PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN DURING FLIGHT OF THE GRAF ZEPPELIN IN THE 1930 S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 25
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 18, 2013
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: November 3, 1955
• Content Type: FORM

CI rirkrri Ai r"7 50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
PRESENTATION FORM FOR GRAPHIC MATERIAL
(Submit to HQ-00/C in triplicate with process sheet attached)
DATE
03 November 1955
DIST: ORIG-GRAPHICS; DUPL-CASE FILE; TRIPL- SOURCE FILE; QUAD-FORECORD
l I GIFT I X 1 LOAN
--
AREA
Arctic
SUBJECT
Photographs taken during flight of the Graf Zeppelin in the 1930's.
NUMBER OF
DATE OF
CHECK CLASSIFICATION
ITEMS AND CATEGORY (Still photographs,
197 still photographs
EXPOSURE 1931
negatives, or TdIdes)
need not be
50X1
the same.)
OF PHOTOGRAPHS
WHEN SEPARATE.
1-----i
-..
OFFICIAL1 ONLY
- c ass' 'cation
1 IU. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
1CIA
I [ SECRET
FT-1CONFIDENTIAL
RESTRICTED
JUNCLASSIFIED
_
MATERIAL
REGISTER, OCD,
50X1
IS SOURCE APT TO MAKE ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
MAY SOURCE'S NAME BE REVEALED TO GRAPHICS
AVAILABLE? I Yes I 1No
IF REQUIRED?
IKINII Yes I INo
DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL
One album - 197 prints.
Photographs taken on Flight of Graf Zeppelin over the USSR
in the 1930's.
50X1
USE ONLY
_ADQUARTERS
DATE FORWARDED TO GR BY GMP 50X1
it November 1955
RETURN DEADLINE (IF LOAN)
28 November 1955
NITRATE FILM EXPLOSIVE-SHIP BY EXPRESS UNDER SPECIAL CARRIER REGULATIONS
FORM NO.
FEB 1953 57-27 PREVIOUS EDITIONS NOT TO BE USED.
/Turn Pt rt. ivi (47)
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
eb
V0046?1
Next 17 Page(s) In Document Denied
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
/d/k7
9 5- 08- /e#4t 0 Y2, /g
190 ble) ?,9613/
REPORT OF THE
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
WITH "GRAF ZEPPELIN"
1931
BY
LINCOLN ELLS WORTH and
EDWARD H. SMITH
REPRINTED PROM
THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
VOL. XXII, No. 1, JANUARY, 1932
Pp. 61-82
AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
BROADWAY Al' 156TH STREET
NEW YORK
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
REPORT OF THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS
OF THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
WITH "GRAF ZEPPELIN," 1931
Lincoln Ellsworth and Edward H. Smith
IT was a magical journey, this Arctic cruise of 8000 miles in 136
hours! In the kaleidoscope of swiftly moving scenes the high
lights of our voyage seemed like flashes upon the screen, so quickly
was one impression replaced by the next. The Franz Josef group
covered in seven hours--Cape Flora at 5 p. ni., Cape Fligely at mid-
night?six hours to Northern Land, another five hours to Cape Chelyus-
kin, and in two hours more Lake Taimyr below us! The old explorers
who 'did it on foot" must have given thought to the airway as they
gazed from the encumbered ground to the freedom of the sky. Midden-
dorff in 1843 spent a painful month on the journey from Lake Taimyr
to the sea. Nansen sighted the northern shores of Franz Josef Land on
July 24, 1895; it took him eleven months to reach Cape Flora!
The conception of the Graf Zeppelin's Arctic cruise of 1931 dates
back to 1926 and the foundation of the Aeroarctic Society. In its
first form the plan was for a crossing of the Arctic from the European
to the American side under the leadership of Nansen.' The plan
failed to mature, largely on account of the extremely high rates of
insurance expected for a dirigible navigating so far north. Nansen's
sudden death in 1930 brought a further postponement until the elec-
tion of Dr. Hugo Eckener to the presidency of Aeroarctic later in
the same year. Now in 1931 with a modified program the so-called
preliminary flight has been successfully accomplished under the leader-
ship of Dr. Eckener supported by a large scientific staff.2
Nansen briefly outlined his plans in his address before the American Geographical Society on
May 14, 1928; see Geogr. Rev., Vol. 18,1928, P? 495. For a note on Aeroarctic see ibid., p. 512. For
the plans for 1930 see "Die bevorstehenden ersten Erkunclungs- und Forschungsfahrten for Aeroarctic
im Ifitfiltjahr 1930 mit dem 'Graf Zeppelin,'" Arklis, Vol. 2, 1929, pp. 26-28.
