Northwest Sea Route. Northwestern passage to the Pacific Ocean (through the Arctic straits). Film Northwest Passage

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. At the north west coast, in Walker Bay, the expedition arranged the 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. The next year, due to the harsh winter, the waters were free of 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 was very important during the Second World War. According to Larsen, his expedition proved that the North Western passage you can pass in one navigation, but you can not do this 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 concluded that due to climate change, the number sea ​​ice significantly decreases, which makes the Northwest Passage open to navigation.

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 circumnavigate the New World from the north in order 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, between 1903 and 1906 he successfully sailed along the northern coast 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 southern parts Canada, settlements are no longer as cut off from the rest of the mainland as they used to be. Nearly all Inuit research stations and settlements have air links to southern 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 of 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 scheme: 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 due to weather conditions and glaciers 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. When a cruise ship comes to the mouth of the fjord, the route turns to the north and stretches along the rocky coast. You will cross the Arctic Circle, and soon the town of Sisimiut will appear on the horizon. The fish factory and refrigeration warehouses around the port eloquently testify to the main occupations of the 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. The Greenland ice sheet, which in places reaches a thickness of 3 km, ensures 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. The northernmost museum in the 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 different kinds seals, including ringed seals. Most of Bylot Island is occupied by national park Sirmilik, founded 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. Find out more about the bird sanctuary at Bylot Island and national park Sirmilik, as well as tourist center Nattinak 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 off the southeast coast of Devon Island, the largest of the uninhabited islands in the world. 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, the small settlement, where about 1,500 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 where you can learn a lot about 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 the wild nature of the 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, the port has become real center supplying the island with all 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 northernmost point of the United States, 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 dog sled, which 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. Him 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 bridged with its nearest island, Unalaska. It is worth visiting the Russian Orthodox Church in Unalaska, which is a testament to those times when Alaska was still part of Russian Empire. In those days, Russian fur hunters founded a settlement on the island, subduing the indigenous population. 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. A 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, Pavlova volcano has erupted about forty times, and today it is the most active volcano in Alaska. Izembek National Reserve - 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 the passengers return to the mainland already by plane.

Editing Conrad A. Nervig Cinematographers William V. Skull , Sidney Wagner Writers Bruno Frank , Jules Firthman , Elizabeth Hill , more Illustrators Cedric Gibbons , Edwin B. Willis

Do you know that

• The film "Northwest Passage" entered the TOP of the highest-budget films of that time. The funds that were spent on its production amounted to almost 3,000,000 dollars. And although the picture was quite successful, it was not possible to return the money invested in it.
• One of the most dangerous scenes that the directors had to film was the crossing of a “human chain” across a mountain river ford. The difficulty was that there were no understudies on the set. Whether they were not provided, or lost, but the actors had to perform this difficult task on their own. And this fact made some of them seriously think about having their stage fee revised. In order not to put the actors at risk, it was decided to shoot this scene in several stages. The first of them was filmed on one of the lakes in Idaho, but they ended up in a special pool installed at the studio.
• It is noteworthy that the fact of crossing the river caused problems not only for the film crew of the Northwest Passage. According to historical information, before crossing the river, Major Rogers' detachment was 154 people, after the river was crossed, its number was 142. 12 people died during the crossing. By the way, this is not the only case when a detachment lost soldiers not in a combat situation. By the end of the expedition, only 100 people returned home.
• Fortunately, there were good days along the way. A funny incident happened near the walls of one of the British forts. When Major Rogers' detachment approached the fort to resupply the expedition, it was abandoned. It turned out that the commandant of the fort confused the band of rangers with the French troops and decided to retreat. Major Rogers had 10 days to catch up with Lieutenant Stevens to bring him back to the fort.

