Ilya Andreevich Rud,
research fellow, Russian State Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic, St. Petersburg, Russia; Postgraduate Student, St. Petersburg Branch of the Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Role of N.I. Yevgenov in Development Scientific and Operational Support for the Kara Expeditions 1925–1928
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-6-11
The subject of this article is the application of ice surveillance methods during the Kara Sea Expeditions of 1924–1928. The author covers the establishment of scientific detachments that performed meteorological and ice forecasts, particularly in connection to the work of N.I. Yevgenov. Ice exploration and operational hydrometeorological forecasting are key elements of the scientific and operational support for navigational purposes. They first became vitally important during the 1920s with the intensification of navigation along the Northern Sea Route – the staging of the annual Kara Sea Expeditions. At the same time, the history of scientific and operational support for expeditions in the Arctic before the establishment of naval operations headquarters in 1939 has been insufficiently covered in polar literature. The article argues that it was then that the first experience was gained in conducting ice surveillance, building synoptic and ice forecasts to ensure the passage of ships from European ports through Kara Sea to the mouths of Siberian rivers. In the course of the paper, we consider how the position of the leader of these operations appeared in the structure of the Kara Sea Expeditions; how the scientific detachments were established, including a hydrographic detachment and a weather forecasting bureau. These processes were closely linked to the polar hydrographer N.I. Yevgenov, who was responsible for ice surveillance during the expedition of 1925, and then commanded them during 1926–1931. The article analyzes of the work of N.I. Yevgenov on this post; it describes the application of scientific and operational methods during the Kara Sea Expeditions of 1924–1928. The approach was one of the factors contributing to the favorable outcomes of the Kara Sea Expeditions, transforming them into regular voyages.
Publishing: 28/12/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 03/11/2023
How to cite: Rud I.A. The Role of N.I. Yevgenov in Development Scientific and Operational Support for the Kara Expeditions 1925–1928 // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 6 (32), pp. 154–169. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-6-11.pdf]
Links: Issue 6 2023
Keywords: Northern Sea Route; Kara Sea Expeditions; N.I. Yevgenov; hydrography; history of science and technology