The Antarctic Ice Escape

After Captain Nemo claimed the South Pole on March 21, 1868, the Nautilus began its return journey northward beneath the ice. The next day, March 22, a massive iceberg toppled over, trapping the submarine in a narrow tunnel of ice. The ship was imprisoned on all sides: above, below, and around it were impenetrable frozen walls. The crew faced two possible deaths: crushing by the converging ice or asphyxiation as the air supply dwindled. Captain Nemo calmly outlined the options, noting that the air tanks held only enough oxygen for two more days, while the Nautilus had already been submerged for thirty-six hours without fresh air.

The Desperate Digging and the Threat of Freezing

Captain Nemo ordered the Nautilus to rest on the lower ice shelf at a depth of 350 meters. Twelve crewmen, including Ned Land, donned diving suits and began digging a trench in the ice beneath the ship, aiming to create a hole through which the Nautilus could descend. The work was grueling: after twelve hours, only one meter of ice had been removed from the required ten-meter thickness. The air inside the Nautilus grew increasingly foul, charged with carbon dioxide. A new danger emerged as the water around the trench began to freeze, threatening to seal the ship permanently. Captain Nemo countered this by having the ship's pumps inject streams of boiling water into the surrounding sea, raising the temperature from -7°C to -1°C and preventing further solidification.

Asphyxiation and the Final Gamble

By March 27, six meters of ice had been removed, but four meters remained. The air tanks were nearly empty. Professor Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land were on the verge of suffocation. Ned Land and Conseil sacrificed their own remaining oxygen to revive Aronnax. Captain Nemo, realizing that picks were too slow, decided on a final, desperate gamble. He ordered the Nautilus to be positioned directly above the trench and then filled its ballast tanks with 100 cubic meters of water, increasing its weight by 100,000 kilograms. The immense weight caused the remaining meter of ice to crack, and the Nautilus plunged downward like a cannonball. The pumps immediately expelled the water, and the submarine shot upward, breaking through the ice field and reaching the surface. The hatches were opened, and the survivors inhaled the life-giving sea air. The entire ordeal had lasted six days, from March 22 to March 28.