More facts (+1)

Mistakes in the movie

• The very first blunder in this film is contained almost at the beginning. Major Rogers gives parting words to his soldiers before they set out on an expedition, and in his hands is a travel staff. When he begins his speech, the staff rises 15 centimeters above his head, but when the speech ends, the staff, for unknown reasons, becomes almost half a meter shorter.
• During the attack scenes, if you look closely, you can see that some of the bayonets on the rifles are moving from side to side. This is due to the fact that some props for the film were made of rubber.
• The film also contains some historical inaccuracies. The picture shows an episode when Major Rogers orders his soldiers to carry their whaleboats through mountain ranges on shoulders. In fact, this event has nothing to do with the mission of St. Francis, they happened a few years earlier when Major Rogers was moving to Carillion.
• Another funny blunder is contained in the scene of the battle with the Indians. During the battle turmoil, one dead Indian turns his head, and does this in order to avoid a collision with a man running behind him.

More bugs (+1)

Plot

Beware, the text may contain spoilers!

The events in the film begin to unfold from the moment when the young Langton Towne arrives home with unpleasant news: he has been expelled from Harvard University. Naturally, the family is disappointed, but he is accepted back. The young daughter of an influential clergyman, Elizabeth Brown, is also happy about the return of her fiancé, which cannot be said about her father. He considers Langton a frivolous and frivolous young man, because he dreams of becoming an artist and insists that his daughter break off this relationship. In order to somehow escape from the troubles that have fallen on him, Town goes to a local eatery. There, in a fit of drunken stupor, he starts a conflict that threatens him with imprisonment. To avoid him, Town decides to run away. After some time of his ordeals, he finds himself in a roadside tavern, where he meets a mysterious man in a green uniform. Waking up after yesterday's drinking, the young bully finds himself in a military camp, and the man who got him drunk yesterday turns out to be Major Rogers. The Major is recruiting a detachment of volunteers to make a desperate expedition, and Langton's cartography skills will be very useful to him. This acquaintance will turn the life of the protagonist once and for all. Having passed all the tests, he will return as a real man who does not give up either his dream or his woman.

English searches Northwest Passage
and the first discoveries in the Western Arctic

Now, even in his eyes, Meta-Incognita could not be a mainland, as it was located between two straits: one real - in the south (Hudson Strait), the other imaginary - in the north (Frobisher Bay). The sailors had an idea, still very vague, of the presence of a large archipelago in the northwest of the ocean. However, although Frobisher did see true Greenland, marked the beginning of the discovery of Baffin Island, and entered the wide straits that later became known as Davis and Hudson, he introduced great confusion into the maps of the Northwest Atlantic: and before the beginning of the HUL in. cartographers called Greenland not one, but four whole islands, existing and fictional. But he was the first to study the nature of icebergs. He noticed that when they melt they give fresh water, not salt water, and correctly concluded that they are "born" on land and slide into the sea, as alpine glaciers slide into mountain valleys.

Frobisher did not build a fortress at the "passage": later he justified himself by saying that a lot of building materials died during the storm. all ships were filled with "gold ore", and on August 31 the flotilla moved back. The next day, a storm scattered the ships, and they returned one by one to various English ports. During unloading, ore samples fell into many hands, including curious private specialists. But even the best of them could not find a grain of gold in that ore. The greatest English overseas enterprise of the 16th century. ended with the greatest crash: Meta-Incognita turned out to be not a mainland, but an island, the Frobisher “strait” - a bay, there was no gold in the “gold” ore.

A summary detailed description of Frobisher's three Arctic expeditions was given by his constant companion George Best. A participant in all three voyages was also navigator Christopher Hall, who compiled a report on the first expedition.

After this failure, Frobisher said goodbye to the North forever. He followed the example of the pirate Drake - he searched and found precious metals in the holds of Spanish ships sailing from the "Western Indies" to Spain. Then he commanded one of the ships sent by England against Spanish "Invincible Armada", and was killed off the coast of France during an attack on Brest during the war Henry IV of Bourbonagainst the reactionary Catholic League.

