Film Northwest Passage. Macht Frei - Archive

“Her Majesty's Government have decided to make a further attempt to pass the North-West route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and have found it convenient to entrust you with command over both ships Erebus and Terror allocated for this purpose. In accordance with this, you must, as soon as both ships are ready, go to sea ... ”, - said the instructions received by Captain John Franklin from the English Admiralty.

In the extreme north of the American continent, between the islands Canadian archipelago Franklin hoped to find Northwest Passage, predicted back in the 15th century by the famous English navigator John Cabot. The passage would be for Europeans the most convenient and shortest route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was searched for in the 16th century by the Englishmen Robert Thorne and Martin Frobisher, in the 17th century by the Englishman Thomas James and the Frenchman de La Paterne, in the 19th century by the Englishman John Ross, William Parry and John Franklin himself on their previous Arctic expeditions.

On May 19, 1845, an expedition under the command of Captain John Franklin, consisting of 129 crew members, left England, and, accompanied by the transport ship Baretto Junior, went out into the ocean, heading west. A month later, Captain Franklin made his first stop near Disco Island in Baffin Bay, reloading food and fuel from the transport, then the transport turned back, and the Erebus and Terror moved further west. They were last seen on July 26 west of Greenland's Melville Bay by the captain of the whaling ship Prince of Wales, Dunnet, who reported a meeting with Franklin's ships. All members of the expedition were healthy and full of hope that the legendary northwest passage would finally be opened! No further information about the expedition was received ...

Captain John Franklin, who led the expedition, was an experienced polar explorer. This was already his fourth Arctic expedition, and the third under his command. Franklin was born on April 15, 1786 in England, Spilsby, at the age of 14 he entered the British Navy, fought, was wounded in 1814 in the battle of New Orleans, and in 1818, as commander of the ship "Trent" participated in the British Arctic expedition, which was supposed to reach the Bering Strait, passing through the North Pole - at that time, the task was completely impossible. Having reached Svalbard, they were forced to turn back.

In 1819-1822, Captain Franklin himself organized and led an overland Arctic expedition to Canada, erasing from the map north coast America has many blind spots. The return journey of the expedition was especially difficult, during which 11 out of 20 people died of starvation and deprivation. In 1825-1827, he led a new, successful expedition, exploring more than 600 km of the North American coast, for which he was knighted in 1829.

What could happen to a well-equipped expedition? The ships at that time were also perfectly prepared for the Arctic voyage, and already participated in the successful expedition of James Ross in 1830-1843, for this voyage they were equipped with 20 hp railway steam engines, which made it possible to move at a speed of 4 knots at one o'clock.

A year passed, another, a third... The absence of news was due to the forced wintering, without which at that time not a single Arctic expedition could do. There was enough food on board for three winters, and at first the Admiralty was not very worried. Three years later, in 1848, the first rescue expedition was equipped, which returned to London empty-handed.

On August 23, 1850, the captain of the English ship "Help" Erasmus Omeni landed on Cape Riley, Devon Island, where he accidentally discovered traces of some kind of camp and objects that clearly belonged to the sailors of the British fleet. On August 25, 1850, two ships - the English clipper "Prince Albert" under the command of Congrington Forsyth and the American "Success" of Captain De Haven, approached Devon Island. On the island, they found a cylinder with a note from Omeni telling about the find. The sailors found five ramparts (remnants of once tents) and some things that Forsyth brought to London, where they were carefully examined. According to experts, the finds belonged to the Franklin expedition.

In the meantime, Erasmus Omeni visited a small island near Riley's Point, Beechey Island, and found the site of another Captain Franklin's campsite - a hut of rough stones, tin cans and a torn book with a newspaper dated September 1844. Some time later, the Englishman Penny found three graves there, made of stone slabs with boards with the names of the deceased and the names of the ships - these were Franklin's ships.

In 1851-1852. Another expedition was equipped under the command of William Kennedy. Having opened Belov Strait, Kennedy headed west to the land of the Prince of Wales to Cape Walker, but he did not go south, where he could find Franklin's ships, but returned to England. Soon the British Admiralty appointed a prize for reporting information about the disappeared sailors.

In ice. Photo from liveinternet.ru According to the instructions received by John Franklin from the Admiralty, passing the Lancaster Strait between Baffin Island and Devon Island, the captain had to choose the direction of the further route to the Northwest Passage: follow the Wellington Sound or head west of Somerset Island - both directions were then almost unexplored. Franklin made a mistake - he went through the Wellington Strait and met fields of ice; then the ships headed south, but winter was already beginning, and the "Erebus" and "Terror" stood for the winter near Beachy Island. In the spring of 1846, leaving the first graves on the island, the ships moved on...

It has been 12 years since the expedition left England, and seven years since they found its camp on Beechey Island. Despite many rescue missions, none of Franklin's satellites have been located. Suddenly, the Englishman Dr. John Re, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, who in 1854 led an overland expedition to the Boothia Peninsula, heard from the local Eskimos a story about some white people who died of hunger. They saw about 40 white people when they were hunting for seals at north coast King William Islands. People explained by signs that their ships were covered with ice and they were making their way to where they could hunt deer... fish river" (river Bak). Some of the corpses lay in tents, others under the boat, which was turned over so as to serve as a shelter for them. The Eskimos also reported cases of cannibalism among starving sailors, and the discovered remains confirmed this information.

So, the place where the Erebus and Terror were covered with ice was named - near King William Island. The traveler also discovered that some Eskimo families kept items of European origin - silver spoons and forks with the initials of Franklin's officers. John Re made a detailed report on his find at the Admiralty. He received the £10,000 bonus promised by the government. But judging by the report and the stories of the Eskimos, the expedition died four years ago. Members of the Admiralty Board declared all members of Captain John Franklin's expedition to have been undoubtedly dead in the Royal Service since March 31, 1854, striking their names from the lists of officers and sailors of the Royal Navy. The activity of government rescue expeditions was stopped.