2 In addition to Dr. Eckener and Captain Walther Bruns, assistant to the leader and general secre-
tary of Aeroarctic, and thirty odd members of the crew, the personnel included: I'rofessor R. I,. Sam-
oilovich, senior scientist of the Arctic Institute, Leningrad, chairman of the investigating council for
geographical studies, Aeroarctic, and leader of the scientific stall; Professor L. Weickinann, director of
the Geophysical Institute, University of Leipzig, and chief of the meteorological investigations on the
expedition; Professor P. A. Molchanov, director of the Aerological Observatory at Slutsk and co-worker
on the meteorological investigations; Professor A. Carolus, of the University of Leipzig, assistant to
the meteorologists; Dr. W. Ilasse, engineer, acrogcodicist, photographer for Carl Zeiss Co.; Dr. C.
Aschenbrenner, engineer, aerogcodicist, photographer for Munich Surveying Co.; Dr. E. Kohl-Larsen,
biologist and physician; Mr. Lincoln Ellsworth, civil engineer and representative of the American
Geographical Society, Arctic expert for navigation; Lieutenant Commander Edward II. Smith, of
the U. S. Coast Guard, representative of the International Ice Patrol, for ice and oceanographic
observations; Dr. G. Ljungdahl, of the Swedish Hydrographic Office, in charge of earth magnetic
observations.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
1)2
.kt
8 3; a.
THE GEUL,RA 1'111( \ L 10,,V 1-,]
Narrative of the Voyage
the morning of Jul \ 24, the r ,instrous bulk at the
I ;raj' ZepPelin began to move slowly out of its Fr
mid a few minutes later we were headed north
where a landing was made at 6 p. in, i ,arly next
1)ur course lay northward for lielsingiors, them
where we landed at 5.30 p. ITI. At 00 a.
die air again. In less than an hour ,nit ot Li
grey,- desolate, with few scattered see dements
o the cultivated landscape to the south over
idrichshafen h it:10r;
ard towards tiriflin,
norning we were oft.
east for Leningrad,
luly 26, we ere in
lingrad the country
in marked Coal raSt
A'hich we had teen
flying. The country was a vast muskeg-. At ?p. in. we were over
Nrchangel, the world's biggest lumber' ard. lay her hides the dwell-
ings of the city of 10,0oo, and kigs choke the at 'ways. Front Arch-
angel we headed northward. The Ari!!!c Circle is crossed at 7 p.. in.
The wind, which had been light from he north,. ist all day, suddenly
!shifted to east-northeast and increasol to a fres breeze almosi coin-
iident with our reaching the Arctic sea. The lir temperature also
dropped from 14 C. to pa and it as quite !!pparent that we had
left the warm atmosphere of Europe hi enter n ach colder po!;cr air.
For a few hours we skirted the coas at altitt les from 200 0 500
meters. Much log wood lay seattere,i, in piaci( very thickly along
the beaches. A few circular fish weirs, probabk or salmon caiching,
were observed along these stretches 0! the coast
, TI I i Rae NTS SF!..1.
Before we reached Cape Kann at i0.53 p. in
north-northwest and freshened to a Irce of 5
f. Inc own course, now 6' true, for (...ape Flora,
to be corrected about 25' to the lett in ,,rder to c,
of wind drift to the right. To conserve fuel
two of the five motors stopped, and si, the rem;
bucked the wind towards Franz Jose' Land a
an hour.
