Table of contents:
- Rescue expedition and sudden capture
- Rescue attempts
- Years of drift and steadfast crew
- "Stalin" and high awards
Video: Severe Arctic Drift, or Why Two and a Half Years Couldn't Save "Georgy Sedov"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Arctic drift of the icebreaking steamer Georgy Sedov lasted 812 days. The path, which totaled more than 3,300 miles, followed a winding, uneven path. It is interesting that on the eve of the extreme wintering "Georgy Sedov" was in an ordinary voyage. But suddenly finding themselves in ice captivity, the crew decided to retrain into a scientific expedition. Despite the absence of professional scientists and special equipment on board, important research tasks of the all-Union level were solved.
Rescue expedition and sudden capture
Georgy Sedov, originally called Boeotic in Newfoundland, was acquired by the Russian Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1916. For 3 years the steamer was used for winter cargo transportation on the White Sea. At the beginning of 1917, the ship was equipped with a 76-mm gun and joined the Arctic Ocean flotilla.
Until 1919, during the Civil War, the ship flew under the flag of the invaders. In 1928, "Georgy Sedov" performed a responsible mission to find the failed members of the Italian expedition Umberto Nobile. In the future, the icebreaker steamer continued to deliver cargo to polar stations and participate in research work. When new islands were discovered on the way to Severnaya Zemlya, representatives of the Arctic Institute worked on the ship.
Rescue attempts
At the end of 1937, the steamer sailed off the Novosibirsk Islands. Difficult weather conditions made Arctic navigation difficult that year. In the middle of autumn, "Georgy Sedov" sailed to the Laptev Sea, where two steamers - "Sadko" and "Malygin" got stuck in the ice. The icebreaker, while rescuing colleagues, damaged its own rudder. As a result, three ships were already in ice captivity. An order came from the mainland to stay for the winter. The long drift of "Georgy Sedov" started on October 23, 1937. The parking lot was active. Within a couple of months, the drifting boats bypassed the New Siberian Islands and turned sharply to the west. All this time, 217 people were on the three ships. The authorities decided to carry out a rescue operation, evacuating most of the people. 11 sailors were to remain on the ships for service and scientific observations. The evacuation was entrusted to the polar aviation, and in April 1938 heavy aircraft transported 184 Arctic prisoners to the mainland. The rest were replenished with food, winter clothing and fuel.
The day before, in March, Konstantin Badigin, who had transferred from the Sadko, was appointed captain of "Georgy Sedov". An experienced 29-year-old sailor has established himself as a strong-willed and cold-blooded specialist. These captain's qualities proved to be extremely important in the subsequent difficult periods of drift, when the crew's stress reached the limit.
By the end of the summer "Sadko" and "Malygina" were rescued by the "Ermak" that had broken through the ice. While trying to tow the third icebreaker, its propeller shaft cracked, leaving with the propeller to the bottom. "Georgy Sedov" with serious damage to the steering gear and 15 volunteers on board was forced to stay for a second winter.
Years of drift and steadfast crew
The crew of "G. Sedov" now had two tasks: to resist the ice elements in order to keep the ship intact, and to use the drift for scientific research. Both tasks proved to be extremely difficult under the circumstances. But the sailors held on firmly and decisively, and already in the first year of the drift they refuted the hypothesis of the existence of Sannikov Land. For the last hundred years, this question has occupied the minds of scientists and travelers. The depth measurements carried out by the Sedov's crew clarified the northern boundaries of the Laptev Sea, significantly enriching the knowledge of the Arctic at that time. In parallel, work was carried out on the hull of the ship: the bent rudder soon led to serious consequences.
The experience of the first wintering showed that it is necessary to strengthen the fight against the pressure of ice. For this, the body was reinforced from the inside with props made of beams. Undermining sharp ice floes with ammonal, the sailors created a kind of pillow of debris around the steamer. This made it possible to withstand over one hundred and fifty ice compressions. Some of the episodes were so dangerous that the crew was preparing to evacuate from the ship to the nearest ice floes. By the summer of 1939, the sailors had also restored the steering, implementing the original engineering idea. After the release, the Sedov moored in Murmansk on its own.
By the next winter, the drift carried the steamer far to the west - to the Greenland Sea. But a brand new powerful icebreaker "Joseph Stalin" was already leaving Murmansk to help the heroic ship.
"Stalin" and high awards
The path was not easy, and the Greenland Sea met the icebreaker with heavy ice over two meters thick. To "Sedov" - 84 miles. We had to wait until the strong wind dispersed the close-knit ice fields. And so, by noon on January 13, 1940, the ships finally connected, and a "hurray" thundered in the Arctic expanses. By the way, on the eve of the icebreaker "Joseph Stalin" twice made a through voyage from Murmansk to the Anadyr Bay of the Bering Sea and back. This is how the Northern Sea Route was fully mastered. Subsequently, in the Great Patriotic War, warships from the Far East direction to the Barents Sea successfully crossed it. In the post-war years, this route was used for mass transportation of household goods.
The scientific results of the crew of the drifting "Georgy Sedov" replenished the scientific treasury with the most valuable data, which in the future helped to explore the northern routes. The entire Union followed the brave drift and iron will of the Soviet sailors, and they, in turn, admitted that they held out for one reason. They were firmly convinced that if trouble came, the Motherland would save them. For the heroic implementation of the most difficult research program in the harsh Arctic conditions, for their courage and staunchness, 15 crew members of the steamer "Georgy Sedov" were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
It may sound wild, but the so-called. "Robinsons" can be not only on the islands. But also underground. So, the last watch of the fortress Osovets spent almost 9 years of his life there.
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