men - and some cantankerous troublemakers. I love reading about the Arctic and Antarctic voyages , but would never go myself. I’m adventurous, but not so much that I would risk life and limb to visit. I’d rather take the trip via my books or the internet documentaries.

Mr. Ellsberg does a wonderful job in writing this book. He brought to life not only the men on the voyage, with all their different personalities, but also the sheer starkness and weather found in the Arctic. The book is very well written and plotted. It is easily read, not at all dry or boring. I have read many, many books about these voyages, and this is one of the better written ones.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of about ten books left to me from my Uncle Chuck's estate. He passed away 14 years ago, and every year or two I've been reading one of his books, which are far outside my normal range of reading tastes.

This is a fast-moving telling of the true story of the Jeanette, a U.S. ship that suffered disaster during a voyage toward the North Pole from the Pacific Ocean. Told in the first-person from the point of view of one of the officers of the ship, making this what Truman Capote called a "nonfiction novel."

It stood out to me that the captain of the ship and the Navy officers aboard the Jeanette were miffed when they sailed out of San Francisco Bay they were not escorted or saluted by U.S. Navy ships on station there. During a fitting for the polar expedition, it's reported that several Navy men had deemed the ship not suitable for the journey it was about to take. These prognostications were correct. The lack of enthusiasm exhibited by the Navy on the day of the Jeanette's departure was well founded.

Veronica was amused when I told her that one member of the crew was ostracized for his overuse of puns. "I heartily agreed with whoever it was, Samuel Johnson I think, in averring that a pun was the lowest form of wit."

Read while on spring break in FLA.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most intense books I have ever read. I am by no means a nautical expert, so some of the technical jargon was lost on me. I did look up a lot of those technical terms, but eventually I just started skimming over those parts and just grasping the general idea of what mechanically was going wrong. If you are not familiar with ships and sailing terms, I suggest reading this anyway - the overall story is worth it!

What these men went through is just incomprehensible to me. My worst day cannot possibly compare with what they suffered through for years. Of note, there are memorials to these men that you can look up online (and potentially visit) - one in Virginia, USA and the other in Siberia, Russia. A+ heart-wrenching read of a true story.

[Unwisely · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book. It was originally published in 1938, I believe, and the writing was a bit impenetrable. Plus, instead of a dispassionate narrator, the author chose to write it as a fictionalized version from the engineer's perspective. It was heavy on naval details, there was the cultural stuff from the 30's which just wouldn't be written like that today, and...I gave up. Am going to try the Guttridge book on the Jeannette instead, because even though I didn't really like his Greeley book, it's got to be more readable than this one.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book my parents had on the shelf, one of my Dad's that I stole when I moved out. A really great true saga of an arctic expedition where they nearly all died but a few made it back to civilization, walking on feet that were so frost-bitten they were more like crumbling black stumps than feet. I read it I think it high school, and still really like doomed arctic expedition books (The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford) to this day.

[mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a quick read, but not an easy read. Both dramatic and at times genuinely emotionally intense, this is a well told story. The characters are so much alive that this is a fictionalization of historical events is almost barely worthy of a footnote. More than worth the time, diving into this 400+ page journey will leave you rooting for these men who set out to literally go where no one had gone before, long before it was cool to do so, and long before we could in any semblance of comfort.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story of Arctic travel told from the fictionalized viewpoint of the engineer of the party. Ellsberg does a great job of it. The story makes you glad you've got food, clothing, and shelter! Well written, a great book to learn the history of the Jeannette and to begin to understand the hazards and pitfalls of early arctic exploration.

[Tricia Bagley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange story good read, little to much detail sometimes.

Now people rid rocket to outer space to circle our earth the future will bring more miricles this story is only what 150 or soyrs ago
No radios,satalight only a sextant, watch, book of dates, time etc of location of the sun, planets etc. but think what all has happened in that period what will happen in the next 150 years?

[ruth marchetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

I'm always amazed at what these early explorers endured . unbelievable .extreme endurance at it's finest. Love this free book.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating fictionalized account of a failed 1871 Arctic expedition to reach the North Pole and the north-west passage.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching and hard to comprehend. How could anyone live so long in such cold?

[Lucas O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this version immediately after In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides.
Was facinated about the true story, and found this historical fiction written many years earlier by a retired admiral.

Where Side's book was mostly from the perspective of the Capt., this version is from the perspective of the Chief Engineer.

[Lizziebeth10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifying, horrifying, suspenseful, and to be honest I didn't finish it, except by skipping large portions and going to the last few pages. I can't imagine setting out on such a journey even in this highly technological era.

[Angie Barrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find this book fascinating. It transports you to the world of charting new territory in the late 1800s. Also, great read in August when you have no AC. Very cooling:). Can't imagine anyone living through what they did in today's world.

[Dsharpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recreation of the true saga of the US Navy expedition to sail to the North Pole in 1879. Hell of a story.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Their search for the pole was quite an adventure an a show of the human spirit over coming what ever nature threw at them.

[Michael]

This was a very interesting read. While reading it I thought it was a true story. It was only after I finished that I realized it was fiction.