At o o'clock in the morning, fat it ode 74 4( N., a few drift logs
were to be seen, and small birds skimeIed the w: vs. The shiii began
passing through the first scattered ',itches of ig at an altil,tde of
200 meters. Then fog banks became more Ire dent and son -1 i-om-
pletely enveloped us. The air tempet 1 tire ot 4 1. had been 11K:re or
less constant ever since we left Cape kanin. ii the latter l'art of
the morning, however, as the dirigible progressed farther nor- h, the
thermometer dropped to 2'C., and I he ship gr ,ditally emerged into
clear atmosphere and hright sunshine The bl ie sky overhead was
in marked contrast to the white sea of fog ovi which we skimmed
the wind bai?keil to
(), Beaufort Scale.
!Litz Josef Lath I. had
mteract this i!!n,iunt
)r. Eckener (.rdered
trier of the night we
a speed of 37 miles
, All Lim, refercacr, arc Greccwich
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
NORTH POLE
do 75
NORDENSKI ob
SEA
July,z
Po-cVsa''
26 4.0
rLeningrad
ture-ruY4
return Jay, 30,Z.
FIG.
63
TRACK CHART
ARCTIC CRUISE
OF THE
GRAF ZEPPELIN
1931
The clotted line represents the dead reckoning track,
later corrected h,v an astronomical observation soda
bearing - with the direction finder OR Hooker island
SCALE I 20000000
100 200 300 MILES
A
0 100 7u,
0 300 KILOMETERS
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
t1.4.
(,1()GR.? Pill('a. Et14,VIE'
Log.2 ready tor the sawmill at l'etrezavedsi,
iii 12ake (ineg22. (I'llot,42rapti by \V. 13as:22e.)
a heigh ? of 600 feet. ')..beiut
t his time iditi communi-ation
est at.,Hshed with tin Rus-
ian ice 'eaker 251)
itilesa.N.v? at Hooker Island
at ii st.,iion, Franz Ittsef
Haul S e reported tlf.' first
Ltt at 78 N. ;ind also ,.!.entle
.pirtheas tt inds and loggy
,vt-'at her.
p. tn., howevor, the
tralus s -et iieneath i was
drawn as le, and far ;ieiow,
-can ered ',ere and thei e, lay
hr51 Inc sea ice, in tong
?:trips liii trings, with much
open wat,',- around. Tb -n lot-
wet ni runt lent pate lies of
,,aailv at 3.30 p.
()Lit into cle.tr air
again al I an unobstf rieted
view ol ti ? horizon. "11- pack
ice was , (imposed of an ions
ii tug I , width from -wo or
'three feet to 75 and too feet. The ice appearen to he less that three
feet in thickness; it was also quite ILt!. indicatif!.; a production some-
time during the previous winter. As we procee, itd farther north the
polynyas and leads grew smaller and fewer. there was n , such
heavy ice as had been seen by Itillsworth on b flights of 11)5 and
1920 fifty miles north of Spitsliergen.
1:1\:?,/IntL 1-ANII
During the afternoon the wind dropped P light airs, a-id the
weather became beautiful. The southern islant., of the Franf
I.and group were sighted about 4.,30 p. tn., at a tstance of -chi y-five
to forty miles. Black and forbidding-. t 'ape lb i was ahead of us, a
spot memorable in the annals of Aro 'c travel, or it was here that
Nansen and Johanssen on their long it ek from t .e [ram found succor
from the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. CI( or approach brought
taut more detail, but the main teaturos remained predominant --Pare
basalt, table-topped headlands, (ellen toping her, and there from the
more general, overflowing glaciers. A i telt of opt ,1 water and sc.it fered
,qacons of sea ice surrounded Franz josel d on the south; and
British Channel, except for an occasional ice cal ,?, was perfecti).? navi-
222
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
TIIE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
gable for sea craft. This was
an open season for Franz Josef
Land, a condition that varies
greatly from year to year.4
Flying up British Channel
we soon could make out I Tooker
Island in the distance, and at
5.45 p. m. we were circling the
radio and meteorological sta-
tion located there on a raised
rocky shelf. This lonely post
established by the Russians in
19295 is the most northerly
meteorological observatory in
the world. The Malygin,
anchored about a quarter of a
mile off the shore, had been
full dressed in honor of the
dirigible's visit. The sea was
now perfectly calm, and its
surface, interrupted here and
there by ice cakes, was like an
upturned mirror. Conditions
were ideal, and Dr. Eckener
was ready to test a water landing on the air-inflated rubber pon-
toons, a method tried out at Friedrichshafen. Slowly and uniformly
we began to descend. About ioo feet above the water a sea anchor
was cast down and also several canvas dip buckets. The buckets,
filled with water and drawn upwards a few feet, added just the right
amount of extra weight to pull us down where we rode like a ship at
anchor.