Three Expeditions of Davis

The dream of finding the Northwest Passage still dominated the English mind. Several London merchants decided "for the benefit of the fatherland, to put aside all thoughts of gold and silver and equip ships for the sole purpose of opening a sea passage to India." They purchased two ships with a displacement of 35 and 50 tons with a crew of only 42 people. The expedition was led by John Davies, "a man very well versed in the art of navigation".
In the second half of July 1585, Davis reached the southeastern outskirts of Greenland. But the cartographic confusion introduced by Frobisher was so great that Davis did not recognize Greenland and decided that he had some new island in front of him. He saw a mountain that rose above the clouds, "like a huge sugar loaf". The ground was covered with snow, the sea near the coast was clogged with ice. It seemed to him that even the ice floes groaned sadly near the coast, that the water in the sea was "black and thick, like a stagnant swamp." He turned to the southwest and after a few days lost sight of this "Land of Despair" (Desolation). Then he headed northwest, thus rounding the southern tip of Greenland, and again saw the land at 64 ° 15 "N. There, the sailors found an excellent harbor in a calm Gilbert Bay (now Gotthub) and near it Eskimo campwith whom the British entered into silent bargaining. They ended up in the very center of the mysteriously disappeared Norman colony of Vesterbygd (which they did not know) and more than once met with the Eskimos here, but none of the British noted a single European feature in the appearance of the locals, no European influence in their clothes and household items.

In early August, Davis turned into the then ice-free sea and moved further northwest. Having traveled about 600 km, he crossed the Davis Strait and reached land in the west at 66 ° 40 "N. ( Exeter Harbor, Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island). Davis decided that he had gone too far north, turned south and, following the coast, entered into a very wide bay (Cumberland), which led him inland to the northwest. He walked in this direction for about 200 km, saw the Eskimos on the shore. The bay did not end and did not narrow, but such a thick fog fell on the sea that it was very dangerous to go far. Davies concluded that he had found the Northwest Passage and returned to England on 30 September with the good news.
On May 7, 1586, Davis sailed four ships to Gilbert's Bay and this time made sure that his "Country of Despair" was part of Greenland. He reached o. Disko let one ship go home here too. He crossed from there with great difficulty among the ice to the opposite shore at 67 ° N. sh. (Baffin Island) and could not penetrate the "strait". Davis sailed along the ice edge for two weeks. The weather changed, sails and rigging iced up in a cold fog. The crew began to grumble. Davis sent home another ship, while he continued his journey through the fog and ice. In early August, at the Arctic Circle, he again reached land and along the coast went south until he reached Labrador, not noticing Hudson Strait. At a latitude of 54 ° 15 "N, he decided that he had found the entrance to the "strait leading due west" (Hamilton Bay), but did not explore it due to a contrary west wind. In September, after the death of two sailors, Davis turned to home, where he arrived on October 14.

The merchants who equipped the expedition, of course, were dissatisfied with its "insignificant" results: Davis did not bring any road to China or valuable goods with him. But he drew their attention to the fact that he met many whales in the straits opened by him and saw hundreds of seals on the shores. Then the merchants financed the expedition on three ships, but took a promise from Davis - not to miss an opportunity for whale fishing and hunting. So the main goal now was extraction of blubber and sealskins; the discovery of the Northwest Passage became a secondary matter.

And again, for the third time, in the summer of 1587, Davis entered Gilbert's Bay. He left two large hunting vessels there, while he himself continued to search for the Northwest Passage on a small vessel. He went along the Greenland coast far to the north, to 72 ° 12 "N. latitude, and moving away from the coast - to 73 ° N. When the ice stopped him, he turned southwest and reached Baffin Island in mid-July. Following in southbound along the coast, Davis ended up in an imaginary strait, where he had already visited in 1585 (Cumberland Bay). For two days he sailed northwest. until he correctly decided that he would not find an outlet to the Eastern Ocean there. Turning back, he explored the southeast coast of Baffin Island, discovered there large peninsula(Hall), passed "Raging Whirlpool" (Entrance to Hudson Strait). He then traced almost the entire Atlantic coast of Labrador to 52°N. sh. and on September 15 arrived in England, suffering from a lack of provisions and fresh water. In vain he begged the merchants to give him funds for the fourth expedition - he was refused.

In 1591-1592. Davis participated in Expeditions of Thomas Cavendish, which again tried to pass into the Pacific Ocean, but was thrown back by a storm from the Strait of Magellan in Atlantic Ocean and died on the way back to England. Davis' detached ship washed up on a previously unknown land; followed him the pirate Richard Hawkins named them"Islands of the Virgin", now Falkland (Malvinas). Later, Davis made a number of voyages to the East Indies and at the end of 1605 was killed in the Malacca region in a skirmish with the Malays.

