The History of the North Pole Exploration

Henry Hudson

England

In 1607, the English navigator Henry Hudson reached the east coast of Greenland, where ice stopped the expedition. The expedition was only able to get as far as 80°23' N.

1765-1766

Vasily Chichagov

Russian Empire

In 1765 and 1766, admiral Vasily Chichagov, by order of Catherine II, attempted to advance, but only reached 80°30' N.

1773

Constantine Phipps

England

In 1773, Baron Constantine Phipps: a British expedition attempted from Spitsbergen, but only managed to reach 80°48' N.

1818

John Franklin

England

In 1818, a squadron of British ships attempted to reach the North Pole when one of the ships being commanded by John Franklin. They were only able to reach 80°34' N.

1827

Edward Parry

England

In 1827, Edward Parry attempted to reach the North Pole in two boats with sleds and slides and reached 82°45' N. Parry set a record that stood for the next half century.

1893

Fridtjof Nansen

Norway

In 1893, Fridtjof Nansen set off for the North Pole on the ship Fram. Having reached the ice fields near the New Siberian Islands, he drifted. In 1985, Nansen and Johansen decided to continue their journey to the North Pole on skis, and they reached 86°14' N.

1900

Umberto Cagni

Italy

In 1900, Umberto Cagni set out from Franz Josef Land by dog ​​sled to the geographic North Pole. About a month later he reached 86°34' N.

1908

Frederick Cook

USA

In 1908, Frederick Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole by dog ​​sled, but unfortunately, he could not provide evidence and his claim was not accepted by the public.

1909

Robert Peary

USA

In 1909, Robert Peary claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole. But, as with F. Cook, this was also questioned.

1912-1914

Georgy Sedov

Russian Empire

In 1912-1914, Georgy Sedov attempted to reach the North Pole. This expedition is considered the first Russian expedition to the North Pole. However, Sedov died on the way, near Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land.

1926

airship expedition

international

In 1926, Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile flew in an airship over the North Pole.

1937

North Pole-1

USSR

In 1937, in 20 km from the North Pole, the Soviet scientific research drifting ice station North Pole – 1 was established for the first time in the world under the leadership of Ivan Papanin. The expedition participants were oceanographer Pyotr Shirshov, meteorologist Evgeny Fedorov, radio operator Ernst Krenkel and a dog named Vesely. The station conducted scientific observations for nine months and drifted 2850 km

1948

North Pole-2

USSR

In 1948, the High Latitude Air Expedition North-2 was created. Participants of this expedition, as part of the flight crew, landed on the surface to conduct various observations. One of the teams, consisting of Pavel Gordienko, Pavel Senko, Mikhail Somov and Mikhail Ostrekin, was delivered by plane on April 23, 1948, directly to the point with coordinates of 90°N. Then the same plane took them back as the first people in the world to have visited the North Pole with absolute certainty.

1949

The first parachute jump

USSR

In 1949, Soviet scientists Vitali Volovich and Andrei Medvedev made the first parachute jump to the geographic point of the North Pole.

Photo: Institute of Biomedical Problems archive

1958

Nautilus

USA

In 1958, the American nuclear submarine (Nautilus) was the first to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole

1962

Leninist Komsomol

USSR

In 1962, the nuclear submarine Leninsky Komsomol became the first Soviet and the first in the world to reach the North Pole.

1968-1969

without use of motor vehicles

international

In 1968-1969 - the world's first expedition without the use of motor vehicles. Wally Herbert, Roy Koerner, Allan Gill and Kenneth Hedges reached the North Pole in 1969 by dog ​​sled. They walked more than 5,600 kilometers from Alaska through the pole to Spitsbergen.

1977

Arctic

USSR

In 1977, the Soviet nuclear icebreaker Arktika, under the command of Yuriy Kuchiev, became the first in the history of navigation to reach the geographic point of the North Pole.

1978

Naomi Uemura

Japan

In 1978, Naomi Uemura became the first person to reach the North Pole alone by dog sled. He covered 725 kilometers in 57 days. The solo expedition started from Ellesmere Island, Canada.

1979

first on skis

USSR

In 1979, the first people to reach the North Pole on skis were members of the Soviet expedition: Dmitry Shparo, Yury Khemeleski, Vladimir Ledenov, Vadim Davydov, Anatoly Melnikhov, Vladimir Rakhmanov and Vasily Shishkariov. In 77 days, they covered 1,500 kilometers.

1986

Will Steger

USA

In 1986, the first expedition to reach the North Pole without external support using dog sleds was the International Polar Expedition of Will Steger.

1986

Jean-Louis Étienne

France

In 1986, Jean-Louis Étienne became the first person to reach the geographic North Pole on skis alone. The expedition lasted 63 days.

1994

Børge Ousland

Norway

In 1994 - Børge Ousland was the first to reach the geographic North Pole alone without external support. The expedition started from Arctic Cape, Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Federation and lasted 52 days.

2003

North Pole-32

Russian Federation

In 2003, the first Russian scientific research drifting ice station was deployed in the North Pole region at 87°59' N / 147°14' E.

2007

MIR

Russian Federation

In 2007, the world's first ever Russian polar expedition on MIR submersible to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole. The main goal of the researchers was to collect information that would confirm that the underwater Lomonosov and Mendeleyev ridges are a continuation of the continental shelf of Russia. The head of the expedition was Artur Chilingarov.

Photo: from personal archive of Artur Chilingarov. 2007. The North Pole. The MIR-1 crew has returned.

2011-2017

Barneo Ice Camp of the Russian Geographical Society

Russian Federation

Every year, from 2011 to 2017, the Ice Camp was set up in the North Pole area by the Expedition Centre of the Russian Geographical Society, which served as a base in the high-latitude Arctic for scientists, athletes and travelers from all over the world.

2022

ЛСП

Russian Federation

In 2022, the North Pole Ice-Resistant Self-Propelled Platform is commissioned. This platform is designed to create a permanent drifting station in the Arctic Ocean for scientific staff.

Photo: Archives of Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, AO Admiralty Shipyards