A boat immediately put out from the Malygin. Post bags were
hastily exchanged between the side door of the gondola and the bow
of the Malygin's boat. In the stern stood Nobile, he having taken
passage on the Malygin in the hope of finding some record of the ill-
fated Italia. Ellsworth and Nobile exchanged brief greetings. A
hurried take-off was made just as a large ice cake was swept danger-
ously close by the current. The Zeppelin now rose to an altitude of
woo meters and heading westward flew across British Channel to the
northeastern part of Prince George Island.
The automatically recording cameras were started from a known
fixed departure point, the Hooker Island Radio Station. Hence the
65
Em. 3?Huge piles of sawn lumber ready for ship-
ment at Archangel. (Photograph by :Passe.)
4 Notes on ice conditions are given in Gunnar Horn: Franz Josef Land; Natural history, Dis-
covery, Exploration, and Hunting, Skrifter ow Svalba dog Ishavel
No. 20, Oslo, 1930.
W. Wiese: Die Expedition des Eisbrcchers "Sedow " nach Franz-Josefs-Land zwecks Aufbau
einer meteorologischen Radiostation, Arktis, Vol. 2,1929, pp. 126-128.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
'111E (; OGRAPEilt tL RP.V11.
course skirted along the northern coa-t of Armit.Lge Island and Alex-
andra Island. Inaccuracies in the rri.ip were inimediately apparent;
Armitage Island, for example, should be char i as a peninsula of
Prince George Island; Albert Edwari I and Ha: nsworth Islands, re-
corded on existing maps" about lift ecit miles n4 -th of Prince ( ;eorge
Ftia. 4-- Hooker Island, Franz Inset Lamb rendezveas of the ice caker Maiygiri with the Graf
ten.octin, July 27, 193 I. The radii, station lies on the Av point. iii l ilie left. (['holograph by
Hasse.)
Island, do not now exist?at least thee were no races of land in that
direction as far as the horizon. The L isibility v :Ls excellent too, and
from our altitude we could plainly sec forty or perhaps more.
Alexandra Island, except for a small part o its eastern half and
three of its southern headlands, is conipletely cc ered with island ice.
Thirty miles of its more or less reguLir norther coast line meet the
:H;ea. in a vertical ice wall from ten ti, thirty fe in height. A slow
movement of the ice cap, moreover, iH indicated :iy the several small-
sized growlers that were floating in thc water nea by. While we made
complete circuit of the island, one Pt the larg,?t of the Franz Josef
l.and group, the photographers collect ed in ahopi three hours enough
material for the map. The geographical sun ey accomplished in
his short period, so stated Professi Samodo ich, represented the
equivalent of four summers' hard work for a L.tound party.
.\ t P.45 p. m. Ellsworth radioed a message t the American
graphical Society:
first ice in loose fields 120 mile.. south of ritish Channel. .Vow
circling Alexandra Island. Present chart not cc.' vet. Albert Ed7card
Island and I larmsworth Island do not cist
!! Sec !he reeernlv compiled Slap UI r raw. Jiriet I liii on a se. et 1:750,00(1 5Cc:: I[ allying
Ii nz. Joel Land,- Trans. I not. tor 1:-...rpl,rat,on orth, .9 o. 4: SIr scow, 1930, reviewed else-
where this number of the Geogra Phi, at Etnot.,.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
TIIE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION 67
The camera survey of Alexandra Island and Prince George Island
being completed, the airship was headed northeastward toward Crown
Prince Rudolf Island, 85 miles away; the northernmost island in
Franz Josef Land. Several rocky islets were observed in the offing
of Rhodes Channel, although they are not recorded on present-day
FIG. 5?Cape Brorok, Crown Prince Rudolf Island, the most northerly member of the Franz Josef
Land group. The land is completely covered with a low ice sheet. Even here a shore lane of open water
was observed. (Photograph by Passe.)
maps. After we had passed Jackson Island the amount of open water
appreciably decreased, and soon there was little or none to be seen.