Swimming of the Hudson in 1607-1608

In 1607, the merchants of the English trading "Moscow Company" took on the service of the previously almost unknown elderly captain Henry Hudson, a Londoner. At their expense, he equipped a sailboat of 80 tons with a crew of 12 people. On such a vessel, Hudson was going to pass to Japan directly through the North Pole.
On May 1, 1607, the Hudson left the mouth of the Thames and in June, moving under exceptionally favorable ice conditions along the eastern coast of Greenland, reached 73 ° N. sh. that ledge that was later called Hudson's Land . Because of the ice, he turned to the northeast and at the end of June he saw the island, which he apparently took for Novaya Zemlya. Actually it was Western Svalbard at least from the first half of the 16th century. constantly visited by Russians who called him Grumant . He rounded the island from the north and in mid-July for the first time in history reached 80 ° 23 "N. Having met impenetrable ice, the Hudson turned back and at 71 ° N. Lat. opened a small lonely island with two peaks, which he named "Teeth of the Hudson". But he could not accurately determine the position"Teeth" ; four years later, the island was rediscovered by the Dutch captain Jan Mayen, who gave him his name, fixed on the maps.

In mid-September, Hudson returned to London. In addition to great geographical achievements, his voyage was also of great practical importance: Hudson confirmed information about the rich opportunities for whaling and hunting in the part of the Arctic Ocean he explored, now called Greenland Sea. Both English and Dutch industrialists immediately took advantage of his instructions. But the merchants of the Moscow Company were dissatisfied, since the direct task - to reach Japan through the North Pole - was not completed (however, on sailing ship it is not feasible).

Still, the next year the merchants sent the Hudson to the seas for the second time. Far East, this time northeasterly, even increased the crew of his ship by two people. At sea, the captain took his son with him; he did this on subsequent voyages as well. On April 22, 1608, the Hudson left the mouth of the Thames and on June 26 reached the southwestern coast of Novaya Zemlya, but could neither go around it from the north, nor break through Kara Gate to the east into the Kara Seaand with nothing on August 26 returned to his homeland.

The "Moscow Company" calculated the "unlucky" captain, and he was forced to transfer to the service of the newly organized (1602) Dutch East India Company. She also sought to open the northern sea route for trade with East Asia, and this task was assigned to Hudson. The crew on the ship assigned to him consisted of English and Dutch, and it must be said that he did not get along with either one or the other. March 25, 1609 Hudson left the Zuider Zee to the north, rounded the North Cape, reached 72 ° N in the Barents Sea. sh., met heavy ice there and was forced, largely under pressure from an undisciplined team, to retreat and turn to the southwest. In this direction, he, having withstood a strong storm, crossed North Atlantic, approached the American coast at 44 ° N. sh. and began searching for a passage to the Pacific Ocean. From the Gulf of Maine, he descended along the coast to the south for 36 ° N. sh., did not find a passage and turned north, this time carefully exploring the coast.

Hudson went in vain Chesapeake and Delaware bays, and at 40 ° 30 "N found a bay, which he first took for the entrance to the coveted strait. But it turned out to be the mouth "Big North River", as Hudson called it, discovered by Verrazzano. The Hudson rose almost 200 km along its course and, having despaired of trying to find the strait or collect at least information about it, went down to the sea and returned to Europe. It is not known for what reason he did not go directly to Holland, but called at the port of Dortmund (South-West England). Here the Dutch ship was detained, and Hudson and other English sailors were removed from the ship.

The discovery of Hudson Bay and the death of the Hudson

Service in a foreign fleet was still not considered a betrayal, and the very next year the English East India Company took Hudson into their service and gave him a small ship to search for the Northwest Passage. "Discovery" ("Opening")55 tons, with a team of 23 people. He was not fully trusted: it became known that during the last voyage to the American shores, the sailors were very dissatisfied with their commander, and this dissatisfaction several times threatened to turn into open rebellion. Therefore, the directors of the company appointed an unfamiliar Hudson sailor, considering him a completely reliable person.

