The last voyage of the Karluk

In Short

This gripping firsthand memoir records the catastrophic 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition aboard the Karluk. Trapped and eventual crushed by heavy ice-packs, the vessel sinks, marooning its scientific crew and Eskimo companions on the frozen ocean. Captain Robert A. Bartlett details the struggle to maintain order at "Shipwreck Camp," the grueling sledge journey across treacherous ice to Wrangell Island, and his own epic 200-mile trek across Long Strait to Siberia to summon help. It remains a classic of polar literature for its unvarnished honesty, quiet heroism, and vivid depiction of Arctic survival.

The Story

The voyage begins with ambitious scientific goals under expedition leader Vilhjalmar Stefansson, but the Karluk quickly encounters heavy ice off the Alaskan coast. Frozen fast into the floes near Point Barrow, the vessel begins an involuntary westward drift. When Stefansson departs with a hunting party, an unexpected gale severs their connection, leaving Captain Robert A. Bartlett in full command of a trapped ship drifting helplessly through the dark Arctic night.

For months, the crew adapts to life on the ice, celebrating New Year’s Day with an association football match on the frozen sea using a custom ball fashioned from seal-gut. However, the relentless pressure of the ice-pack eventually takes its toll. In January 1914, loud reports echo through the hull as the ice crushes the Karluk. Bartlett orders the crew to evacuate supplies to the ice before the ship plunges beneath the freezing waters, leaving twenty-five souls stranded at their newly established "Shipwreck Camp."

Determined to save his crew, Bartlett organizes advance sledging parties to pave a route toward Wrangell Island. Tragedy strikes early as advance groups separate and vanish into the vast white expanse. Despite the loss of several men, the main party manages to haul their remaining supplies across chaotic pressure ridges and open water leads, eventually establishing a base on the barren shores of Wrangell Island.

Knowing that no rescue ship will reach them in time without warning, Bartlett makes a momentous decision. Taking only a young Eskimo guide named Kataktovick and a team of dogs, he sets out on a perilously late-season trek across the moving ice of Long Strait toward the Siberian coast. The two men navigate dangerous open leads on makeshift ice-floe ferries, endure extreme temperatures, and manage rebellious dog teams.

After seventeen days of relentless marching, they step onto the Siberian tundra. Traveling eastward along the coast, they receive shelter and assistance from native Chukchi families and Russian prospectors. Bartlett eventually meets Baron Kleist, the Supervisor of Northeastern Siberia, who aids his travel to Emma Harbor. From there, Bartlett connects with the outside world, secures the aid of the legendary Revenue Cutter Bear, and leads a dramatic relief expedition back to Wrangell Island to pull the surviving crew members from the brink of starvation.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins The Karluk sets sail to explore the Canadian Arctic, stopping near Point Barrow to recruit Eskimo hunters, including Kuralluk, his family, and young Kataktovick. They stock up on essential skin-boats, sealskins, and dogs before venturing further north into treacherous waters.

We are frozen in Unrelenting ice-packs trap the ship, forcing her into an uncontrollable westward drift as the Arctic winter closes in. The crew prepares for the worst, sleeping in their clothes while keeping emergency supplies loaded in boats on deck.

The sinking of the Karluk Tremendous ice pressure rips through the ship's hull, forcing the crew to unload tons of rations and equipment onto a heavy ice floe. Captain Bartlett plays his phonograph until the final moments before the Karluk slips beneath the ice.

Over the ice towards Wrangell Island The stranded expedition leaves Shipwreck Camp, navigating treacherous pressure ridges and shifting leads of open water. Advance parties suffer mysterious losses, but the main group manages to reach the desolate shores of Wrangell Island.

Kataktovick and I start for Siberia Recognizing that the island party will perish without outside help, Bartlett and Kataktovick depart with a single sledge and dog team. They cross two hundred miles of treacherous, shifting sea-ice to reach the Siberian mainland.