In total, 39 polar expeditions were engaged in the search for the Franklin expedition. Lady Jane Franklin, the captain's wife, equipped some of them at her own expense, spending her entire fortune on it. She bought a 177-ton steam yacht Fox, and on June 1, 1857, the sailing ship Fox, under the command of the energetic and courageous captain Leopold McClintock, left the Scottish port of Aberdeen. The ship made its first stop on Beachy Island. At the highest point of the island, the sailors installed a marble slab - so that it could be seen from all sides. An inscription was engraved in gold on the plate - "In memory of Franklin and all officers and colleagues who suffered and died for the cause of science."

From Beachy Island, Captain McClinton headed for King William Island. The tides had already frozen, and the Fox was wintering a few miles from the island. McClinton bought sled dogs in advance and went to hiking. On April 2, 1858, “dividing into groups and following in different directions, we ... must find some trace, a remnant, and maybe even important message about those whose mysterious fate we seek to uncover,” McClinton wrote in the book “The Voyage of the Fox in the Arctic Seas.” McClinton himself commanded one party, and Lieutenant William Hobson commanded the other. From nomadic Eskimo families, they found all new items of European origin - silver dishes with initials, buttons from European clothes. The Eskimos claimed to have found them further south, "where many white people once died of starvation."

Lieutenant Hobson on the northwestern part of the island made a sensational discovery - under a pile of stones piled on the shore, he found a note left by officers of the Erebus and Terror. April 25, 1848. Her Majesty's ships "Terror" and "Erebus" were abandoned on April 22, five miles north-west of this place, where they had been icebound since September 12, 1846 ... Sir John Franklin died on June 11, 1847, and all died ... so far 9 officers and 15 crew members ... Let's go tomorrow, the twenty-sixth, to the Fish River ... ”, - from a note discovered by Lieutenant Hobson.

The same document stated that the ships went through the Pir Strait, but at the end of the summer they encountered pack ice, and in September the Erebus and Terror were covered with ice. They began to wait for spring, but in the spring the huge ice fields began to move. Ships frozen in the ice could not free themselves from it and began to drift along the ice fields. There was hope that the ice would still melt in the summer. Food supplies on the ships were running out. A large number of cans purchased from the London manufacturer Goldner were filled with sand and sawdust, and in the autumn of 1847, when the ice washed the ships to the west coast of King William Island, instead of taking them to clean water, the third in a row began, now a hungry wintering. People suffered from scurvy, a party of sailors sent to the mainland disappeared without a trace.

After the death of Captain Franklin, the surviving people decided to make their way south on foot - almost without food, hoping only for hunting. They went to the next world... All of them died during this terrible campaign - from hunger, cold and disease.

Charles Hall, an American who traveled in the 60s along the probable route of this detachment, found skeletons of officers and sailors of the expedition in the snow. In the 80s, the American Frederik Schwatka, according to the stories of the Eskimos, established the place where the Terror sank, crushed by ice. In the 30s of the XX century, the Canadian L.T. Baroush mapped the place of the death of the Erebus, which was drifting along with the ice for several years longer than the Terror. It is possible that other written documents and logbooks left by the expedition officers will still be discovered, and the burial place of Captain Franklin, who died on the verge of solving the age-old riddle, will be discovered ...

In Alaska and Canada, a cape, mountains, bay, and strait are named after Franklin. Dozens of expeditions looking for Franklin explored many previously unknown areas of polar Canada. But only one of the travelers, who almost exactly repeated the route of the Franklin expedition, reaching King William Island, but then turning a little east and rounding the fatal ice fields, famous Norwegian Roald Amundsen, finally. found the Northwest Passage. At the beginning of the 20th century, he took his ship "Yoa" from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

J. Franklin was already 60 years old when he left London in 1845 at the head of a large expedition of 129 people. Already famous sailing ships Antarctic expedition James Ross were converted into screw steamers and placed at his disposal. The Erebus was commanded by the head of the expedition, and the Terror was commanded by the experienced polar navigator Francis Crozier, who sailed in the Arctic with Parry and in the Antarctic with James Ross.

Passing north along west coast Greenland, ships entered Baffin Bay. And this is the only thing known about them. No further information about the expedition was received. So three years passed, and the government sent several rescue boats, which could not find anything. For the salvation of at least one of the members of the expedition, a reward of twenty thousand pounds was appointed, half of this amount - for reliable information about the fate of the Franklin expedition. Dozens of ships participated in these searches, but for a long time no traces were found, although almost all the straits, bays and bays of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago were examined. Finally, in different places pyramids of stones (gurii) were discovered; under one of them in the spring of 1859 (fourteen years after the disappearance of the expedition) was found the last report of Franklin. By this time, quite a lot of finds of traces of the expedition had already accumulated: the remains of camps, various abandoned things, graves and skeletons of the dead.

Based on all these finds, the course of events has been restored, but only until 1848. After Baffin Bay, the ships passed Lancaster Strait. While the Terror remained at the southern entrance to the Wellington Strait between the islands of Cornwallis and Devon, Franklin and the Erebus moved on, but the ice did not let him out of the strait, and he, having rounded Cornwallis Island, returned to the Terror, prepared for wintering near Beachy Island. Three people died this winter. In autumn, when the ice cleared the way, the ships traveled about 250 km along the Peel Strait, leading south. Along the way, Prince of Wales Island was discovered. Behind the strait, which later became known as the name of Franklin, a wide expanse of water opened up. However, the ships could not use it - already at the beginning of the second decade of September they were frozen into the ice, being a few miles from King William Island.

