Fresh improvements were constantly being suggested. The form were
finally adhered to may seem to many people by no means beautiful; but
that it is well adapted to the ends in view I think our expedition
has fully proved. What was especially aimed at was, as mentioned
on page 29, to give the ship such sides that it could readily be
hoisted up during ice-pressure without being crushed between the
floes. Greely, Nares, etc., etc., are certainly right in saying that
this is nothing new. I relied here simply on the sad experiences of
earlier expeditions. What, however, may be said to be new is the fact
that we not only realized that the ship ought to have such a form,
but that we gave it that form, as well as the necessary strength for
resisting great ice-pressure, and that this was the guiding idea
in the whole work of construction. Colin Archer is quite right in
what he says in an article in the Norsk Tidsskrift for Soevaesen, 1892:
"When one bears in mind what is, so to speak, the fundamental idea of
Dr. Nansen's plan in his North Pole Expedition ... it will readily be
seen that a ship which is to be built with exclusive regard to its
suitability for this object must differ essentially from any other
previously known vessel....

"In the construction of the ship two points must be especially
studied: (1) that the shape of the hull be such as to offer as small
a vulnerable target as possible to the attacks of the ice; and (2)
that it be built so solidly as to be able to withstand the greatest
possible pressure from without in any direction whatsoever."

And thus she was built, more attention being paid to making her a
safe and warm stronghold while drifting in the ice than to endowing
her with speed or good sailing qualities.

As above stated, our aim was to make the ship as small as possible. The
reason of this was that a small ship is, of course, lighter than a
large one, and can be made stronger in proportion to her weight. A
small ship, too, is better adapted for navigation among the ice; it is
easier to handle her in critical moments, and to find a safe berth for
her between the packing ice-floes. I was of opinion that a vessel of
170 tons register would suffice, but the Fram is considerably larger,
402 tons gross and 307 tons net. It was also our aim to build a short
vessel, which could thread her way easily among the floes, especially
as great length would have been a source of weakness when ice-pressure
set in.