Eastward along the tundra Bartlett and Kataktovick travel through native Chukchi settlements and meet Russian miners, relying on indigenous hospitality and trading basic goods for food and shelter. They brave harsh terrain until reaching Russian officials who help transmit news of the disaster.

The rescue from Wrangell Island Bartlett secures passage aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, battling dense fog and heavy ice-packs to return to Wrangell Island. They successfully evacuate the surviving crew members and bring them back to civilization.

The People

• Captain Robert A. Bartlett: The stout-hearted master of the Karluk whose primary desire is to ensure the survival of his crew. Faced with catastrophe, his deep sense of duty and practical fatalism drive him to undertake a brutal two-hundred-mile trek across open sea-ice to bring back help.
• Kataktovick: A young Eskimo hunter who joins the expedition at Point Barrow. Quiet, observant, and exceptionally skilled in Arctic survival, his acute senses and ice-craft prove indispensable during the perilous crossing to the Siberian coast.
• Vilhjalmar Stefansson: The ambitious leader of the Canadian Arctic Expedition whose decision to leave the trapped ship for a hunting trip separates him permanently from the crew, leaving Bartlett to manage the ultimate fate of the vessel and its passengers.
• Keruk and Kuralluk: An Eskimo couple who, along with their two young children, provide crucial seamanship, boot-making, and hunting skills that keep the stranded party clothed, fed, and alive at Shipwreck Camp and on Wrangell Island.
• William McKinlay: A Scottish schoolmaster and scientist who serves as Bartlett’s trusted aide in inventorying provisions. His meticulous nature and calm demeanor help preserve order among the survivors on Wrangell Island.

In Its Own Voice

When the ice crushes the ship's hull, the crew faces immediate catastrophe far from land:

"Every moment the Karluk was in danger of being tossed up on one of these heavy floes and left stranded, to break up like a ship wrecked on a beach, or of being flung against the ice bodily like a ship thrown by wind and waves against a cliff."

During their perilous march toward Siberia, Bartlett relies on makeshift solutions to cross open water:

"The ice cake was about ten feet square and one end of the sledge projected out over the water, but with the dogs huddled in the middle and ourselves paddling on either side we managed to get along and landed safely on the other shore."

Upon reaching the mainland, the relief of contacting human civilization brings immense gratitude:

"In the excitement at seeing a white stranger come along in this unexpected way no one thought for the moment of asking us to come into the aranga; there was no intentional inhospitality—they all simply forgot to do the honors."

What It's Really About

Beneath the harrowing survival story, The Last Voyage of the Karluk explores the burden of leadership under extreme adversity. Bartlett’s narrative is a profound meditation on duty, self-reliance, and accountability when modern technology fails against the indifferent power of nature. It examines how human camaraderie, shared discipline, and mutual respect cross cultural divides—demonstrated by the seamless cooperation between Western scientists, Newfoundland sailors, and Eskimo families. The book argues that survival in the extremes depends less on physical strength than on mental resilience, adaptability, and an unflinching refusal to give up hope when isolated from the rest of the world.

Why Read It Today

This book will deeply satisfy fans of classic exploration literature, maritime history, and true survival tales. Bartlett writes with an unpretentious, direct tone that captures the stark grandeur and immediate danger of the far North without resorting to sensationalism. Readers experience the raw reality of polar exploration: the biting cold, the deafening roar of grinding ice, the taste of hot tea in a drafty snow shelter, and the quiet comfort of reading poetry by a stove.

The narrative does carry period terminology and late-nineteenth-century attitudes toward indigenous populations, but these are counterbalanced by Bartlett’s genuine warmth, deep respect, and gratitude for his Eskimo companions and the native Chukchi who shelter him. Modern readers may find the detailed logs of weather, ice conditions, and daily rations slow at times, but these specifics ground the narrative in authentic detail. What stays with you long after reading is Captain Bartlett's steadfast devotion to his men and the quiet, extraordinary endurance required to walk across a frozen ocean to bring them home.