April 17, 1610 Hudson left the port of London. At the mouth of the Thames, he landed a "watcher" imposed on him. Already on the transition to Iceland, a murmur arose among the team, with which the captain could not get along this time either. From Iceland, the Hudson crossed to the eastern coast of Greenland. There he began to descend south, looking in vain for a passage to the Pacific Ocean, rounded the southern tip of Greenland, and from there turned west. Not finding a strait at north coast the land of Meta-Incognita, discovered by Frobisher, he circled this peninsula of Baffin Island from the south and on July 5 got into the real strait (Hudson). Slowly, gropingly, Hudson led his ship along the northern shore of the strait, clogged with ice. On July 11, he withstood a strong storm, crossed to the opposite shore and re-discovered Ungava Bay there, then completed the discovery of the entire northern coast of Labrador.

On August 2, at 63 ° 20 "N, the land appeared, which Hudson first mistook for a ledge of the mainland ( Salisbury Island). The next day, the ship rounded the imaginary ledge, and a wide silvery - blue space - ice-free, calm sea August 3, 1610 Hudson made the following entry in the ship's log: “We went [west] along the narrow passage between the islands of Diggs and Labrador. The cape at the entrance from the strait on the south side I called Wolstenholme ". This is the last entry made by Hudson's hand.

The rest six months later was told in London by Abakuk Prikket, a sailor from the Discovery. Behind Cape Woolstenholme The coast turned sharply to the south. The ship sailed for several weeks along the coast. In the west, far from the mainland, in clear weather, sailors saw land and decided that this was the opposite shore of a wide strait leading them to the Pacific Ocean. In fact, these were chains of islands that stretch along the western coast of Labrador 50-150 km from it ( Mansel, Ottawa, Two Brothers, Sleeper, King George, Belcher). At the end of September, passing south along the imaginary strait for more than 1200 km, the sailors ended up in a relatively small bay (James). Discontent broke out among the crew, and Hudson allegedly landed a sailor, whom he considered the main troublemaker, ashore. In November, near the southern coast of the bay, at 53° N. sh., the ship was surrounded by ice and washed ashore. Wintering took place in tolerable conditions: there was enough fuel, and bird hunting often provided a lot of food.

In the middle of June next, 1611, the ship was launched. A slow advance to the north began. A week later, the dissatisfaction of the team turned into open indignation; On June 22, the rebels threw Henry Hudson with a boy son, an assistant navigator and six other people loyal to the captain into the boat, and left them to their fate - without weapons and without food. The only surviving officer, navigator Robert Bylot, brought Discovery back to England in the fall of 1611. 13 people returned to their homeland, according to other sources - eight. A rare posthumous fame came to the unsuccessful captain: the Great Northern River, discovered before him, is named after him - the Hudson River; the strait discovered by S. Cabot, the Hudson Strait; the sea that became his grave is Hudson Bay.

Expedition of Button and Bylot - Baffin

As soon as Bylot returned to London, there arose "A company of London merchants who found the Northwest Passage". Entrepreneurs decided that only a relatively short distance separated the Western Hudson Sea from East Asia and that they could immediately begin profitable trade with China and Japan, with the Viceroyalty of Peru and even ... with the Solomon Islands. They fitted out two ships under Thomas Button. The search for the Hudson was the least of all interesting for entrepreneurs: the instructions given to Button explicitly stated that he should “go out into the opposite ocean at a latitude of approximately 58 °, although it was known for sure that the rebels had abandoned the Hudson hundreds of miles to the south; and Button himself did not think to explore the western coast of Labrador, where the crime was committed.

In the summer of 1612, Button reached the Hudson Strait and assigned the name of his name to the island he saw at the entrance to the Strait. ship - Resolution. Continuing his journey west, he discovered land in the north (Southampton Island, which he took for an archipelago) and an island (Kote). Then, between 60 ° 40 "and 53 ° N. latitude, he traced the coast of some new land, where he discovered the mouth of a large river (Nelson). Behind it, the coast turned sharply, but not to the west, but to the east, and the disappointed Button called new land, i.e. the western shore of Hudson Bay, "False Hope". At the mouth of the Nelson, the ships stopped for the winter. Although the winter was mild, the mortality among sailors, probably due to scurvy, was so great that there were not enough hands to manage two ships, and one had to be abandoned.

