The Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 was commissioned by the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences to study the Arctic Ocean north of the New Siberian Islands and search for the legendary Sannikov Land. It was led by the Baltic German geologist and Arctic explorer Baron Eduard von Toll on the ship Zarya. Toll and his three assistants vanished in late 1902 while exploring Bennett Island. One of the key members of the expedition was Alexander Kolchak, then a young researcher and lieutenant of the Russian Navy, and later a leader of the White movement and anti-Bolshevik government of Russia during the civil war period. Kolchak also led the rescue mission to find Toll and his crew.
Background
During 1884–1886, Toll assisted Alexander von Bunge in his exploration of the New Siberian Islands and the Arctic Ocean shores from the mouth of the Lena river to the mouth of the Yana. Toll then found mammoth bones on Kotelny and Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Islands and coal on New Siberia.
On a clear day, Toll spotted, from Kotelny Island, vague outlines of an unknown island located some 100 km (62 mi) north-east, with steep shores and columnar mountains. He believed this to be the legendary Sannikov Land, which, at the time, was marked on maps by a dashed line.
Upon returning from the New Siberian Islands in 1893, Toll began a vigorous campaign for a marine expedition to the area, which included a detailed presentation to the Academy of Sciences. He convinced the Academy to explore the areas east of Taymyr Island and the potential sea route to the Bering Strait, arguing that Americans were pursuing the same goal and should not be given priority. The project was delayed due to its high costs, and only on 31 December 1899 was approved by Nicholas II, who also appointed Toll as the expedition chief.
Planning and preparation
Grand Duke Konstantin played an important role in organizing the expedition, which is why his portrait was placed in the messdeck of Zarya. Being a naval officer, Konstantin showed great understanding and interest in the expedition and helped raise its finances from 240,000 to 509,000 rubles. The expedition was well supplied, and its preparations went without unnecessary delays.
According to the final plan, after surveying New Siberian Islands the expedition was to sail eastward, circumnavigate the Cape Dezhnev and arrive in Vladivostok. It was supposed to split into two groups, with the smaller auxiliary group responsible for delivery of provisions to the New Siberian Islands.
The expedition ship was built in 1873 in Norway and then used for seal hunting near Greenland under the name Harald Harfager. It was a sailing barque with a steam engine similar to Fram and SS Vega. Upon recommendation from Fridtjof Nansen it was purchased for 60,000 rubles and renamed Russian: Zarya (Dawn).
The ship was sent to the shipyard of Colin Archer in Larvik to be heavily modified in order to deal with the ice. Colin Archer, the Norwegian shipbuilder, had designed and built Fritdjof Nansen's ship Fram, which in 1896 had returned unscathed from its long drift in the northern polar ocean during Nansen's "Farthest North" expedition, 1893–96. Archer had also fitted out Southern Cross for the Southern Cross Expedition in 1897 to become a polar ship. Archer strengthened Zarja heavily with internal frames and beams, and deckhouses were added and modified. The rig was changed to barkentine (square sail on foremast only). In October 1899 the ship was certified by Norwegian authorities for a three-year expedition in the Arctic.
Equipment for the hydrological studies was ordered in England, Sweden and Russia. The hydrological preparation was started too late, and Kolchak, who was responsible for the work, struggled to complete them in time. He also visited Nansen in Norway for consultation and training, and then traveled to Moscow and Arkhangelsk where he recruited three crew members. One of them, Semyon Evstifeev was later praised by Toll as his best sailor.
Crew
The scientific part of the expedition consisted of the following personnel:
- Baron Eduard Toll – expedition head, geologist and zoologist.
- Konstantin Vollosovich – head of the assisting group of 11 men, geologist.
- Nikolai Kolomeitsev – lieutenant and captain of Zarya. He previously took part in explorations of the White Sea at the mouth of Yenisei River
- Fyodor Matisen – lieutenant, and assistant of Kolomeitsev. He was a member of the 1899 expedition to Svalbard.
- Alexander Kolchak – lieutenant, hydrograph, hydrologist, magnetologist, hydrochemist and
cartologist.
- Alexei Byalynitsky-Birulya – chief zoologist from the Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Friedrich Seeberg – astronomer and magnetologist.
- Herman E. Walter – medical doctor and bacteriologist. In 1899, he took part in the expedition that explored lands near Murmansk and Novaya Zemlya.
- Victor Katin-Yartsev – medical doctor in political exile. He replaced Walter who died of a heart attack on 21 December 1901.
- Mikhail Brusnev – engineer in political exile.
- O. F. Tsionglinsky – student in political exile.
The supporting team included:
- Nikifor Begichev – boatswain.
- Nikolai Bezborodov – sailor.
- Semyon Evstifeev – sailor.
- Vasily Gorokhov – sailor
- Ivan Klyug – fireman
- Ivan Malygin – sailor, later replaced by musher Stepan Rastorguyev
- Trifon Nosov – fireman
- Eduard Ogrin – chief engineer
- Nikolai Protod'iakonov – sailor.
- Gavriil Pyzyrev – fireman
- Aleksei Semyashkin – sailor, later replaced by musher Peter Strizhev.
- Eduard Shirvinsky – engineer
- Sergei Tolstov – sailor.
- Foma Yaskevich – cook.
- Vasily Zheleznyakov – helmsman
In early April 1900, the entire team gathered in the Norwegian town of Larvik, where Zarya was being fitted by the shipbuilder Colin Archer. From there they sailed to Oslo to fetch scientific equipment and a supply of coal and then to Saint Petersburg. On 29 May, Nicholas II visited the ship, and helped to resupply it with coal. A few days later the ship was visited by the Grand Duke Konstantin.
