William Friedrich Carl Nindemann was born 22 April 1850, on the island of Rugen, Germany. He came to the United States in 1867 and four years later joined the Arctic exploration steamer Polaris. He was one of the crewmen, accidently cast adrift from her in October 1872, who were rescued in the spring of 1873 by the U.S. Navy's chartered steamer Tigress. Nindemann remained with that vessel as she serched for other men from the Polaris.
In 1879-1881 Nindemann was a seaman on the steamer Jeannette, commanded by George W. DeLong, during her ill-fated attempt to reach the North Pole by penetrating the icepack north of Siberia. A member of DeLong's boat crew as Jeannette's men tried to reach the Siberian mainland after their ship sank, Nindemann and another seaman, Louis P. Noros, were sent ahead of the exhausted and starving party to seek help from inhabitants of the desolate Lena River delta. After an arduous struggle with the elements, the two sailors located native people, but language difficulties prevented them from communicating the urgency of their mission. By the time a message was gotten through to Russian authorities and to other Jeannette survivors, it was too late to save DeLong and his men. Nindemann subsequently assisted Chief Engineer George W. Melville in a successful search for the bodies of most of the DeLong party and a fruitless effort to learn the fates of Lieutenant Charles W. Chipp and seven more members of Jeannette's crew.
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Page made 29 October 2003