The second wintering claimed the lives of twenty participants in the voyage: they were mowed down by scurvy caused by poor-quality products. As the winter drew to a close, eight men walked across the ice to King William Island and piled houris there with a note describing the expedition's route. Upon their return, these people did not find Franklin alive: having become seriously ill, he died on June 11, 1847. Off King William Island, the third wintering took place, by the end of which no more than a hundred people remained alive. The two legendary ships were abandoned off the west coast of King William, and the people went south, harnessed to a sleigh with a large boat mounted on them. (Subsequently, two bays along these coasts will be called Erebus and Terror.)

People went south, harnessed to a sledge with a boat mounted on them. They didn't need her. Their path along King William Island is literally lined with dozens of corpses. Strongly knocked together coffins at the beginning of the journey are replaced by hastily knocked down ones, and then the dead were no longer buried - the skeletons lie without coffins. The last traces of the tragedy are on the small island of Aleleid, where the wreckage of a boat and a pile of bones were found, and at the mouth of the Back River, the Eskimos found the last forty skeletons.

Search work began in the spring of 1849, James Ross and a Scottish naval officer, Francis McClintock. During the winter, they sleighed around the northern coast of Somerset Island and across the Peel Strait saw east coast Prince of Wales Islands.

New islands, straits, bays were discovered by subsequent expeditions. But William Kennedy and Rene Bello made a particularly important discovery: they reached the northern tip of the American mainland, the Boothia Peninsula, on a sledge, and proved that the wide Franklin Strait separates it from Prince of Wales Island, the southernmost in the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

The entire third expedition of John Franklin, sent by the British Admiralty to continue the search for the northwest passage in 1845, perished. But a decade-long series of rescue expeditions led to significant discoveries in the north of the American continent. Including those that contributed to the opening of the northwestern sea passage to the Pacific Ocean from the east.

Four centuries ago, the epic search for this path began. Dozens of ships, hundreds of people took part in it, many victims were brought, and more than once the most authoritative polar explorers stated: it is impossible to pass through the labyrinth of the straits of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, constantly clogged with ice. By the end of the 18th century, a chain of straits was found leading to the Arctic Ocean or even to the Bering Strait. It remained only to make this passage and practically prove its possibility. This is what the young Norwegian Roald Amundsen decided to do. He was in his thirtieth year and had just returned from Antarctica, where he had been navigator on the Belgica and participated in the first Antarctic wintering aboard that ship.

R. Amundsen is carefully preparing for the expedition, which, apparently, must be difficult, long and dangerous, given the experience of previous expeditions, some of them ended tragically. Amundsen would become famous for the fact that none of his expeditions, however difficult they were, had no casualties. Except for the last one, where he himself became the victim.

But so far, only his second expedition (the first is his own) has begun. Having traveled to many shipyards, Amundsen chose a small yacht "Joa" (with a displacement of only 47 tons). For twenty years she went fishing off the coast of Norway and for seals in polar waters. The yacht was the same age as Amundsen - built in 1872.

In the spring of 1901, Amundsen tested the Gjoa in seal hunting between Svalbard and Greenland, making a series of oceanographic observations according to a program drawn up by Nansen. The necessary "finishing" of the vessel was made, but Amundsen's personal funds ended there. I had to borrow money, take out a loan for the future opening of the northwest passage. He himself lived extremely modestly. In Hamburg, where he lived and worked at the Neumeier Observatory, he rented a cheap room in the attic and spent the minimum on food. In the last days before sailing, a state loan was also received - 40 thousand crowns. With exceptional care, Amundsen rebuilt "Joa", himself participating in the work as a carpenter. Food was purchased for five years, and first-class scientific equipment was purchased. And suddenly in one newspaper there is an article under the heading "Does Norway need new skeletons among the icy deserts?". “Joa is a miserable vessel, and its captain is a frivolous person ...” - it was said in it.

The article had an effect on several creditors: they began to demand money back. It was a disaster. Is it really all the work, self-restraint, stress of the last months - all this is in vain?! And the dream of the northwest passage is not destined to come true?

No! Amundsen will not back down. There is only one way out, and it is very important that Nansen, who visited the yacht on the eve of sailing, agrees with this: "Joa" must go to sea secretly, at night, to escape from creditors.

"How wonderful! There are no more sorrows, annoying creditors ... Alone on a yacht! There are seven of us, we are cheerful and happy. We are sailing to unknown lands, but full of hope and faith," Amundsen wrote that day.

A few years later, Amundsen accidentally found out that then Fridtjof Nansen, without telling him anything, vouched for him to creditors. It was a purely Nansen act...

Amundsen took a five-year supply of food, fuel, clothing and equipment on board the ship, a prefabricated house was loaded on board the ship in case of wintering and material for the construction of a magnetic pavilion: after all, in addition to opening the northwestern passage, Amundsen planned to locate the North Magnetic Pole, located, presumably, on the northern tip of the mainland, on the Butia peninsula.

The first encounter with ice occurred off the western coast of Greenland, in Melville Bay, it took two months to fight against them and cross the Baffin Sea. And then the yacht entered the unexplored, unexplored Lancaster Strait. It was very hard way: I had to literally maneuver with jewelry precision among the numerous islands, rocks and shoals. Amundsen all the time while passing the strait, was in the "crow's nest" - on the front mast of the ship.

Violent storms also attacked the ship. Once, in order to save the ship, when the wind was swiftly carrying the helpless shell right to the reefs, Amundsen gave an order that seemed crazy to everyone: "Throw the boxes from the deck into the sea!" There were food in the boxes, but they had to be donated. The lightened ship was carried by the wave onto a smooth underwater rock, where it safely waited out the storm. But then a new misfortune arose - a fire in the engine room. And by some miracle it was possible to extinguish it, but thanks to the only correct decision taken by Amundsen - to block the access of air to the engine room.