Expedition
First navigation
On 8 June 1900, Zarya left St. Petersburg heading for Kronstadt and the Gulf of Finland, where it had a minor problem. While it was being fixed in Tallinn, Toll left the ship, crossed the gulf, and went by train to Oslo to consult with Nansen, and then to Bergen to meet Zarya. From Bergen to Tromsø the ship was guided by a specially hired local pilot. In Tromsø, while the crew was waiting for the coal resupply from England, there were two major incidents: Malygin got arrested after a drunken brawl, and Semyashkin contracted a venereal disease and was found unfit for his duties by Dr. Walter.
The day after passing North Cape, on 11 July 1900 Zarya approached Polyarny to replenish its coal. There Toll and Kolomeitsev had a major quarrel over their roles on the expedition, which ended in Kolomeitsev asking to be to relieved from his duties. Their command styles were very different: Toll longed for comradeship and treated sailors as equals, while Kolomeitsev tried to keep a distance from the men and imposed harsh punishments for unruly behavior. Kolomeitsev thought that Toll's attitude undermined his authority as commander of Zarya.
After unsuccessful mediation attempts, Kolchak likewise offered his resignation. This had the effect of easing the conflict, as Toll could not afford to lose two of his key assistants. On the morning of 12 July the expedition took onboard 60 sled dogs and two mushers Peter Strizhev and Stepan Rastorguyev, Malygin's and Semyashkin's replacements.
On 18 July Zarya left Kola Bay, and the next Kolchak and Byalynitsky-Birulya conducted their first hydrological and zoological observations. Kolchak was helped by Begichev and Zheleznyakov who expressed interest in his studies.
By 22 July Zarya passed Kolguyev Island, and on 25 July approached Vaygach. There Toll had an arranged to meet a schooner which had been engaged to deliver coal for the expedition from Arkhangelsk to Yugorsky Strait. Not seeing the schooner, Toll decided not to wait for it, but attempt to reach Cape Chelyuskin as soon as possible. This would allow the expedition to winter on the eastern Taymyr and explore the poorly mapped areas nearby. The next day, Zarya met ice fields and was forced to deviate from its route southwards.
On 30 July outlines of Sibiryakov Island appeared on the horizon. Toll decided to make a stop there to rest and perform maintenance on the boilers. A group of polar bears were encountered and a few killed for food.
On 5 August, the expedition changed its route towards Taimyr Peninsula. From then on it had to make stops as long as 19 days being stranded in icefields and shallows. On the night of 3 September it saw its first aurora. Soon sailors noticed a light ahead, and decided that it was icebreaker Yermak, but astronomer Seeberg realized that it was Venus.
Wintering in Taimyr
On 22 September 1900 the expedition stopped for wintering in the Bay of Colin Archer. The event was marked by a party, with champagne and brandy for the officers and beer for the sailors. Soon after, Zarya became completely frozen into the ice. A meteorological station was set up on the ice, using sails for the walls. The station had a phone connection with the ship which was used to send observation results every hour. Unlike Nordenskiöld and Nansen, who managed to pass Cape Chelyuskin before wintering, Toll failed to reach eastern Taymyr. This would affect the entire course of the expedition, and eventually lead to its tragic outcome. The prevailing south-westerly winds drive into the ocean the warm waters of large Siberian rivers, which in turn brings heavy icefields back towards the shore. To save time, Toll planned to get to the East Taymyr through tundra on dog sleds, crossing Cape Chelyuskin in early 1901. This task would be impossible without a resupply on route. He decided to organize such resupply before the polar night, and on 10 October, together with Kolchak, Nosov and Rastorguyev, left Zarya on two heavily loaded sleds.
The group moved for 3–4 hours a day, in a harsh weather with temperatures below −30 °C outside and −20 °C in the tent. On 15 October they reached the Gafner Bay and left a stock of food there. Shortly before heading back to the base, Toll saw a partridge and a reindeer moving south, (he assumed) from a more northern land. This event reinvigorated Toll in his search for Sannikov Land.
The polar night arrived only a day after the group returned to the base on 19 October. It brought cold weather, with temperatures well below −30 °C outdoors, around 0 °C in the meteorological station, and some 8 °C in the messdeck. Most time was spent on reading books about polar expeditions, and in February 1901 Kolchak made a presentation about the Great Northern Expedition, whereas Birulya described the natural environment at the South Pole. During the wintering four people showed symptoms of scurvy, but those were suppressed by efficient intervention of Dr. Walter. Toll sent Kolomeitsev and Rastorguyev to search for the mouth of the Taymyr River and the settlements of Dixon and Golchikha, during which they encountered difficulties due to snowstorms and lack of a proper map. As a result, the pair failed to locate the Taymyr River, and ultimately split from the main expedition, traveling more than 800 km and reaching the Dudinka River (tributary of the Yenisei) by May 1901. These trips resulted in significant corrections of the local maps and in the discovery of the Upper Taymyr River.
Undiscovered northern lands
On 23 February, Toll sent Matisen and Strizhev to survey northwards. The pair crossed the Nordenskiöld Archipelago from south to north; on reaching the 77° mark, they turned to the west, and then returned due to the perceived shortage of dog food. Matisen was very close to discovering Maly Taymyr Island, for which he only had to travel an extra 150 kilometers north-east from the northernmost point of his journey, and some 200 km north he would have discovered Severnaya Zemlya. Toll was dissatisfied with the results and a few days later sent Matisen to a new journey with Nosov. This time Matisen mapped two new islands of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago, but turned back after meeting ice ridges.