John Jacobson

Immigrant groups came in great waves to American cities in the 1800s, with a high percentage of them settling in those large urban centers. Many of those coming from Norway, however, continued westward to the Northern Plains because so many of them had farming backgrounds and that’s what they came to do. 

During the last quarter of the 19th century, Norway suffered from overpopulation, a lack of farmland to support that population, and an economic depression. All of those factors motivated a whopping ten percent of the country’s population to emigrate. John most likely made the trip in the years just before or after 1890. 

There is no documentation to fill in the details of his childhood, family, or destination except one newspaper account stating he settled in Minnesota. That same article said his earliest work was on sailing ships and it’s all he ever wanted to do. Since he never married, it could be said his life, his love, and his lady was the sea. 

Joining the Navy in 1903 was a natural fit. Over the years he mastered his duties as an ordinary seaman until he attained the rating of Chief Boatswain’s Mate (CBM). In that position John was responsible for overseeing deck operations, training personnel, and ensuring the maintenance of the ship. He would have had an important role in tasks such as navigation, cargo handling, and emergency response.

With the approach of World War I, John was on board a transport ship, the USS Buffalo and this is when he first came to the City of Brotherly Love. From August, 1917 to June, 1918 the ship was at the Philadelphia Navy Yard being converted to a destroyer tender. She sailed to Gibraltar and the Azores to service and repair destroyers until late 1919. 

After a brief layover in New York, she arrived in San Diego on the last day of that year. For the next two years the same duties were performed for the Pacific Fleet, where this photo was taken. Two years later, Buffalo was ordered to the Asiatic Station in the Philippines as tender to the Destroyer Squadron of the Asiatic Fleet. 

In the summer of 1922 John and the crew sailed with the fleet in Chinese waters, then arrived at Yokohama, Japan. Buffalo returned to the west coast in October and was decommissioned at San Diego.

By 1925 John was in his mid-fifties and decided to retire. It wasn’t long, though, until he was asked to take part in the adventure of a lifetime. In 1928, Richard E. Byrd, a Navy lieutenant at the time, recruited John to repeat his role as CBM aboard a ship to Antarctica. It was the trip that made Richard Byrd a celebrity for being the first person to fly over the South Pole.

Ironically, it was a Norwegian ship Byrd purchased with private funds, owned by a Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen. In 1911 he was the first person in history to physically reach the South Pole. The ship was refitted and named City of New York. A second ship was needed to carry three airplanes. 

The ship had a crew of 33 and carried 200 tons of materials. Passengers included 32 scientists who specialized in geology, geography, topography, meteorology, physics and radio engineering. They arrived in December of 1928 during the warm season and conducted surveys and photo expeditions, then endured the cold until the next summer season in late 1929. This photo of the ship in Antarctica is from that year.

That November an airplane crew consisting of a pilot, copilot, photographer, and Richard Byrd made the trip from their camp to the pole and back in about 19 hours. The ships arrived home in June of 1930 to a hero’s welcome and Congress made Lt. Byrd a Rear Admiral. 

John retired a second time, and in 1933 moved to the U.S. Naval Home at 24th and Grays Ferry Avenue in Philadelphia. He lived there until a kidney infection and pneumonia took his life in 1951, just after his 80th birthday. His obituary says his only living relative was a niece in Seattle, Washington.