Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen
Encyclopedia
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
— December 19, 1921, Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
) was a lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Navy, hydrographer, and explorer.
The Russian Polar Expedition (1900–1903)
He became the captain of Polar ship ZaryaZarya (polar ship)
Zarya was a steam- and sail-powered brig used by the Russian Academy of Sciences for a polar exploration during 1900–1903.Toward the end of the 19th century, the Russian Academy of Sciences sought to build a general-purpose research vessel for long-term expeditions. The first such Russian...
during the last part of Baron Eduard Toll
Eduard Toll
Eduard Gustav von Toll was a Baltic German geologist and Arctic explorer in Russian service. Often referred to as Baron von Toll or as Eduard v. Toll, in Russia he is known as Eduard Vasiliyevich Toll . Eduard Toll was born on and he died in 1902 in an unknown location in the Arctic Ocean)...
's expedition on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Polar Expedition (1900–1903). The expedition began with Lieutenant Nikolai Kolomeitsev
Nikolai Nikolaevich Kolomeitsev
Nikolai Nikolaevich Kolomeitsev, also spelt Kolomeytsev was a Ukrainian Russian naval officer and explorer of the Arctic.-Biography:...
as commander of the ship. Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen was senior officer and second-in-command. Matisen already had experience in Arctic exploration, for he had previously taken part in an expedition to Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
.
Alexander Kolchak accompanied the expedition as third naval officer and hydrographer. All these officers were from military background.
During the first wintering of Zarya close to Taymyr Island
Taymyr Island
Taymyr Island, Russian: Остров Таймыр , is a large island in the coast of the Kara Sea. Its length is and its average width about . This island is located west of the Taymyr Gulf in an area of skerries right off the western coast of the Taymyr Peninsula...
, the disagreements between Toll and Kolomeitsev became unsurmountable. Finally Eduard Toll sent Kolomeitsev away on a long sledge trip overland with the mission of organizing coal depots for the ship. When the former captain was gone Matisen was appointed by Toll as Zaryas commander.
In March, while Zarya was still stuck in ice, Matisen explored the Nordenskiöld Archipelago
Nordenskiöld Archipelago
The Nordenskiöld Archipelago or Nordenskjold Archipelago is a very large and complex cluster of islands in the eastern region of the Kara Sea. Its eastern limit lies west of the Taymyr Peninsula....
on dogsled
Dog sled
A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...
through the frozen sea as far as Russky Island
Russky Island (Kara Sea)
Russky Island , also spelt Russkyy and Russkiy, meaning "Russian Island", is an island in the Kara Sea. It is located in the Litke Islands subgroup of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago. With and area of 309 km², Russky is the biggest island in the whole archipelago...
. From there he swung SW, then south through another region of the large archipelago. On this trip Matisen could only survey parts of the coastlines of many of the Nordenskiöld islands, but on a subsequent trip in April he was able to make corrections to this survey by determining with accuracy the coordinates of at least one island in each of the groups in which he divided the archipelago. In total Matisen discovered and named about 40 islands of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago; he also arranged the archipelago into the following four main groups: Vilkitsky Islands, Pakhtusov Islands, Tsivolko Islands and Litke Islands.
After the thaw, Matisen led Zarya across the Laptev Sea
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...
to the New Siberian Islands
New Siberian Islands
The New Siberian Islands are an archipelago, located to the North of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha Republic....
. The aim of Toll's expedition was to explore well the area north of the New Siberian Islands and eventually sail towards the Pole in order to find the elusive Sannikov Land
Sannikov Land
Sannikov Land was a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean. Its supposed existence became something of a myth in 19th-century Russia.Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom claimed to have seen it during their 1809-1810 cartographic expedition to the New Siberian Islands...
.
However, Zarya was trapped in fast ice and was unlikely to be freed that winter. Leaving the ship, Eduard Toll and three companions went in search of Sannikov Land on foot and kayaks. They vanished in November 1902 while travelling away from Bennett Island
Bennett Island
Bennett Island is the largest of the islands of the De Long group in the northern part of the East Siberian Sea. The area of this island is approximately 150 km² ...
towards the south on loose ice floes. The Zarya was able to set sail only on the 11th August 1902; it headed straight towards Bennett Island but was unable to approach the island on account of the ice. Finally Captain Matisen abandoned the attempt and sailed towards the Lena
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
river delta.. Baron Eduard Toll and his party were never found.
Despite this tragedy, the expedition was not a failure. Many important oceanographic investigations were carried out, so that the study of data continued till 1917 and remained uncompleted. Besides, the Expedition plotted about 200 new geographical names on the map of the Arctic region.
Commander Matisen left a badly leaking Zarya to sink at Tiksi Bay
Tiksi Bay
Tiksi Bay is a 21-km-long bay of the Laptev Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Sakha Republic, Russia. It is up to 17 km wide and has a depth of 2 to 11 meters. The Sogo and Yuryage Rivers discharge into the bay....
, close to the Lena delta. On 6 August 1903, after forwarding all scientific equipment to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, the ship was stripped and its hull was allowed to fill with water. Matisen lowered the flag of the Neva Yacht Club
Neva Yacht Club
The Neva Yacht Club, is a sailing club located in Saint Petersburg, close to the Neva River, originally founded in 1718...
for the last time and left Zarya. Matisen returned to Yakutsk
Yakutsk
With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...
on board ship Lena with Captain Yershevskiy. Apparently Zaryas remains still lie close to Brusneva Island
Brusneva Island
Brusneva Island , is a small island in the Laptev Sea. It is located off the eastern side of the Lena delta in the Tiksi Bay, only 5 km ENE of Tiksi...
at Bukhta Tiksi.