Jens Munk

Jens Munk (1579-1628) was a Danish navigator, born near Arendal, Norway.

In 1619, under the auspices of King Christian IV, Munk set out with His Royald Majesty's ship "Unicorn", and a sloop, "Lamprey", [cite book |title=Ordeal by ice; the search for the Northwest Passage |last=Mowat |first=Farley |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1973 |publisher=McClelland and Stewart Ltd |location=Toronto |pages=95 |oclc=1391959] to discover the Northwest Passage to the Indies and China. He penetrated Davis Strait as far north as 69° and then turned southward, found Frobisher Bay [(Mowat, 1973, pp. 97)] and spent the winter on Churchill River. Cold, famine, and scurvy destroyed so many of his men that only two persons besides himself survived. With these, he sailed for home on 16 July 1619, [(Mowat, 1973, pp. 111)] reaching Bergen, Norway, in September, 1620.

Just when ready to start on a new Northwest Passage journey to take possession of "New Denmark" for the Danish crown he died. An account of his first voyage was published at Copenhagen in 1623 as "Efterretning af Navigationen og Reisen til det Nye Danmark af Styrmand Jens Munk", new edition by Peter Lauridsen (Copenhagen, 1883); C. C. A. Gosch, "Danish Arctic Expeditions 1605 to 1620", volume ii. Hakluyt Society, No. xcvii (London, 1897).

References

*NIE

External links

* [http://www.ub.uit.no/northernlights/eng/munk.htm Jens Munk - Scandinavia's First Great Polar Explorer] University Library of Tromsø
* [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34548 Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online - Jens Munk entry] Library and Archives Canada
* [http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/exploration/exploration/hu/1 The Arctic Coast and Hudson Bay 1610 to 1632] from the Canadian government's Atlas of Canada project
* [http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/~agraham/nost202/norway_forgotten_explorers.htm Norway's Forgotten Explorers] - 1999 Norway Post article hosted on Yukon College's server

References

*NIE