The Second German Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1913 was led by Wilhelm Filchner in the exploration ship . Its principal objective was to determine whether the Antarctic continent comprised a single landmass rather than separated elements, and in particular whether the Weddell Sea and Ross Sea were connected by a strait. In addition, an extensive programme of scientific research was undertaken. The expedition failed to establish a land base, and the ship became beset in the Weddell Sea ice, drifting north for eight months before reaching open water. The expedition was marred by considerable disagreement and animosity among its participants, and broke up in disarray.
The expedition secured the patronage of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, who formed a fundraising committee which organised, among other activities, a public lottery. After leaving Germany early in May 1911, the expedition carried out a thorough oceanographic survey of the Atlantic Ocean before arriving in South Georgia in October. Subsequently, despite being hampered by heavy sea ice, Deutschland penetrated the Weddell Sea beyond the southernmost point reached by James Weddell in 1823. It discovered new land which it named Prinzregent Luitpold Land (otherwise "Luitpold Coast"), and reached the southern limit of the Weddell Sea at the Filchner Ice Shelf. Attempts to set up their land base at a small inlet which they named Vahsel Bay failed when they chose a site on insecure ice which broke away, taking the camp with it. Although much equipment was salvaged, further attempts to establish a land base also failed. By then, Deutschland was unable to escape from the ice, and began its long drift northwards.
During the drift, scientific observations continued, and a brief sledge journey showed that the supposed "New South Greenland", reportedly seen by Benjamin Morrell in 1823, did not exist. Morale had meanwhile collapsed, and by the time the ship was freed and reached South Georgia, the expedition was in considerable disarray. Some members returned to Germany forthwith; Filchner hoped, nevertheless, to reconstitute the expedition and return to Antarctica in the following season. However, he was recalled to Germany to explain the expedition's failure to its backers. In the subsequent inquiry, Filchner was largely exonerated, but had lost his taste for Antarctic exploration, and never went again. The First World War deflected interest from the Antarctic, but in due course the expedition's geographical and scientific discoveries were acknowledged and respected. Filchner did not reveal in his lifetime details of the personal antagonisms that marred the expedition, but a memorandum or exposé, written just before his death in 1957, was published in 1985.
Background: Germany in Antarctica
The first German visit to the sub-Antarctic region occurred during International Polar Year, 1882–83, when a team of scientists established a station at Royal Bay on the island of South Georgia. Over the year they carried out an extensive research programme, and observed the Transit of Venus on 6 December 1882.
By the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, exploration of the Antarctic mainland had begun in earnest, with expeditions from Belgium, Britain and Sweden. Germany entered the field with the first German Antarctic Expedition, 1901–03, led by Erich von Drygalski in the ship Gauss. Drygalski discovered land south of the Kerguelen Islands, but his ship became trapped in the ice at 66°7'S 89°38'E, while still 85 km (46 nautical miles (nmi) from the land. He named this distant coast Kaiser Wilhelm II Land, and an extinct volcano, also observed, was called Gaussberg. Most of the scientific work of the expedition was carried out in a winter station established on the sea ice. When after more than a year Gauss was freed, Drygalski tried but was unable to take the ship further south. Hence, when he returned to Germany, in an era when geographical achievements were valued more than scientific results, he found that the expedition was compared unfavourably with Robert Falcon Scott's concurrent Discovery Expedition, which had achieved a farthest south mark of 82°17'. Drygalski's scientific results, published over three decades, would retrospectively be recognised as of outstanding importance, but the immediate reaction to his expedition was one of a national failure.
At that time, little was yet known about the nature of the Antarctic continent – whether it was a single landmass, a group of islands or, as the geographer Albrecht Penck believed, two large landmasses, West and East Antarctica, separated by a frozen strait. This issue interested a young army officer and seasoned explorer, Wilhelm Filchner. Born in 1877, Filchner had visited Russia, had ridden on horseback through the Pamir Mountains, and after a period of studies in surveying and geography had led an expedition to Southern China and Tibet in 1903–05. Though lacking in polar experience, Filcher resolved to lead an expedition which would determine the truth or otherwise of Penck's hypothesis.
Organisation Plans and financing
Filchner's original plan involved a two-ship strategy, in which one party would establish a base in the south Weddell Sea area, while another would go to the Ross Sea, on the opposite side of Antarctica. Shore parties from each group would then cross the terrain, to rendezvous at the Geographic South Pole or thereabouts, thereby resolving the one-or-two landmasses conundrum.; The plan, costed at around two million marks (about £97,500), was received positively by the Berlin Geographical Society in 1909, and was endorsed by Penck. The expedition would also carry out a scientific research programme that included a detailed study of the nature of the oceans, how they linked together in the southern seas, and how they impacted on the world's climate.