In June 1613 Button passed again, but in reverse direction, along the western shore of Hudson Bay and opened the mouth of the river (Churchill); he advanced in search of a route to China to the north with a slope to the east beyond 65 ° N. sh., until he entered a narrowing bay or strait, which led even further to the north. Button gave him the Latin name N ec ultra ("No further") - Ros Wellcome Strait. The distressed navigator did not explore it, on July 29 he turned back, at 80 ° W. D. discovered about. Mansel returned to England on September 27 with news that was very unpleasant for the shareholders of the Company of London Merchants. None of them remembered the missing Hudson and his companions.

Since the passage could be north of 65 ° N. sh., to which, according to him, Button reached, the company on March 15, 1615 sent Robert Bylot on Discovery. His navigator was still a young but experienced polar navigator William Baffin ( he was the first to determine longitude at sea), sailed more than once in the Greenland Sea. On May 30, they approached Fr. Resolution and in June discovered a group of Savage islands near the northern shore of the strait, and at the exit from the strait - the islands of Nottingham, Salisbury and Mill (64 ° N), having mapped the southern coast of about. baffin land. On July 10 they saw Southampton and for two days walked along its east coast to the northwest. At the entrance to some "bay" ( Frozen Street) the ship was stopped by ice and turned back. Near the northwestern ledge of the Ungava Peninsula, Discovery remained until the end of July, and then moved home and reached England on September 8th. In the report, Buffin wrote: “There is no doubt that the passage still exists, but I am not sure that it goes through the strait called the Hudson, and I am inclined to think that it does not ...”
On March 26, 1616, on the same Discovery, with a team of 17 people, Bylot and Baffin went in search of the Northwest Passage from the Davis Strait. On July 5 they reached 78°N. sh. Until the middle of the XIX century. no other ship in this part of the Atlantic had sailed so far north except the Normans.
Secondly after them, the Discovery sailors discovered the western coast of Greenland between 72 and 76 ° N. latitude, Melville Bay, northwestern ledge of Greenland between 76 and 78 ° N. sh. (now the Hayes Peninsula) and the southern entrance to the Smith Strait, which separates this peninsula from Ellesmere Land (later named) from the northwest. In the narrow part of the strait, the ice was impassable in early July, and Bylot turned south. At Ellesmere Land, they discovered Smith Bay, and to the south, behind a ledge (at 76 ° N), an ice-filled entrance to Jones Strait (between Ellesmere and Devon Islands). Still further south (at 74 ° 30 "N. Lat.), a very wide, but again clogged with ice entrance to the Lancaster Strait (between Devon and Bylot Islands) opened up. Bylot continued his journey now to the southeast and went like this until the Arctic Circle about 1000 km in the direction of the coast of the vast earth: it has since been called - in honor of the learned, eloquent and pen-wielding navigator - Baffin Island. Neither Baffin himself nor Bylot had ever landed on this land: from the Lancaster Strait, the ship sailed at some distance from the coast, protected by a wide strip of motionless ice. Many sailors were ill with scurvy, and Bylot turned southeast near the Arctic Circle, and on August 30 brought the ship to England. Baffin accurately mapped all the shores of "his" bay, but the expedition's discoveries in England were taken as fiction and later removed from the maps. This injustice continued until 1818, when John Ross reopened Baffin Bay.

Baffin is credited with opening the "gates" to the two straits that actually lead to the Pacific Ocean and closing these "gates" at the same time.
The true honor of the discovery, as can be seen from the story of the expedition, must be divided between the half-forgotten captain Bylot and his successful navigator, whose name is given not only to a huge island, but also to a semi-enclosed sea located between Greenland and Baffin Island, an area much larger than the Baltic, - Baffin Bay. The dubious honor of closing the circumpolar western "gates" undoubtedly belongs to Baffin alone: ​​his letter to the noble patron of the expedition has been preserved, where he directly says that "there is no passage, no hope of passage in the northern part of the Davis Strait", i.e. in Baffin Bay. He was believed: the "Company of London Merchants of the Northwest Passage" was liquidated.

