Table of contents:
- How American pilots ended up in Chukotka in 1929-1930
- How the rescue of "Stavropol" and "Nanook" was organized
- The New York Times' alarming report on Eelson's plane crash
- Search expedition Slepnev
- How the American government expressed gratitude to the Russian pilots for participating in the search operation
Video: Why famous American pilots were buried to the anthem of the USSR: Eielson and Borland
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In 1929, two American pilots (Eielson and Borland) disappeared in Chukotka - they flew there to help the crew of the Nanuk ship, which was frozen into the ice. Thanks to the joint efforts of American, Canadian and Russian pilots, the bodies of the dead pilots were found. Soviet pilots (at the request of the American side) accompanied them to Alaska and attended the burial ceremony of the remains.
How American pilots ended up in Chukotka in 1929-1930
Diplomatic relations had not yet been established between the USSR and the United States; American entrepreneurs from Alaska took permission to purchase furs from local residents privately. Olaf Svenson arrived in Nizhne-Kolymsk to purchase a large consignment of valuable fur, but on the way back his schooner "Nanuk" was covered with ice near Cape Severny. In addition to the fact that the ship's crew had to spend the winter in difficult Arctic conditions, Svenson was depressed by the fact that the fur market could collapse, then he would have suffered serious losses.
On board the ship was his daughter - the journalist of The New York Times Marion Swenson, she led the shooting for the documentary, sent reports for the newspaper. Swenson wanted to send the furs to Alaska as soon as possible, and his daughter on the next flight. It was impossible to do this by land or sea, there was only the option of sending people and cargo by plane. In October and November, before that, no one risked flying in this region: weather instability, an ever shorter day due to the approaching polar night, long snow ridges - sastrugs, sometimes reaching 1.5 meters in height and greatly complicating landing. Despite this, the flights were planned and prepared. They were supposed to be carried out by the American pilot Carl Benjamin Eielson.
How the rescue of "Stavropol" and "Nanook" was organized
After the Alaska Airways company received permission to fly through the territory of the Soviet Union, on October 30, a light aircraft flew to reconnaissance, controlled by the pilot Dorbant. The next day, Eielson and flight mechanic Borland departed for their destination in their big plane. Not far from the place of forced wintering of the crew of the schooner "Nanuk" - in the Long Strait west of Cape Severny, the Soviet ship "Stavropol" was frozen in ice captivity, on board of which, in addition to the crew, there were passengers, including women and children. The captain of the ship P. G. Milovzorov was seriously ill - purulent pleurisy, his duties were performed by the chief executive officer Alekseev.
"Stavropol" was frozen into the ice in an open bay, leaving it in the spring could be problematic. A specially created Arctic Commission came to the conclusion that it was necessary to organize a rescue expedition, which was to be headed by the captain of the Fyodor Litke ice cutter K. A. Dublitsky. It was decided to transport the passengers by air; for this part of the operation, pilot M. T. Slepnev.
The New York Times' alarming report on Eelson's plane crash
Eielson's first flight was successful, he managed to deliver a large shipment of furs to Alaska. The next flight to Cape Severny was planned for November 7 to pick up Svenson. Two planes took off from Nome - Dorband's Stirman and Eielson's Hamilton 10002. But due to the onset of a snowstorm, they lost sight of each other. Dorband returned to Nome. Eielson and his flight mechanic Borland never arrived at Cape Severny and did not get in touch.
A few days later, a toboggan search expedition was organized by the crew members of the schooner Nanook, and then attempts were made to find Eielson and Borland by American pilots Gilom and Crosson. But all these attempts were unsuccessful. It was decided to stop flying. Gilom and Crosson flew to Alaska, but returned back two hours later - in the tundra, they accidentally noticed the duralumin wing of the Hamilton-10002 plane, glittering in the sun.
The pilots barely landed their cars, skiing on the sastrugas. They did not manage to find the missing pilots. The Americans asked for help in finding two of their pilots in Osoaviakhim. Marion Swenson sent urgent material to the newspaper, in which it was reported about the crash of "Hamilton-10002" that the pilots of the plane were missing.
Search expedition Slepnev
The government's Arctic Commission decided that it was necessary to search for the missing American pilots until the final clarification of their fate. Colonel Slepnev was assigned to lead this work. Systematic excavations began at the site of the disaster, which involved the crew members of the Nanuk and Stavropol, as well as sled expeditions from the nearby villages.
On the day appointed for the air expedition, the weather was favorable. But there was no flat surface for aircraft to land. Slepnev landed the plane along the sastrugs, setting an example to others. He determined the order and area of the search. The members of the expedition lived for two weeks in the tundra in tents and caves made of snow. The snow cover (its thickness reached 2.5 meters in places), compacted by the wind, was sawn off with a one-handed saw. If a strong blizzard began, the work was stopped. On February 13, the cuts led a wide front from the fuselage of the aircraft, and soon the bodies of the pilots were discovered.
How the American government expressed gratitude to the Russian pilots for participating in the search operation
The bodies of the dead pilots were handed over to American pilots. After them, a Soviet plane flew to America - Slepnev and his flight mechanic Farikh were invited by the governor of Alaska. The Russian pilots were greeted solemnly and thanked for their active participation in the search for the missing American pilots. The father of the deceased Eelson insisted that his son's coffin be covered not only with the flags of the United States and Canada, but also with the flag of the USSR, and the American military guard saluted the Red Banner. Diplomatic relations between the USA and the USSR will be established only three years later, but it just so happened that the Arctic history brought people from the two countries closer together much earlier.
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