The Lancaster Strait led to the Simpson Strait, along which, bypassing Victoria Island from the south, it would be possible to continue the journey, but Amundsen, having found a convenient bay for the vessel, decided not to risk it and stopped for the winter in early September. In addition, he was going to make magnetic observations on the Butia Peninsula, which was not far away.

Wintering in the bay on the west coast of King Wilman Island, which became known as Gyoa Bay, was exceptionally calm and productive. The ship, frozen into a three-meter monolith of ice, was constantly visited by the Eskimos, who built a kind of town around it from Eskimo igloos made of snow bricks. Communication with the Eskimos all winter was very close and mutually beneficial. In exchange for all kinds of iron products, the Norwegians received dressed deer skins, from the Eskimos Amundsen learned to build snow houses - igloos, load sleds, and transport them through cracks in the ice. The winter passed quickly, but the coming summer brought disappointment: the ice in the bay did not break, which meant a second wintering in the same place. But it also went well: there was not even a hint of scurvy, which accompanied most of the polar expeditions. Of course, the abundance of wild deer around helped, hunting for which provided fresh food. The whole expedition worked hard all winter. In addition to constant meteorological, hydrological and magnetic observations, long trips dog sledding around Victoria Island and the straits; about a hundred small islands were put on the map, but the main thing was that the point of the North magnetic pole was precisely established.

The summer of 1905 freed the Gyoa from ice captivity. On August 13, we weighed anchor and it was possible to move on. But again on the way - islands, shoals, underwater reefs, between which only due to its small size the yacht could maneuver. It was constantly necessary to measure the depth, and a special boat was in front of the ship, with which measurements were made, and sometimes no more than two centimeters of water turned out to be under the keel. Amundsen compared Simpson Sound to a "plowed field" - so carefully one had to move along it. But two weeks later, a whaling ship appeared on the horizon: "A ship is visible!" - there was a cry. It was the American schooner "Charles Hansson", which came from another ocean, from the Pacific. And it was a sign that the northwest passage, to which people had been striving for four centuries, had been passed.

“My throat constricted. I was in an extremely nervous state, overworked, and even if this is a sign of weakness, but ... tears welled up in my eyes ... I quickly threw on my clothes. I lingered for a moment in front of the Nansen portrait hanging on the wall, and the image came to life, it seemed Nansen was looking at me and nodding his head ... I nodded to him in response, smiling with happiness, and went on deck, "- this is how Roald Amundsen described this moment.

The goal was achieved, but then a new test - the yacht was jammed with ice, further way became impossible. Third winter!

This time it was lucky that a whole fleet of American whaling ships was nearby: you could get everything you need. Amundsen, along with one of the whaler captains, sets out on an eight hundred-kilometer dog sled journey to the nearest radio station to inform the world of his discovery.

It was the most difficult route through the icy desert, crossing mountain range up to three thousand meters high, in winter conditions, when the air temperature dropped to fifty degrees. The journey took five months. And in the summer of 1906, the Gyoa entered the Bering Strait and arrived in San Francisco, met with triumph.

Amundsen's success was no accident. He was not seduced by that vast body of water, to which his predecessors went, but after passing through the narrow and incredibly difficult Simpson Strait, he chose a route near the coast of Northern Canada and Alaska. Norwegian expedition to tiny yacht"Yoa" did so much that it took about twenty years to process the material she brought back.

However, unlike northeast passage- The Northern Sea Route - this route from ocean to ocean has not found practical application. The Canadian entrepreneur Bernier tried to use it for trading purposes immediately after Amundsen passed it, but failed. Only during the Second World War did they return to this idea, and a small ship "Roch" was sent from Greenland to the west for transportation. But it was possible to pass the track only in two navigations. Only in 1944, the Norwegian sailor Larsen passed in one year from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, 12 years after a similar transition was made along the Northern sea ​​route. After the American icebreaker Glasher successfully passed the northwestern route in 1954, from time to time the icebreakers began to go around North America. However, this way remains economically inexpedient.

Navigation in the Northwest Passage has claimed the lives of many fishermen and Arctic explorers. The legendary sea route along the coast of North America cuts through coastal ice, pack ice and past icebergs, and even today it is an exciting adventure.

Soon after Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, navigators began to make the first daring attempts to go around New World from the north to find a sea route to East Asia. At the beginning of the 16th century, in terribly difficult conditions, navigators-explorers, among whom were Corte Real Gaspar and Sebastian Cabot, reached the Canadian Arctic archipelago. However, all attempts to find a way in the labyrinth of narrow straits and endless fjords failed, as the path was invariably blocked by impregnable blocks of drifting ice floes. Even in the 19th century, the fate of the ill-fated expedition led by the English explorer John Franklin did not discourage other adventurers.

The search for the missing Franklin expedition, which dragged on for a whole decade, marked a new contribution to the study of the Far North. The first to prove the existence of the Northwest Passage was the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. With a tiny ship and a small crew at his disposal, in the period from 1903 to 1906 he successfully sailed along the northern coast of the American continent. However, even after the passage was conquered, this place still represented great danger for sailors. Only in 1942, the second expedition led by Henry Larsen on the schooner "St. Rock" managed to sail along the passage, but this time in the opposite direction - from west to east. Today, thanks to the latest navigation equipment, travel can be considered relatively safe. True, however, and now no one can guarantee that the voyage will take place strictly according to a pre-planned route. First cruise ship passed through the Northwest Passage in 1984.

The Northwest Passage never became an important maritime trade route, because the weather here is still unpredictable, and the navigation season here is limited to only a few weeks a year, although the use of this sea route has become a great help to the mining industry in the Arctic regions of Canada. However, the Northwest Passage is now used only by those who work at the Polaris field on Bathurst Island.