Along the coasts of Karl Alexander Island and Crown Prince Rudolf
Island sea ice lay far up on the land, showing plainly that pack ice must
often press in there from the northward. The most northerly point in
the cruise was attained at midnight on rounding Cape Fligely, latitude
810 50', 490 nautical miles from the pole. Here was one of the most
beautiful scenes of the trip, looking northward towards the midnight
sun, then just below the horizon. All objects appeared to be bathed in
the soft and mellow light except where a golden reflection shone bright-
ly along a glittering, icy path between us and the pole.
We had gradually descended to the usual cruising altitude of
250 meters, and now the ship's head was kept off toward North Cape,
the northern extremity of Severnaya Zemlya, Northern Land, 300
miles distant.' A half hour past midnight we passed over two very
curious overlapping disks of ice, smoothly polished and one to three
miles in diameter. This was Eva Island, low, double-mushroom-
shaped, completely glaciated, and often probably overridden by sea
ice. Another interesting feature in the solid pack, over which we were
7 The former Nicholas II Land. For an account of the discovery see N. A. Transehe: The Siberian
Sea Road: The Work of the Russian Hydrographical Expedition to the Arctic roro?igr 5, Geogr. Rev.,
Vol. 15, 1925, pp. 367-398.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
'FEW (iE()(iltAl'Ell( ItItX[F.
--E,:x:Imple UIII aerial surveying ?vitrk over II. north coast t. Vlexandra Island, E'i .Ini Joset
(Pliotograph Lvi Aschenbrenner.i
now flying, was patches of color rangillg from d k muddy browns to
greenish browns and yellows. These areas he ime so large and so
numerous along the course bet?VeCrl ranz Josef I .arul and Severnaya
Zemlya that they neutralized the llat whiteness ,,sually observed over
ice fields in the north. l ndouhtedlv(Iiis color v is the chlorophyll of
algae and planktonic lite that had blossomed id multiplied in the
pools of thaw water. The upper surnice oh nea: iv all of the ice fields
plainly showed the effects of much summer meli.ng.
hr \-14:;xx,v1::A Zin.v 1ORTIIORN LAND)
Our course thence gradually &verged from the track taken by
the dirigible Italia from Franz Josef Land to -eyernaya Zemlya in
19.28. With the exception, therefore. of the drift of the St. ,Inna
in longitude 71' .7,o' F., 1912-1()14, we were now 'lazing a new trail in
,Se map accompanying the tioJ2 Nobile's His is in i he Arc im the Airship .14,1iia, May,
" Rev., Viii. 10, 1,129, Dr, Oil 1- 1155.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
69
Fm. 7?A glacier in northern Severnaya 'Zemlya. This view gives a good impression of the appear
ance of the land-and-ice-scape of Northern Land. The presence of a ridge in the bed of the glacier
in the right foreground is marked by the lines of flow and indicates, furthermore, the relative thinness
of the ice here. (Photograph by Aschenbrenner.)
the Arctic. No new island or other land was sighted on this leg of
the cruise, however, and the principal object of interest was still the
pack ice. As we approached Schmidt Island, discovered by the ice
breaker Sedov the previous year,' and the western shores of Severnaya
Zemlya, the sea ice became heavier, and its upper surface assumed
a more rugged character than the ice around Franz Josef Land. From
the gondola windows of the Graf at an altitude of 250 to 300 meters,
the first pressure ridges, disjointed and scattered by previous dis-
ruptions of the floes, looked like mole mounds in size. The ice, in a
belt about midway between Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya,
appeared to be lighter, and the proportion of openings greater than
elsewhere. Could this condition of the pack be traced to the influence
of a warm current from the southwest pushing in from the open
Barents Sea?