Expeditions of Munch, Fox and James

The Danish government also became interested in the search for the Northwest Passage. On May 16, 1619, the Norwegian polar explorer Jens Munk was sent to Hudson Bay from Denmark on two small ships (64 crew members). . Having crossed the Hudson Strait only on August 20, Munch turned to the southwest. The expedition wintered at the mouth of the river, later named Churchill (flows into Button Bay). The winter proved to be exceptionally severe; by the summer of 1620, out of 65 sailors, only Munch and two others survived. By mid-July, they recovered, eating fish and poultry, stocked up for the journey, and, leaving one ship, reached Copenhagen on the other on September 21, 1620, "more like shadows than people."

In 1631, the British again began searching for the Northwest Passage from the side of Hudson Bay. The funds were released by Bristol merchants, who equipped a small ship "Henrietta Maria" under the command of Thomas James. Other big ship "King Charles"(70 t) gave King Charles I Stuart, and the money for equipment and hiring a crew is from London merchants. The commander of this ship was Luke Fox, an elderly captain who already had experience in polar navigation. He was so confident of success that he signed a contract with the East India Company for the delivery of pepper. And when he introduced himself to Charles I, he gave him letters to the Japanese emperor. Foke was well prepared for the Arctic voyage and made many valuable scientific observations. Both ships left almost at the same time - in the first days of May 1631, but each commander was on his own, and the results were far from being equivalent.

Luke Fox at the end of July 1631 reached the northwestern corner of Hudson Bay (Nec ultra), where Button stopped in 1613, and climbed up to 65 ° 30 "N. With his swimming, Foke proved that Southampton was not part of mainland, but an island, but Fox himself mistook it for a peninsula. He called this land "Sir Thomas Rows - Wellcome": now this name in an abbreviated form - Ros - Wellcome - has been transferred to the strait that separates Southampton from the mainland.
Turning back, Foke walked along the entire western coast of Hudson Bay. Apparently, he did not trust Button, but in this case he was right: the strait in the south really did not exist. At the same time, all nearby small islands, including Marble ("Marble"). So Foke reached the mouth of the river. Nelson, behind which stretched the still unexplored southern shore of Hudson Bay. In August, Foke also explored this low-lying coast to 55 ° 10 "N and 83 ° W, where he met with James, and soon approached Cape (Henrietta Maria); there the coast turned sharply to the south.

There was no need to go further, so as not to waste time in vain. Foke formulated his conclusion as follows: "In an arc from 65° 30" to 55° 10" s. sh. all along the western shore of Hudson Bay there is no hope of opening a passage." Turning north, Fox crossed the entire bay, passed the entrance to the Hudson Strait, opened Fox Land (Foke Peninsula, southwestern ledge of Baffin Island) and on September 22 it reached 66 ° 35 "N. That bay between Baffin Island and the mainland into which it penetrated was later called the Fox Basin, and the southern strait connecting it with the Hudson gulf, strait Fox. On October 31 of the same, 1631, Fox returned to England without losing a single person: there were many sick people, but everyone recovered.

Thomas James in mid-July 1631 entered Hudson Bay, crossed it in a south-westerly direction to the mouth of Churchill, and then passed along the southern coast of Hudson Bay, to Cape Henrietta Maria (the name given to them) a little earlier than Fox. Separated from Fox, in September, James explored the entire coast of the southeastern basin of Hudson Bay, later named after him (James Bay), discovering several islands. Thick fog and ice prevented his return. He wintered in the extreme south on about. Charlton (at 52°N). After a hard and harsh winter, having lost part of the team from scurvy, James left Charlton on July 1, 1632 and arrived in Bristol on October 22.

After these expeditions, the entire coast of Hudson Bay was drawn on relatively accurate (for that time) maps. The western passage could only be from the Fox Basin, completely unexplored beyond the Arctic Circle, but it seemed to be a dead end until the 1920s. 19th century

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.

see also

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• / Lenta.ru, September 15, 2007
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• (Graham Kendall), SeaExpo, 11/01/2010

An excerpt characterizing the Northwest Passage