A sextant is a measuring instrument that succeeded the astrolabe and was mainly used in navigation to determine geographic coordinates. In order to determine the angle between the objects and their height above the horizon, the images of these objects were to be aligned by getting a double reflection of one of them.
This item is part of the exhibition devoted to the history of the missing polar expeditions of 1912.
The Hercules vessel, led by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, set sail for the Spitsbergen archipelago in February 1912 and reached her destination on 3 July. In the course of the work, coal deposits were discovered, a map of minerals was compiled and rich zoological and geological collections were assembled. In early August mining engineer Rudolf Lazarevich Samoilovich, the zoologist Zenon Frantsevich Svatosh and the sailor Alexander Yakovlevich Popov departed on a passing steamer to give the Russian Geographic Society the materials of their research. The last message Rusanov sent was from Cape Matochkin. Many years later in the area of the Minin skerries in the west of Taimyr a pillar made of a fin with the inscription “Hercules. 1913” and the remains of the things were found. The mystery of the crew’s death was never solved.
The expedition of Georgy Lvovich Brusilov began on 28 July, 1912. The steam schooner Svyataya Anna was to follow the Northern Sea Route from west to east. The travelers reached the Yugorsky Shahr, but were blocked by ice in the Kara Sea and anchored until October, and soon had to embark on a new winter stopover. During the drift, they studied the weather, the nature of the currents, and the ice regime. On 23 April Valerian Ivanovich Albanov, Brusilov’s mate, with 13 sailors set out for help to Franz Joseph Land, which was 160 km away. Two of them made it: Albanov and the sailor Alexander Konrad. They were picked up by the crew of the Saint Phocas; what happened to Brusilov, the doctor Yerminia Zhdanko and others is unknown.
The Holy Martyr Phocas (Saint Phocas) led by Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov undertook the first Russian expedition to the North Pole. From the very beginning, many problems arose: unfinished repairs of the ship, unsuitable dogs, poor quality food, and the absence of a radio station. The crew wintered on Novaya Zemlya, where they conducted scientific research. In June, captain Zakharov and four sailors headed for Krestovaya Bay with the research materials, and in September the voyage continued. A new wintering in Tikhaya Bay was marred by scurvy. In February, Sedov and two sailors set out for the pole on dog sleds, but Sedov fell ill and died on the 18th day of the voyage.
This item is part of the exhibition devoted to the history of the missing polar expeditions of 1912.
The Hercules vessel, led by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Rusanov, set sail for the Spitsbergen archipelago in February 1912 and reached her destination on 3 July. In the course of the work, coal deposits were discovered, a map of minerals was compiled and rich zoological and geological collections were assembled. In early August mining engineer Rudolf Lazarevich Samoilovich, the zoologist Zenon Frantsevich Svatosh and the sailor Alexander Yakovlevich Popov departed on a passing steamer to give the Russian Geographic Society the materials of their research. The last message Rusanov sent was from Cape Matochkin. Many years later in the area of the Minin skerries in the west of Taimyr a pillar made of a fin with the inscription “Hercules. 1913” and the remains of the things were found. The mystery of the crew’s death was never solved.
The expedition of Georgy Lvovich Brusilov began on 28 July, 1912. The steam schooner Svyataya Anna was to follow the Northern Sea Route from west to east. The travelers reached the Yugorsky Shahr, but were blocked by ice in the Kara Sea and anchored until October, and soon had to embark on a new winter stopover. During the drift, they studied the weather, the nature of the currents, and the ice regime. On 23 April Valerian Ivanovich Albanov, Brusilov’s mate, with 13 sailors set out for help to Franz Joseph Land, which was 160 km away. Two of them made it: Albanov and the sailor Alexander Konrad. They were picked up by the crew of the Saint Phocas; what happened to Brusilov, the doctor Yerminia Zhdanko and others is unknown.
The Holy Martyr Phocas (Saint Phocas) led by Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov undertook the first Russian expedition to the North Pole. From the very beginning, many problems arose: unfinished repairs of the ship, unsuitable dogs, poor quality food, and the absence of a radio station. The crew wintered on Novaya Zemlya, where they conducted scientific research. In June, captain Zakharov and four sailors headed for Krestovaya Bay with the research materials, and in September the voyage continued. A new wintering in Tikhaya Bay was marred by scurvy. In February, Sedov and two sailors set out for the pole on dog sleds, but Sedov fell ill and died on the 18th day of the voyage.
