Elling Carlsen was born in
Tromsø in
Troms, Norway. Carlsen took the mate exam in 1846 and that same year he was given responsibility for his first ship. Carlsen made his first voyage out of
Hammerfest in
Finnmark, Norway. In 1859, Carlsen discovered the island group that would later be named
Kong Karls Land in the
Svalbard archipelago in the
Arctic Ocean. Although Carlsen is credited with the finding, the islands may have been first sighted by the whaler
Thomas Edge in 1617. During a voyage to the
Arctic Ocean in 1871, Carlsen discovered the lodge of
Willem Barentsz on the north-eastern shore of the archipelago of
Novaya Zemlya. This winter camp had been used as shelter by Barentsz and his crew on their third voyage in 1597, shortly before Barentsz's death. The lodge had been perfectly preserved when Carlsen found it, and he made a sketch of its construction. He records finding two copper cooking pots, a barrel, a tool chest, clock, crowbar, flute, clothing, two empty chests, a cooking tripod and a number of pictures. At the conclusion of that expedition, Carlsen returned to his hometown of Tromsø, and he retired from exploration five years later. Carlsen died in Tromsø in 1900. ==Recognition==