For local residents Far North, the arrival of a ship is an exceptional event; and although roads do not link this region with the southern parts of Canada, the settlements are no longer as cut off from the rest of the mainland as they used to be. Almost all Inuit research stations and settlements have air communications With southern regions Canada. Thanks to modern technologies traveling around the Arctic region has become much easier, but the magical landscape, the feeling of loneliness and peace have remained unchanged, which is what makes these places look so beautiful. After all, the shining surface coastal ice in estuaries and fjords, as well as bizarrely shaped icebergs or heaps of ice floes, are forever imprinted in the memory. But even today life in the regions of the Far North is still extremely difficult. The main danger is the inhospitable climate. In winter, the temperature often drops to -40℃ and below. And even in May, when the sun is high above the horizon, the thermometer rarely rises above zero.

The cruise starts from the coast of Greenland towards the Arctic regions of Canada - it was from there that Roald Amundsen set sail through the Northwest Passage. Then the route continues along the coast of Alaska and ends at the Aleutian Islands, on the border with Russia.

Information for tourists:
Length: approximately 2500 km.
Duration: about 4 weeks
Route map: Kangerlussuaq, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Upernavik, Pond Inlet, Dundas Harbor, Beachy Island, Resolute, Franklin Sound, Cambridge Bay, Ross Point, Holman Island, Barrow, Point Hope, Diomede Islands, Nome, Gambell, St. Paul, Dutch Harbor, Col Bay.
Note to tourists: The Northwest Passage here can only be explored by joining a cruise.
When to go: The Northwest Passage is only open for navigation for a few weeks in the summer and even at this time. cruise companies because of weather conditions and glaciers are often forced to change it. Be prepared for swarms of mosquitoes if you're going on day trips to the tundra in the summer, and don't forget to bring insect repellant with you. It's also a good idea to stock up on windproof clothing with a high collar to ensure maximum comfort.
Tourist information:

• www.greenland-guide.gl (Greenland Tourist Guide);
• www.hl-cruises.com (Hapag-Lloyd cruises);

1. Kangerlussuaq. The largest airport in Greenland is located in this town, it is here that most tourists arrive. The Arctic island cruise starts at the Kangerlussuaq Fjord, which stretches for about 170 km. Then the route passes numerous glaciers, which, thawing, fall into the estuary. Descending from the Greenland ice sheet, they, rushing to the water, cut the road to the fjord deep in the rocks.

2. Sisimiut. As the cruise ship approaches the mouth of the fjord, the route turns north and follows the rocky coastline. You will cross the Arctic Circle, and soon the town of Sisimiut will appear on the horizon. The fish factory and cold stores around the port are eloquent evidence of the main occupations local population. A separate export item is Greenland crab meat, which is supplied to almost all countries of the world. Back in the 18th century, Dutch whalers established a small base here, however, as did the Norwegian Lutheran missionary Hans Egede in 1724. The settlement that exists here today, whose original name is Holsteinborg, appeared four decades later under the patronage of Count Ludwig Holstein. The emergence of the city brought with it a major change in the traditions and way of life of the local population, and now most Inuit enjoy the comforts of modern civilization.

3. Ilulissat. This town, formerly known as Jakobshavn, which means "Jacob's harbor" in Danish, is the third largest in Greenland and one of the most popular tourist ports. Ilulissat (meaning "icebergs" in the Inuit language) is a very appropriate name for this locality, as the surrounding landscape is dominated by snow-white giants slowly drifting out of the fjords into Disko Bay. ice shield Greenland, in some places reaching a thickness of 3 km., Provides an uninterrupted supply of ice. Due to its own gravity ice block by inertia, it slides into the fjord, and when the tongue of the glacier reaches the open waters of the bay, it splits and icebergs are formed.

4. Upernavik. The urban appearance of Upernavik ("Spring Place") is formed by several small groups of buildings, huddled around the steep cliffs of the northwestern coast of Greenland. About three thousand inhabitants live here. The main settlement is located on one of the many small rocky islands just off this part of the coast. The landscape around Upernavik, especially the cliffs in the Apparsuit area, provides an excellent opportunity to observe the local nature: reindeer and musk ox live in the tundra of the Svartenhooken peninsula. The landscape to the north of Upernavik seems even wilder, here the glacier breaks directly into the sea. For the inhabitants of Upernavik, the sea is the main source of food. Even today, most of the families living here make a living from fishing and seal hunting. Most northern museum world, located under open sky, opened in the building of the former trading post of Upernavik. Here, tourists can learn about the history of the emergence and development of the city and the traditional life of the Inuit.

5. Pond Inlet. Further, the route continues along the narrow Pond Inlet to the settlement of the same name in the north of Baffin Island. Here, along the Eclipse Strait, you will cross the Canadian border for the first time. The name of the village of Mittimatalik founded just a few decades ago is associated with the name of an English astronomer and means "the place where Mittima is buried", and "Pond" is already the Inuit name of the same place. Of the 1,300 inhabitants of the village, Inuit make up the majority. At the beginning of the 20th century, a whaling factory was founded here, which was abandoned just a few years later. Despite the inhospitable climate, people have lived in the area around Pond Inlet for at least four thousand years. Archaeologists have found traces of both the Dorset culture and the later Thule culture here. In 1929, two missionary organizations appeared here - Anglican and Catholic - simultaneously began to spread Christianity in the region. As is the case with most communities in the Arctic, detached houses in Pond Inlet are simple and functional. However, this simplicity makes the village, nestled against the backdrop of spectacular impregnable mountains, even more memorable. Closer to the south of the island, mountain peaks reach a height of more than 1500m, and to the north in the direction of Bylot Island, visible in the distance, the mountains become even higher, up to 2000m. Both in Eclipse Bay and nearby Pond Inlet, which separates Bylot from Baffin Island, icebergs and sea ice drift even during the summer months. You will not only be mesmerized by the Arctic landscape itself, but you will also enjoy watching the unique nature of the estuaries, in the waters of which there are beluga whales, narwhals, bowhead whales, sometimes even sperm whales and killer whales swim here. Among the others marine mammals- walruses and various types of seals, including ringed seals. Most of Bylot Island is occupied by the Sirmilik National Park, established in 1999. But more island known as a bird sanctuary: hundreds of thousands of thick-billed murres and kittiwakes nest on the rocks, and there is also a large population of Atlantic blue geese. For bird and whale watching, separate excursions are organized from Pond Inlet, for lovers of fishing - boat fishing, and in the spring snowmobiling and dog sledding. Learn more about the bird sanctuary at Bylot Island and Sirmilik National Park, as well as at the Nattinak Visitor Center in Pond Inlet.