9 Cf. B. Isachenko: The Arctic Expedition of I93o on the Ice Breaker Sedov, Geogr. Rev., Vol. 21,
1931, pp. 499-500.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
;o THE GEOGRA PIM REVI-Ev
A moderate breeze sprang up from the westw,trd during the early
morning of :July 28 and, as a tail wind. incread the speed of the
Graf Zeppelin to 65 miles per hour. About the sane time we encoun-
tered a light fog. As Schmidt Islanil was need the fog became
thicker, and it was impossible to see thi,; land at ill: Later it cleared
bah. 8 A glacier in northern Severnaya Zemlya flow on westward in the inland ice. Note the
folding along the tides. (Photograph by Ititaise.1
somewhat, and at 5.3o a. m. the western heailands of Severnaya
Zemlya were seen through the clouds. We rose again to about 4.000
feet and flew southeastwards over the inland ice to the eastern coast
near Cape Vilkitski. Most of this land that wt were now exploring
had never before been seen by man: t least so tr as we know from
existing records.
Severnaya Zemlya, in its northern Dart. is void of high moun-
iains or alpine scenery. Its bare head], rids, with ice-worn
lops and steep slopes, connect it to tlie same ge togical formation as
Franz Josef Land. But there the similarity end-, Lnlike the group
pf islands to the westward, the noniliwestern :-oast of Severnaya
Zemlya is ice-locked the entire year. It is deet: v intrenched in the
polar cold, ice submerging all but the ,,?ery tops 1 the uplands. Be-
cause of the absence of any great heights in this -ection of Severnaya
Zemlya the glaciers gradually merge it the sea lee, and it is difficult
ho detect where the one leaves off and the othe: begins. Few ot. no
-
icebergs can be produced under such condititHis. Motion of the
glaciers was well indicated in one howeve: where a projecting
1$4111010111109101Ww,* 63014410*:,!5 grAIWAtArr,,;
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION 71
tongue, pushing out into the sea ice, had cracked it apart for a long
distance.
The northeastern side of Severnaya Zemlya appeared to be less
icebound than the west. Several broad U-shaped valleys in the east
were bare of snow, and through them ran streams of water, 50 to Ioo
FIG. p--Glacier entering the sea on the east coast of Novaya Zemlya. The width of the glacier is
about seven kilometers. (Photograph by Aschenbrenner.)
meters wide, draining the inland ice. There was also a slight coloring
to the valley bottoms, probably indicating the presence of mosses
and lichens; but from our altitude of 3000 feet nothing certain can
be stated. No animal life was to be seen. The northwestern slopes
of Severnaya Zemlya are skirted in one place by a gently sloping coastal
plain, the strandflat of the Norwegians, some 15 or zo miles in width
and in height several feet above the level of the sea ice. This may be
evidence of previous transgression and subsequent uplift; such a
movement has been recognized in the Taimyr Peninsula to the south.
About 7 a. m. the course was swung to the left, and it was an-
nounced we would pay a visit to Kameney Island. This little island,
located in latitude 790 6' N., longitude 970 12' E., about 15 miles off
the western coast of Severnaya Zemlya, was discovered in 1930 by
the Russian ice breaker Sedov. A radio and meteorological station has
been established there, and it was an exploring party from Kamenev
Island this spring that succeeded in making the first astronomical
determination of the northernmost extremity of Severnaya Zemlya:
latitude 810 16' N., longitude 950 38' E. On our approach to the
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
ill I' GEOGR.\ REvi EA
western coast, however, log was encountered, an t as it would be use-
less to attempt locating Kameney Island under such conditions the
dirigible was headed southward along I lie wester coast line of Sever-
naya Zemlya.
The strandflat in this section, like that in thl mirthwest, extends
hack as a broad, fiat, raised shelf, some i o or 20 nt !les in width. Many
glacial streams in a myriad of tort uoti, patterns train across it from
the inland ice. At 9.5o a. m. we SWL111:2 to the et -itward and followed
ihe western coast line where it forms reCin rant ipposite Schokaiskv
Bay on the east. No land could be seen bridgirt_i this gap, and from
our altitude and position in the Graf Zeppelin the t-ea ice could be seen
for several miles to the eastward without interrut ti ion. It is believed,
therefore, that Schokalsky Bay is in reality a sot t !id that transversely
divides Severnaya Zemlya into two ish ids, still- resembling the way
in which Novaya Zemlya is cut midwaY of its lo gitudinal axis.
