At the beginning of the last century, one of the most important problems associated with the study of the Arctic was the development of the Northern Sea Route, which made it possible to minimize the route of vessels between the European part of our country and the Far East. Among those who gave their lives to implement this program was the Russian traveler Brusilov Georgy Lvovich (1884-1914), whose name forever entered the history of Russian science.
Decent offspring of a glorious Russian family
The future explorer of the Arctic was born on May 19, 1884 in Nikolaev in the family of an officer of the Russian fleet, future admiral Lev Alekseevich Brusilov. Their surname occupies an honorable place in Russian history, it’s enough to recall that Georgy Lvovich’s uncle, Aleksei Alekseevich, is known as the hero of the First World War, who led the famous breakthrough of Russian troops.
Having entered the Naval Cadet Corps in 1903, two years later the young man was promoted to midshipman, and during the Russo-Japanese War he served on the ships of the Far Eastern Squadron. However, his true calling was not the military path, but scientific research activity.
The first experience of scientific work
For the first time, Brusilov Georgy Lvovich ended up beyond the Arctic Circle in 1910, becoming a member of a hydrographic expedition whose task was to develop the Northern Sea Route. Scientists had at their disposal two icebreakers Taimyr and Vaigach. Moving from east to west along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, the expedition members collected a significant amount of scientific data, due to which, the Arctic map was replenished with many previously unknown islands and straits. A monument to the participation of Georgy Lvovich in this difficult work was the lighthouse named after him, which was put on Cape Dezhnev, the extreme mainland point of Russia and all of Eurasia.
Cheeky Design
Publications of the expeditions of such prominent foreign researchers as the Norwegians Raul Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen, as well as the American Robert Piri and the Englishman Robert Scott, were met with great interest in Russia. Not wanting to give the palm to the development of the North to foreigners, and as a true Russian officer, cheering for the prestige of the state, G.L. Brusilov, following the example of two other travelers G. Sedov and V. Rusanov, decided to organize his own expedition.
One of the most difficult problems on the path to the implementation of the planned project was, as often happens, in finding sources of financing, because considerable funds were required and, personally, George Lvovich did not have them. However, a way out was found.
In 1912, taking a leave of absence, Brusilov announced the creation of a joint-stock company, the profit of which was supposed to be derived from hunting, which members of the future expedition were supposed to deal with. Unable to find a response among the general public, the brave enthusiast was able, however, to convince his relatives to become its shareholders.
The main investors were his uncle Boris Alekseevich Brusilov, a large Russian landowner, and his wife Countess Anna Nikolaevna, who donated 90 thousand rubles for this project, which was very doubtful from an economic point of view - a huge sum for those times.
Problems aboard St. Anne
Having thus solved the financial problem, George Brusilov went to England, where he acquired a used, but still very strong sailing and steam schooner. It was called "Blencatra", but once it was under the Russian flag, it was immediately renamed in honor of the main investor of the expedition - Countess Anna Nikolaevna and named "St. Anna".
The schooner "Saint Anna" departed from the St. Petersburg berth on August 10, 1912 and headed towards the Barents Sea, where her first stop was planned near the small settlement of Aleksandrovsk-on-Murman (now the city of Polyarny). There, the organizer of the expedition was waiting for the first serious troubles. When the ship came ashore, a significant part of the crew - several sailors, a ship's doctor and, worst of all, a navigator - refused to continue sailing.
The situation was critical. Of all those remaining on board the vessel, only five people, not counting Brusilov himself and the second navigator Albanov (his photo is published below), were professional sailors, and the charity sister agreed to perform the duties of a doctor. However, no matter what, on September 10, having on board a significant supply of food, "Saint Anna" continued on her way.
In ice captivity
A week later, reaching the Kara Sea, the vessel faced a continuous ice strip, which they managed to move through for another ten days using narrow passages and wormwoods. But then, completely sandwiched by ice, the polar explorers lost their further ability to steer the ship. So, on October 10, 1912, their almost two-year drift began. By the will of the wind and currents, the ship, frozen into the ice, instead of the intended course in the east, moved to the north and north-west.
