The story of one of the earliest expeditions aimed at exploring the Russian Arctic is a chain of vivid and dramatic events. In July 1912, the schooner “Svjataya Anna” sailed from Saint Petersburg, and by October it was trapped in the ice of the Kara Sea and, along with their drift, was quickly carried north toward Novaya Zemlya. Attempts to break free from the ice captivity proved unsuccessful, and part of the crew decided to head for the mainland.
The crossing, which they had expected to make in about a month, stretched to four. Of the eleven men who left the ship in April 1914, only two reached Franz Josef Land—its navigator Valerian Albanov and a sailor, Alexander Konrad.
For the first time, this edition brings together both surviving members’ accounts of the “Svjataya Anna” crew.