Polaris Expedition
In 1871, Bessels joined the crew of American Arctic explorer C. F. Hall on the Polaris expedition as ship's physician and head of the scientific team. He and Hall soon came into conflict over control of the scientific research on the expedition. When Hall became ill in October 1871, Bessels remained by his bedside for several days, ostensibly in order to administer medical treatment. However, Hall suspected that Bessels was poisoning him, and consequently refused any further contact.
After Hall's death several weeks later, Bessels was among those who remained with the ship, the Polaris, when most of the crew became separated while trying to salvage supplies. Bessels and his party were eventually forced to abandon the ship, but were rescued and arrived back in the United States in 1873. Bessels and the other surviving members of the expedition crew were questioned by a naval board of inquiry about the events leading to Hall's death. The official conclusion was that Hall had died of natural causes and that Bessels had done his best in treating him. Nevertheless, following a forensic investigation in 1969 during which traces of arsenic were discovered on Hall's recovered body, today many scholars suspect that Bessels had in fact murdered Hall.
Read more about this topic: Emil Bessels
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