Named in honor of the Norwegian polar explorer Roald E. Amundsen (1872–1928). He explored the Arctic regions in 1901–1906, 1918–1920, and the Antarctic in 1897 and 1910, the north pole by aeroplane in 1925 and by dirigible in 1926. Amundsen perished in searching for the wreckage of the dirigible Italia. (H 101) _ _.