6 Dundas Harbor The route continues along the rocky west coast of Bylot Island between the narrow glacial plateaus of the Navy Bod Inlet to the north of the Lancaster Strait, which is the main gate of the Northwest Passage (at this point its width reaches 80 km.). The depth here rarely exceeds 300m, so that part of the route where it reaches 1000m is the deepest section. Then the path lies to the town of Dundas Harbor, which is located almost at 75º north latitude at southeast coast Devon Island, the largest uninhabited islands peace. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police opened here in 1924 military base within the framework of government policy to curb the activity of foreigners, however, in 1932. the base was abandoned. In 1934 Inuit families were moved to the island, but in 1936. they decided to leave, considering the living conditions here too harsh. The sovereignty of Dundas Harbor is still disputed. In the area north of Dundas Harbor, the height of the mountains reaches 1900m, and here they are completely covered with glaciers. IN coastal areas archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric settlements of the Dorset and Thule cultures. Dundas Harbor is the perfect place to learn more about the nature of the Arctic. Walruses and seals on the coast, musk oxen on land seem to be waiting to be photographed, but one must always be careful, especially when meeting polar bears.

7 Beachy Island This island in Wellington Sound was discovered in 1819. English explorer of the Arctic, William Edward Parry. And it got its name in honor of Frederick Williams Beachy, an officer from the Parry team. Beachy Island has played an important role in the history of Canadian Arctic exploration. In 1845 English navigator and Arctic explorer John Franklin decided that the well-protected port of the island - perfect place for the anchorage of the ship in the first winter of his expedition, which ended tragically. When in 1851 a rescue party arrived here, on the shore they discovered the graves of three members of the ship's crew, marked with stones, but so far nothing is known about the fate of the rest of the crew. In the 1980s, the remains of three polar explorers, quite well preserved in permafrost conditions, were exhumed and subjected to scientific study. It suddenly turned out that people died, apparently from lead poisoning: the cans with which they ate for many months were made of poorly processed lead. In 1979 The government of the Northwest Territories declared Beechey Island a site of natural and historical significance. Today, like most of northeast Canada, the island belongs to the territory of Nunavut, founded in 1999. Today, the graves of three sailors are the most visited place by tourists.

8. Resolute. Founded on Cornwallis Island in the northern part of Resolute Bay, the settlement of the same name is one of the northernmost settlements on the planet, about 250 inhabitants live here, mostly Inuit. Enough functions here. major airport, serving the Arctic part of Canada. This town is named after the Resolute ship, but of the many ships that took part in the search for the missing Franklin expedition, the Resolute was locked in ice for two winters, and in order to avoid a third wintering in polar night and cold conditions, Captain Belcher took the decision to abandon ship and the crew returned to England aboard a rescue ship. The Resolute was found in fairly good condition by American whalers in 1855, who freed it from pack ice. Resolute is home to important meteorological and research stations. The Canadian government took over the management of the original Inuit settlements only in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, in addition to the Inuit, scientists and engineers live here. In the 1960s and 1970s on the nearby island of Bathurst, 150-200 km. west of Resolute, the north magnetic pole was discovered. Thanks to this, the town has become a base for research expeditions that set off to study the Earth's magnetic field. Since then, the magnetic pole has moved north past 80º latitude, but meteorologists still work in Resolute, where geophysical surveys are carried out, the biennial Polar Race and the annual Polar Challenge, during which several teams simultaneously trying to reach the north magnetic pole. Resolute is also considered an important transport hub, because it provides the functioning of the Polaris field on Bathurst Island. For some time it was the northernmost in the world of the developed deposits of lead and zinc ores, until it was recognized as unprofitable in 2003. closed.

9. Franklin Strait. This strait got its name in honor of the explorer John Franklin, who led an expedition to the islands of the Canadian part of the Arctic in 1845. Franklin's ships Erebus and Terror, under the command of Captains James Fitzjames and Francis Crozier, were seen by whalers north of Baffin Island, but soon the ships were lost among the drifting ice. Several rescue parties were sent in search of the missing expedition, but nothing was known about their fate until 1989, when the diary was found. It turned out that Franlin and his crew spent their first winter near Beachy Island and then sailed through Peel Sound and Franlin Sound. In September 1846 the ships were once again trapped in the ice in the Victoria Strait. Heading south on foot, all members of the expedition died. The route continues past King William Island. At the Northwest Passage Nature and History Park near Yon Haven, learn about the history of exploration of the pass and the surrounding area. Gorodoak was named after the ship "Joa", on which Roald Amundsen first sailed through the Northwest Passage in 1903-1906. Amundsen account this place is ideal for bright parking and conducting research on the Earth's magnetic field. Also in the park, everyone can get acquainted with the life and work of the famous polar explorer, who spent almost three long winters here.

