Ice Crash, by A McKee

Ice Crash, Disaster in the Arctic, 1928
by Alexander McKee

Alexander McKee, historian, diver and underwater photographer is best known for leading the team of amateur divers (including John Bevan) from the Southsea BSAC who spent 20 years searching for and eventually finding the Mary Rose. John Bevan’s admiration and respect for ‘Mac’ (as he was known to his friends) is reflected in his comprehensive collection of McKee’s books of which this is one.

When Umberto Nobile’s airship Italia set out to cross the Arctic in 1928, the airman was still a pioneer and the Arctic was a vast unknown wasteland. Airships were the most impressive aerial spectacle of the 20th century – some as long as six or seven hundred feet. The crash of the Italia in pack ice north of Spitzbergen was a blow to the prospects of airship travel. Subsequent rescue attempts involved 15 ships, 1500 men from eight nations and 22 aircraft. The death toll among the rescuers was horrific and included the famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Nobile was publicly disgraced at the enquiry that followed. McKee interviewed survivors including General Nobile (who was later celebrated by his nation). But the truth of the disaster was both heroic and horrifying.

Hardback with dust jacket in protective cellophane cover.
Very good condition. Slight mottling to endpapers and exterior edges of pages.
Inside pages in very good condition.
12 pages of black and white photographs.
1979, Souvenir Press, London (First edition?)
320 pages, 145mm x 223mm (approx. 6in x 8.75in)