Abstract
RUSSIAN newspapers have announced that an expedition on the ice-breaker Sibirjakov, under the leadership of Prof. Schmidt, has succeeded in navigating the whole length of the North-East Passage, from the White Sea to Vladivostok. The most dangerous section was found near the North Land, which the expedition rounded on the northern side, where it was necessary to blow up the ice in order no make any progress. The mouth of the Lena was reached in less than a month after leaving Archangelsk, but great difficulties were encountered between the mouth of Kolyma and the Bering Strait. Here the ice was three to four metres thick and all the blades of the ship's screw were broken one after another. After six days of strenuous work the ship's stern was raised above water by shifting the coal and the necessary repairs made, but when the expedition was only ninety kilometres from the Bering Strait, the screw was lost altogether, since the main axle broke, so that the remainder of the journey had to be made under sail.
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The North-East Passage. Nature 130, 995 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130995b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130995b0