Thomas Vilhelm Garde

Thomas Vilhelm Garde (22 October 1859 – 24 June 1926) was a Danish naval officer, distinguished for his explorations in Greenland. Garde was junior leader of the Umiak Expedition of 1883-85 led by Gustav Holm. They thoroughly explored the coast of southeast Greenland, by journeys from Cape Farewell using umiak boats. Garde explored Lindenows Fjord (62° 15' N), where have been found the Scandinavian ruins on the east coast. Wintering at Nanortalik, he discovered between there and Cape Farewell 200 live glaciers, of which 70 had a sea face more than a mile (1.61 km) wide. During his surveys of the Julianahaab district, southwest of Greenland, in 1893, he made a long journey over the Greenland ice cap, which proved to be of unsuspected height. In his trip of 13 days he traveled 180 miles (290 km) across the ice and reached an elevation of more than 8000 feet (2438 m). He was awarded the Roquette medal by the Société de Géographie of Paris.

In 1897, he conducted the Russian icebreaker Nadeshny from Copenhagen to Vladivostok. He became a commander in the Royal Danish navy, chief of staff, from 1908 to 1911 Assistant to the Minister of the Navy and in 1918 Rear Admiral. Garde's narratives of his explorations appeared in Meddelelser om Grønland, ix, xvi (50 volumes, Copenhagen, 1876–1912). His observations formed the foundation for the first complete description of West Greenland waterways, including information about wind and ice.

Notes

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See also

• Gustav Frederik Holm
• Cartographic expeditions to Greenland
• List of Arctic expeditions