10. Cambridge Bay. The village was named in honor of Prince Adolf, Duke of Cambridge, it is also called Ikaluktutiak ("place of many large fish"). It is located on the south coast of Victoria Island and, thanks to its convenient harbor, is an ideal place for mooring ships. Over time, small locality, where about 1500 inhabitants, mostly Inuit, lived, turned into a center of arts and crafts. The Nunavut College of Fine Arts has even set up Inuit Art Courses, where not only locals but also tourists can learn. This place is also famous for its jewelry. They are mainly made from local ornamental stones (serpentine) and bones of marine mammals. Traditionally, the Inuit used copper, but today they use other metals as well as modern materials. In the vicinity of the village of Cambridge Bay, the ruins of ancient Inuit settlements built of stone and earth have been preserved, they are also called "karmak". However, among the sights of the bay itself are the remains of the Maud ship, named after the Queen of Norway and later renamed Bay Maud. This ship was specially built for Amundsen's second Arctic expedition in 1925. sold to the Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1930. flooded. Since 1947, a lighthouse has provided security at the entrance to the waters of the bay. In the 1920s, the Hudson's Bay Company trading post and a small police station in Cambridge Bay became a Canadian outpost in this part of the Arctic region. The Inuit who had previously lived in these areas did not begin to settle again until after the 1950s. Cambridge Bay is a great place to learn about the unique flora and fauna of the Arctic. And if you decide to ride through the hills in off-road vehicles, you will have a unique opportunity to see entire herds of musk oxen.

11. Ross Point. Further, the path lies west along the southern coast of Victoria Island, through Dees Strait and Coronation Bay. If you get a chance to disembark at Ross Point, take a little walk. Here you will have a unique chance to enjoy wildlife tundra in its pristine beauty. The most imposing animal in these parts is the musk ox. If you are lucky, you will see whole herds of these giants.

12. Holmen Island. After another 250 km. you will find yourself in Amundsen Bay. This marks the end of the most difficult section of the Northwest Passage. This is the border between the Inuit territory of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The community of Ulukhaktok is the place where the northernmost golf course on the planet is located, as part of a specially organized tournament in the summer, international competitions are held here. Holmen Island has become a real Mecca for artists, they are especially attracted by traditional types of printed graphics - lithography, engraving, printmaking, linocut, which reproduce the symbolic motifs of the Arctic world. Dancing and drumming also play an important role in the life of Ulukhaktok. Before the current legacy was founded, a trading post functioned here. In Reed Island, you can still visit the buildings that have survived from that time.

13. Herschel Island. The route continues along the vast Amundsen Bay in the Beaufort Sea, passing the Mackenzie Delta and approaching Herschel Island. On the coast you can often see a lot of trees thrown ashore, which come here from the forested regions of Canada through the Mackenzie channel, are used for construction and heating, since wood is rare in these places. The local name for Herschel Island is Kwiqiktaruk, which means "this is an island" in the Inuit language. Although the island is small - its area is only a few kilometers - it is reliably sheltered from winds and bad weather. The port is regularly visited by whaling and research ships, and thanks to the long-standing Inuit settlement here, this port has become a real center for supplying the island with all the necessary goods.

14. Barrow. The meridian line 141º west longitude the route crosses near Barrow, a town located 80 km. west of Herschel Island. This is the border between Canada and Alaska. Crude oil prospectors began to appear in Prudhoe Bay as early as the 1940s, but exploitable deposits were discovered only in 1967. Crude oil is pumped to the city of Valdez on the south coast of Alaska through a nearly 1,300 km long pipeline, which was completed in 1977. Barrow is an important supply center for the region's oil fields. During the summer, when the pack ice briefly recedes from the coast, ships can enter the port and bring in goods and food for the city's residents. And about 15 km. north of Barrow is Cape Barrow, or Nuvuk, the most north point USA, the starting point of many expeditions to explore Aktika. The first mention of these places dates back to 1576, when pioneer settlers arrived here to challenge the harsh climate.

15. Point Hop. This small town located on a cape that cuts from the western side into the Chukchi Sea. Local attractions include original indigenous cult objects carved from whalebone. From here the route continues south Bering Strait, which, like the Bering Sea, the island, the glacier and Beringia, got its name in honor of Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741), who explored the area. Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost tip of the American continent, is only 100km away. from Cape Dezhnev, eastern point Asia.

16. Diomede Islands. This is the meeting place of two superpowers - Russia and the United States. Two rocky islands - the American Small Diomede and the Russian Big Diomede - are separated by only 3 km. This is the only place where the border of the territories of the two states passes. The demarcation time line also bisects the strait between the two islands.

17. Nom. This city played an important role in the history of Alaska during the gold rush. When in 1898 gold was discovered in nearby Anvil Creek, word of the discovery quickly spread, and prospectors from all over the world began to arrive. Today, Nome is best known as the final destination of the Iditarod dog sled race, held in memory of the dog sled that in 1925. delivered a shipment of vaccine to Nome that helped end the diphtheria epidemic among the Inuit.

18. Gambell. Located on the northwestern tip of the island of St. Lawrence, Gambell was almost completely settled by the Yuits, or Asian Eskimos, the indigenous inhabitants of the northeastern part of Russia.

19. St. Paul's Island. This is one of the four Pribylov Islands located in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Siberia. It has a volcanic origin, and therefore the island is, in fact, a feeding ground for seabirds and seals. The Pribylov Islands are inhabited by the Aleuts, whose original possessions also include the Aleutian Islands and the Shumagin Islands, as well as the western part of the Alaska Peninsula.