Filchner and his backers sought the approval of the Kaiser, necessary if they were to obtain state funding. But when approached, Wilhelm II, who had supported Drygalski's earlier expedition, was dismissive. He thought that Count von Zeppelin's airships would "do in a couple of days what takes you three years". Filchner found his patron in the aged Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, who readily gave his support to the enterprise. The lack of state funding, however, meant that Filchner's plan had to be scaled back; the Ross Sea component had to be given up. Filchner would take a single ship as far south as possible in the largely unexplored Weddell Sea, and concentrate his investigations in that area.; The cost of this revised plan was estimated at 1.1 million marks (about £58,500), and under Luitpold's patronage an organising committee was set up to raise this amount. The most successful of its activities was a public lottery, and by the end of 1910 the required sum had been secured. Although the German government would not provide funding, they were supportive in other ways, arranging for various agencies and organisations to loan essential scientific equipment, and were willing to meet the cost of the harbour fees for the expedition's anticipated lengthy stays in Buenos Aires.
Ship Filchner found a suitable ship, the Norwegian-built whaler and sealer Bjørn. In 1907, Ernest Shackleton had wanted her for his forthcoming Antarctic expedition, but the price, £11,000 (roughly £1.1 million in 2018 terms), was too high. Since then, Bjørn had worked in the Arctic under Captain Bjørn Jørgensen, and had acquired a good reputation as an ice ship. The price had risen to £12,700 (£1.3 million), which Filchner nevertheless considered a bargain. The sale completed, the ship was renamed Deutschland, and taken to the Framnaes shipyard in Sandefjord for extensive modification.
According to measurements supplied by the polar historian Rorke Bryan, Deutschland was in length, with beam , and draught forward, aft. Her gross tonnage was 598.2, net 343.8. Built in 1905 entirely of wood, the outer hull was reinforced with 3¼ inch greenheart sheathing, and the inner hull given a further 6 inches of protection. Rigged as a barque, Deutschland was capable of speeds of 9 or 10 knots under full sail. Her auxiliary engine provided 300 horsepower with a maximum speed of 7.2 knots, consuming coal at a daily rate of 6 tons.
While the ship lay at Sandejford, Shackleton visited to give further advice on the preparation for a long sojourn in the ice. This included the addition of iron plating to protect the stem, and the construction of a well that enabled the propeller and rudder to be lifted on to the deck when not in use. The ship's interior was rebuilt, with sixteen cabins for officers and scientists, and an enlarged fo'c'sle to provide accommodation for the crew. A laboratory for scientific work was built on the main deck, and electric lighting would be provided by a generator.
Personnel
The expedition attracted a large number of applications. Among the scientists selected were a young geographer, Heinrich Seelheim, as Filchner's deputy; Carl Wilhelm Brennecke, one of Germany's leading oceanographers; the astronomer Erich Przybyllok; and an Austrian biologist and experienced alpinist, Felix König. Filchner wanted Jorgensen, Deutschlands former commander, as captain, but was pressurised by the German naval authorities to appoint a German to the post. Their choice was Richard Vahsel, who had served as second officer on the Gauss expedition. Although Drygalski strongly recommended him, Gausss former captain, Hans Ruser, warned that Vahsel was "greedy for power and an out-and-out schemer". Filchner's agreement to this appointment was, according to Bryan, "a disastrous mistake". Vahsel had a drink problem and an aggressive manner; he was also ill with an advanced form of syphilis, which may have affected his behaviour. He brought with him several officers and crew from the Gauss, forming a clique that would eventually poison relationships throughout the expedition.
Vahsel's position was strengthened by Filchner's agreement to sail under the German naval flag, placing Deutschland under naval regulations that gave the captain supreme decision-making authority. The expedition was thus afflicted from the start by what Roald Amundsen would later describe as a fateful weakness, that of a divided command. Vahsel was quick to flaunt his apparent advantage, boasting while drunk that he would clap Filchner in irons if he didn't toe the line. Filchner chose to disregard this threat as a "tasteless slip".
Aware that his scientists lacked experience of polar conditions, in August 1910 Filchner led a training expedition to Svalbard (Spitsbergen). He and six others crossed the glaciers of central Spitsbergen, in tough conditions. It was also a work-out for the equipment. However, apart from Filchner, only two of the Svalbard party – Przybyllock and the meteorologist Erich Barkow – eventually made the journey to the Antarctic.
Expedition Germany to Buenos Aires In early May, 1911, Deutschland sailed from Bremerhaven, bound for Buenos Aires. Filchner remained in Germany to deal with outstanding expedition business, and would join the expedition in Argentina. Meanwhile, Seelheim acted as scientific director. The voyage extended over four months, and covered with stops at the Azores, at St Paul's Rocks and at Pernambuco. Around 100 oceanographic studies were carried out, special attention being given to the confluence of the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falklands Current. Deutschland arrived in Buenos Aires on 7 September.