Talk:Wally Herbert

Start classification

I have rated this article as a start. It needs more references, an infobox and a picture. I have added some references from his obituary. Capitalistroadster 20:04, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

So who was first?

Ralph Plaisted or Wally Herbert? What is the difference between their "confirmed" and "undisputed"?

No difference -- Plaisted's was the first, but as he was traveling by skidoo (petrol-fuelled snow machine) his achievement is different from that of Herbert's who was traveling by dogsled. For those of us who regard travel by mechanized means as not quite the same thing as human/dog power, Plaisted's is the lesser, but that's a matter of opinion. Clevelander96 (talk) 20:14, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Okay - but it does not matter how someone reaches for the first time the pole. It is not a matter of achievement. It´s a matter of time (to be the first). Isn´t it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.145.171.172 (talk) 14:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I think it might be missunderstood... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.145.186.155 (talk) 14:22, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, if we are going to allow that people who reached the Pole by mechanized means should be counted here, the story would be much longer, and we'd have at least one more controversy on our hands -- that between Richard Evelyn Byrd, who claimed to have flown over the pole in a fixed-wing aircraft on May 9, 1926, and Roald Amundsen, who flew over the pole in a dirigible, the Norge on May 12, 1926. Byrd's is doubted by many, as there are missing observations, and his airspeed wasn't sufficient to get him to the Pole and back in the time he was away. Some say he got 80% of the way there. Amundsen's is very well-documented. Then, even after that, you'd have the RAF fly-over of 1945, Pavel Gordiyenko who claimed to have flown there with six other men, not to mention Joseph O. Fletcher's landing in 1952, and the surfacing of the submarine USS Nautilus in 1959 and the arrival of the Soviet icebreaker Arktika. Allowing for the crews of these various planes, boats, and submarines, Plaisted would be something like the 250th person to reach the Pole (the Arktika alone had a crew of 200).

So I think that the key thing here is that to reach to Pole, or any other place of significance, on foot is a significantly different achievement than motoring to the same spot. Clevelander96 (talk) 17:59, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

hmmmm... yes, you are right! Have a nice day! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.145.172.201 (talk) 08:23, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Polar Prizes

FROM: [1]

"....The most flourishing period of the English fishery in the Spitzbergen seas was from 1752 to 1820. Bounties of 40s. per ton were granted by .tIct of Parliament ; and in 1778 as many as 255 sail of whalers were employed. In order to encourage discovery n000(sic)(£?) were offered in 1776 to the first ship that should sail beyond the 89th parallel (16 Geo. III. c. 6). Among the numerous daring and able whaling captains, Captain Scoresby takes the first rank, alike as a successful fisher and a scientific observer. His admirable Account qf the A retie Regions is still a text book for all students of the subject...."

"...The wars following the French Revolution put an end to voyages of discovery till, after the peace of 1815, north polar research found a powerful and indefatigable advocate in Sir John BARROW (q.v.). Through his influence a measure for promoting polar discovery became law in 1818 (58 Geo. III. c. 20), by which a reward of X20,000(sic)(£?) was offered for making the north-west passage, and of X5000(sic)(£?) for reaching 89° N., while the commissioners of longitude were empowered to award proportionate sums to those who might achieve certain portions of such discoveries...."

Were these laws repealed by the time Sir Herbert reached 89N? Did anyone apply or receive these or any subsequent statuary Polar rewards?

Pete318 (talk) 19:43, 2 August 2016 (UTC)