In June of the following 1913, the ship turned out to be just north of Novaya Zemlya, and a clear section of the sea was clearly visible ahead, but all efforts to break through to it were in vain, and the inevitability of a second wintering became apparent. Six months later, the ship was carried by the current to the Franz Josef Land region.
On the brink of doom
By this time, despite the fact that part of the food supplies could be replenished due to hunting, their deficiency was more and more clearly felt every day. The threat of hunger hung over the crew. At the same time, the fuel ran out on board, which Brusilov's expedition used for heating and cooking.
In this situation, it was decided to the entire crew to leave the ship and try to walk on ice to reach inhabited land. Brusilov Georgy Lvovich himself remained at St. Anne. What made him make this disastrous decision for himself remains unknown. Perhaps, as a Russian officer, and, therefore, a man of honor, he could not bear the shame associated with unpaid debts to investors. Maybe he was tormented by the knowledge that by his actions he was doomed to death, the people who followed him. In any case, the crew hit the road without him.
The tragedy of the crew of St. Anne
Undoubtedly, the attempt to reach the inhabited part of the coast was doomed to failure in advance and was considered by its participants as the only remaining chance. Since Brusilov’s expedition did not initially envisage pedestrian crossings, no proper equipment was prepared for them. As a result, kayaks, sledges and fur clothes had to be made by ourselves, without having the necessary experience and skill.
However, there was no other way, and on April 23, 1914 the crew left the ship. Brusilov’s biography, in fact, breaks off in this dramatic episode, since no one else saw him alive. As for the other members of the expedition, the fate of most of them was no less tragic.
Endless path among the ice
After conducting relevant astronomical observations and comparing their results with the maps at their disposal, the polar explorers found that they had to go 160 km to the nearest settlement. However, along the route they were torn to the side by drifting ice, and as a result, this distance increased by two and a half times.
In addition, exacerbated the complexity of the transition and extremely malnutrition, because of all the previous stocks there were only a small number of crackers, clearly insufficient to replenish the energy spent.
As a result, among those who left the ship, almost all died along the way. By the will of fate, only the leader of the group, the navigator Albanov and the sailor Konrad, remained alive. Frozen and barely alive from exhaustion, they were picked up by the St. Fock vessel, which was part of G. Ya. Sedova.
Unsuccessful searches
As a result of the fact that by the beginning of 1914 three Russian polar expeditions were listed as missing at once - G. Ya. Sedova, V.A. Rusanova, and the one headed by Brusilov Georgy Lvovich, the case received such a serious resonance in society that an indication of the immediate organization of searches was given directly by the cabinet. Thanks to this, a month later four search vessels set sail.
By that time, the Arctic on the map was presented in sufficient detail, which allowed us to systematically examine the areas of the most likely stay of the missing polar explorers. In addition, for the first time in world history, polar aviation was involved in a rescue operation. The Farman MF.11 seaplane, piloted by pilot Jan Nagursky, flew daily over the coast of Novaya Zemlya and the surrounding areas.
The search continued for three years and was interrupted only in connection with the political events of 1917. It was not possible to discover the schooner "St. Anna", or at least what was left of it. Only much later, in 2010, the leadership of the Onega Pomerania National Park organized an expedition to Franz Josef Land, which managed to discover human remains, apparently belonging to one of the members of the Albanov group.
Afterword
Despite the tragic outcome of the trip, George Brusilov, whose brief biography formed the basis of this article, made a certain contribution to the study of the Arctic. Thanks to the materials that the surviving Albans handed over to the Academy of Sciences, it was possible to systematize the previously available data on coastal currents, clarify the boundary of the mainland shallow, and also draw an underwater trench called “St. Anne” on the map.