In the years 1912-1914, the Russians followed the fate of the polar expeditions led by their countrymen with bated breath. One of the expeditions led by G.J. At the end of 1913, Siedowa disappeared somewhere near the Franz Josef Land. But let's start at the beginning.
Georgy J. Sedov announced the decision to go to the North Pole in April 1912, and the date of its commencement was June. Experienced polar explorers knocked their foreheads as they heard the short time to prepare the future hero. Sedov was unshakable in his decision.
He was considered a careerist in the maritime community. The fact that he did not arouse popular sympathy became apparent when none of the naval officers wanted to take command of the rescue operation after his expedition was lost.
The expedition to the Pole was to be a gift for Tsar Nicholas II on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanovs assuming power in Russia.
Hungry for fame and recognition, he decided to dedicate his expedition to the tsarist family on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty. It was supposed to be a perfect gift for Nicholas II, gaining grace and prizes for the polar explorer. Sedov turned out to be, above all, a dreamer who did not measure his intentions by force.
Bad even worse beginnings
Just before leaving the port, the first problems appeared, namely the "Swiatoj muczenik Foka" (the ship on which the expedition was supposed to go to the Pole) was overloaded and the port authorities did not agree to its departure to sea. The expedition leader was throwing anything he could get his hands on from the hold. Among other things, a chest with camping stoves and a radio station landed in the water.
After all, travelers set off to conquer the Arctic on August 27, only to be stuck all winter on Novaya Zemlya a few weeks later. They sailed on only when they let go of the ice and in August 1913 they reached the Franz Josef Land. There they had to wait another year. This time there was no coal.
Siedowa's ship "Swiatoj muczenik Foka" during wintering on the Franz Josef Land.
Although the polar explorer had two years to fill in the gaps in his reading, he did not read the literature on the latest state of Arctic research available in Russia. He planned to set up a camp in a land that did not exist and move with meager equipment to the Pole (which, thankfully, did exist).
The route of the expedition to Siedowa.
Moreover, Sedov began to develop scurvy, and some crew members suspected that he was losing his mind. On February 15, 1914, an expedition of three people (headed by G.J. Sedov) set off from the deck of the ship to the Pole. A little over a month later (March 19), two of its members returned, without the leader of the expedition.
The expedition traveled only ... 100 kilometers. She missed the pole, a trifle, another two thousand. In a word, a fiasco, but looking at the Russian literature on this subject, the impression is quite different.
"Spectacular" success
G.J. Sedov was top-down regarded as an extraordinary achievement. With time, Sedov himself began to be regarded as practically the only explorer of the Arctic. The polar explorer's name was given to an icebreaker, two bays, a summit on Novaya Zemlya, an island in the Barents Sea, a cape on Franz Josef Land, the chutor where he was born, and even ... a glacier. The "pioneering explorer of the northern lands" has been called the Pole Conqueror.
And one more shot of the great polar explorer ... who forgot to bring coal with him.
It was the official version, approved by the highest authorities, and it was not safe to disagree with it. In the 1930s, the Soviet Union needed heroes. Among them was also Sedov.
His noble origins were forgotten and made "a man of the people". Adjusting the history to the ideology, the support of the expedition was “forgotten” by Nicholas II. And so every Soviet student knew the conqueror of the North Pole, the discoverer of the northern lands of Sedov (who in fact did not even traverse the entire Franz Josef Land)!
Source:
Trivia is the essence of our website. Short materials devoted to interesting anecdotes, surprising details from the past, strange news from the old press. Reading that will take you no more than 3 minutes, based on single sources. This particular material is based on:
- W. D.Docenko, Secret Rossijskogo fłota, Moscow 2005.