20. Dutch Harbor. This small settlement is located on the Aleutian island of Amaknak and is connected by a bridge to the nearest island, Unalashka. It is worth visiting the Russian Orthodox Church in Unalaska, which is a testament to the times when Alaska was still part of the Russian Empire. In those days, Russian fur hunters founded a settlement on the island, conquering indigenous people. The missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived here later and in 1825. built their first church here. Despite some remoteness from the whole world, the events of the Second World War also affected the Aleuts. While the United States sought to protect the islands by organizing the construction of military bases, they were unable to prevent Japanese fighter raids, and on the morning of June 3, 1942. Japanese aircraft raided Dutch Harbor.

21. Cold Bay. From Unalashka, the journey continues along Krenitsyn Island and leads us to Unimak Island, the largest in the Alutian archipelago. Pavlova volcano rises above the bay at 2862m, and its peak is often enveloped in fog. Like the islands of this region and the vast expanses of Alaska, Unimak is declared national reserve. Here you can meet many representatives of the North American fauna, from huge brown bears to silver foxes. And the local airport is considered an important transport hub, and the development of this town is directly related to it. It was built during World War II to strengthen the defenses of this remote part of the United States and prevent Japanese air raids. At that time, the port was also used as a transit point for the transportation of goods from the United States to the Soviet Union. Today, Cold Bay is inhabited mainly by airport employees, military observers and employees meteorological station. Cold Bay, surrounded by small islands and famous for its rocky coast, replete with grottoes and creeks, perhaps can be attributed to the most beautiful and memorable parts of Alaska. Over the past two hundred years, the Pavlova volcano has erupted about forty times, and today it is the most active. active volcano Alaska. The Izembek National Reserve is a real paradise for animals, even wild geese live here and stop migratory birds. The participants of the cruise along the North American part of the Arctic, full of new experiences, end their journey in Col Bay. From here most of passengers returning to the mainland are already on the plane.

Numerous islands of the northwestern part of the American continent are separated from each other and the mainland by the waters of the Arctic. Sea routes in this part of the planet are called the Northwest Passage.

The search for a waterway from the Pacific to the Atlantic began in the early 19th century. In 1818, the Englishman Ross went to the Arctic. Later the attempt was repeated several times. And only in 1904, the Norwegian Amundsen managed to find a passage through the water in two navigations.

In June 1940, the small motor schooner Saint Rock left the Canadian port of Vancouver, located on the Pacific coast. The schooner, with a displacement of 328 tons, was specially designed and built for sailing in northern latitudes. The eight-man expedition was led by a Canadian police officer of Norwegian origin. Henry Larsen. Before the war, Larsen, having received the rank of inspector, was appointed responsible for organizing the Arctic detachments.

He took the St. Rock along the coast of Alaska along the usual route that fishermen and fur hunters set off for northern waters. After passing the Bering Strait, the schooner ended up in the Beaufort Sea. After passing the Amundsen Bay, the daredevils reached Victoria Island. Off the northwest coast, in Walker Bay, the expedition made its first wintering.

Larsen tried to choose optimal route. The following year, 1941, the expedition tried to go around Victoria Island from the north, to pass through the strait separating Banks from the island. The traveler believed that the waters of the Prince of Wales Sound would be freer than the Dolphin Sound. However, he was wrong in his assumptions. The Prince of Wales Sound was clogged with heavy ice. Difficult ice conditions forced them to return. The schooner headed east along the mainland. Passing Coronation Bay, she found herself in the waters of the Victoria Strait. In the most difficult navigational conditions, the water had already begun to freeze with ice, "Saint Rock" reached the Butia Peninsula. Larsen then turned north and took refuge in Pasley Bay in early September.

Here the expedition settled down for the second wintering. Conditions were much harsher than at the last stop. The air temperature dropped below 57°C. During this wintering, one of the crew members died. next year due to harsh winter the waters were freed from ice only in June. Saint Rock moved on. Passing between the Boothia Peninsula and Somerset Island, the schooner headed through the Lancaster Strait and ended up in the Baffin Sea. It could be considered that the expedition was a success. In October 1942, the St. Rock anchored in Halifax. The journey, which lasted 842 days, is over. The success of the expedition was achieved due to the right choice of vessel, equipment and proper training of the crew.

It should be noted that the leader of the trip himself very reservedly assessed the results of the expedition, calling it reconnaissance for laying the continuation of the Northern Sea Route. This route in the conditions of the Second World War had a very importance. According to Larsen, his expedition proved that the Northwest Passage can be completed in one navigation, but it can not be done every year.

The Larsen expedition was unable to assess the extent to which the northern route is suitable for vessels with a large draft. It wasn't until 1954 that the first commercial ship sailed through the Northwest Passage. Over the past 30 years, the movement of ice in the western part of the Arctic has been constantly monitored from space. Meteorologists have come to the conclusion that due to climate change, the amount of sea ice is significantly decreasing, which makes the Northwest Passage open to navigation.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Northwest Passage(English) Northwest Passage listen)) is a sea route across the Arctic Ocean along the northern coast of North America through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

The famous Franklin Expedition (1845-1847) perished while trying to pass along the Northwest Sea Route. In search of the missing expedition, as well as in the study this route many famous sailors and explorers took part, in particular Edward Ingfield, John Ray, Francis McClintock.

The passage was first traversed entirely on water by Roald Amundsen in 1903-1906. Robert McClure, who passed it in 1850-1853, made part of the way on the ice and returned to England on a ship of another expedition.

In September 2007, the European Space Agency stated that over a period of about 30 years of satellite observations, the area of ​​Arctic sea ice had shrunk to a minimum level, making the Northwest Passage navigable. The Canadian government has declared that the passage is within Canadian territorial waters. This statement was received ambiguously by the international community, which in turn may complicate future international shipping.

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• / Lenta.ru, September 15, 2007
• (unavailable link since 30-09-2016 (891 days))
• (Graham Kendall), SeaExpo, 11/01/2010

An excerpt characterizing the Northwest Passage