Gjøa constructed

Happened: 1872

Description

The 70 by 20 ft (21.3 by 6.1 m) square-sterned sloop of 45 net register tonnage (4,500 cu ft or 130 m3) was built by Knut Johannesson Skaale in Rosendal, Norway in 1872, the same year Amundsen was born. She was named Gjøa after her then owner's wife. (Gjøa is a modern form of the Norse name Gyða - this again is a compressed form of Guðfríðr, a compound of guð 'god' and fríðr 'beautiful'.) For the next 28 years the vessel served as a herring fishing boat.

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