Icebound in the Siberian Arctic: The story of the last cruise of the fur schooner Nanuk and the international search for famous arctic pilot Carl Ben Eielson

In 1929 a merchant sailing ship was the object of a rescue by airplanes. It will never happen again. The fur trading schooner Nanuk sailed from Seattle for the Arctic in June, 1929. Aboard were the owner, his 17-year-old daughter, a dour little captain and a 12-man crew. Their voyage was icier, their progress slower, their capture by the ice pack sooner than supposed. The ship, the crew and a fortune in furs became locked in the Arctic ice off Siberia. The Nanuk's plight, and a search for a downed rescue pilot, drew aircraft and pilots from all over the North, turning the ice near the ship into an international airfield. On skis came open-cockpit Waco and Stearman piplanes, German Junkers airplanes flown by Russians, and Stinson and Fairchild cabin planes. ICEBOUND is the true story of the Nanuk and the flights to North Cape, Siberia. The author, Robert J. Gleason, was the ship's radio operator, the "chief of intelligence" throughout the operation.