1st Soviet Antarctic Expedition

1955–57 expedition to Antarctica September 2016 July 2025 thumb|right|alt=Four identical 40c stamps depicting a map of Antarctica with red flags indicating the bases. Below this are two penguins, a ship and an iceberg.|Stamps commemorating the 1956 Soviet Antarctic bases The First Soviet Antarctic Expedition was a 1955–1957 expedition to Antarctica by explorers from the Soviet Union, led by Mikhail Somov. Purpose The principal task of the expedition was to organise the main base, Mirny, and perform limited scientific observations. Other tasks were reconnaissance of sites for the inland bases Vostok and Sovetskaya; and oceanography of the Indian Ocean. People The expedition lasted from 30 November 1955 to 1957, and involved 127 expedition members and 75 crew members. It was led by Mikhail Somov, while his scientific deputy was Vladimir Kort V. G. Kort ru Корт, Владимир Григорьевич. Сузюмов, Евгений Матвеевич ru Evgeny Suzyumov (1908–1998; known as E. M. Suzyumov; also spelt Yevgeny or Eugene Suzyumov) was the scientific secretary of the expedition. He later organised and participated in many other research expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as authoring 13 popular science and history books, and many articles about the war in the Arctic and oceanographic studies. He was the recipient of seven awards and 14 medals.In memory of Evgeny Suzyumov Russian Geographical Society 15 December 2014 https://rgo.ru/en/activity/redaction/news/in-memory-of-evgeny-suzyumov/ 11 July 2025Famous polar explorer Evgeny Suzyumov's memorial plaque opened in Penza PenzaNews 12 December 2014 https://penzanews.ru/en/society/57055-2014 11 July 2025 At a special meeting of the Soviet Geographical Society in October 1958 which paid tribute to the memory of Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, Suzyumov said that Mawson had developed friendships with Soviet Antarctic explorers in his later years.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103088601 Russian Tribute To Sir Douglas Mawson The Canberra Times 33 9,676 Australian Capital Territory, Australia 31 December 1958 10 July 2025 2 National Library of Australia Suzyumov later wrote Zhizn, otdannaia Antarktide, translated as A life given to the Antarctic: Douglas Mawson – Antarctic explorer, published in 1968.A life given to the Antarctic: Douglas Mawson--Antarctic explorer [by] E. M. Suzyumov; authorized translation [from the Russian] by Tina Tupikina-Glaessner National Library of Australia Catalogue entry https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2546590 13 July 2025 Ships Three diesel-electric ships were used to transport the expedition. They were RV Ob (flagship; captain Ivan Man I. A. Man ru Ман, Иван Александрович), RV Lena (captain A. I. Vetrov) and the refrigerator ship No. 7 (captain M. A. Tsygankov). The final ship was used only for transporting perishables. Ob and Lena were icebreakers, each 130 m long and displacing 12,600 tons. On 30 November 1955 Ob left port at Kaliningrad. References Sources A V Nudel Man Soviet Antarctic Expeditions 1955-1959, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskva, 1959 (translated from the Russian; Israel program for scientific translations, Jerusalem, 1966). Further reading Gan, I. (2009) "The reluctant hosts: Soviet Antarctic expedition ships visit Australia and New Zealand in 1956", Polar Record, 45, (232) pp. 37–50. ISSN 0032-2474. Gan, I. (2009) "The Soviet Preparation for the IGY Antarctic Program and the Australian Response: Politics and Science, Boletín Antártico Chileno 2nd SCAR Workshop on the History of Antarctic Research, 22 September 2006, Santiago, Chile, pp. 60–70. [Non-refereed Conference Paper] External links History of organization of the first Soviet/Russian Antarctic expedition 1955–57 and its international importance in the Antarctic studies by N. Kornilov (ZAO «INTAARI», St. Petersburg, Russia)] — Soviet Antarctic expeditions Second 01 Antarctic Expedition 01 Antarctic Expedition 01 Antarctic Expedition 01 Category:1955 in Antarctica Category:1956 in Antarctica Category:1957 in Antarctica