We proceeded southward to the sonthern e remity of Northern
Land and Vilkitski Strait. Ellsworth radioed t e following message
10 the American C(eop,-raphical Society
.'i'urveyed southwest roast of .Vichotirs II La 1 this morning and
rind that ..S.rhokalsky Channel divides this ire-lock,. land into two large
islands.
TkiNiNft Ptiyst it
It took us one hour to cross the mitt to pe Chelyuskin, and
because of fog we were unable to obser\e ice con, titions therein. At
p. in. both the fog and the coast were aift behinc ttis we flew inland to
clear atmosphere, approaching Taimyr I .ake. It is astonishing to see
ihe great change wrought by an hour's flight. The ice and snow of
Severnaya Zemlya were now replaced lc,' the dart. browns, greens, and
reds of the tundra country. Far to he eastw.ti-d near the horizon
could be discerned the rounded summits of an itrunapped range of
mountains. At 2 p. m. we began a etimera sur (iv of Taimyr Like,
heading westward parallel with its longest axis. Here on the tundra
sonic of the first animal life of the cruise was set t I. In several of the
lakes birds as large as geese were feeeting, and ? a many miles along
our course to Dickson Harbor we hew over ha ndreds of reindeer.
They were distributed either singly or in herds if as many as 30 or
ttfailingly they would scatter in every di (iction badly fright-
ened by the approach of the airship. No sign- (if human life were
perceived, and it is stated that the 4 1)untry ni th of the Byrranga
Range, in these longitudes, is practiitillly unint tbited by man and
virtually unknown. The Taimyr Expedition of tie Russian Academy
of Sciences crossed farther south in 1928 on a ro te from Dudinka on
the Yenisei River to the khatang,a .1 rid, strikittg north to Taimyr
lake, followed the southern shore of the lake its eastern extrem-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION 73
ity." As A. Tolmachev, leader of the expedition, points out, no ex-
ploration had been made in this interior country since Middendorff's
expedition of 1843.
At 10 p. m., - July 28, we arrived over the Russian trading post
of Dickson. This place marks the normal navigational limit for
ordinary trading steamers from the westward during the short sum-
FIG. to?The northern end of Novaya Zemlya showing inland ice, the bare land belt, lanes of open
water, the sea ice in the foreground. (Photograph by Passe.)
mer season. Three ships of the trawler type were moored to a small
pier near the station, and a Dornier-Wahl seaplane was hauled up
on the bank close by. The Soviet government maintains three of
these planes on a summer patrol between Dickson and Vaigach for the
safety of life and property. After dropping some sacks of potatoes
and mail by parachute that had been intended for Kamenev Island
station, we headed northwestward across Kara Sea for the northern
end of Novaya Zemlya. A fifty-mile-wide belt of open water was
traversed off Dickson before we came over loose and scattered &cons
of pack ice. The character of the ice was similar to that met south
of Franz Josef Land two days previously- -flat, free from pressure
ridges, and also probably dating from last winter's freezing. Much of
the ice, even too miles out from land, was covered with a deposit of
dark brown mud; some of the &cons seeming to be composed of as
?
much mud as ice. Obviously this was ice formed either in the shallow
bays or large rivers, or both, along the Russian coast. As we neared
the Novaya Zemlya side of Kara Sea the ice became whiter and free
o A. Tolmachev: Die Taimyrexpedition der Akademie der Wissenschaften von P. S. S. R. ins
Jahre 1928, Arktis, Vol. 2, two, pp. 33-38.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
1111,-. GEOGR.\ Pt 11 REV' \?'
1(5. - --A small river delta On t lie east islasi of No\
Zemlya. Melting snow anil drainage from h., nem
inland ice fortn these tortuous streams across tneri
stramitlat. (Photograph by llaser.)
fit r ad, as well as more
tigh v packed btgether.
fc of open water five
ii Is miles in width sepa-
ratei. the pack ice from the
Nov ea. Zemlya coast.
ii\ 'sVA ZEMI V.\
.t.30 a. m., july
we r ,irthed Cape Jelaniya,
lie i,rrhern tip of Novaya
/.em ?a; and, rising to a000
feet i he Graf' h eaded
si ut. westwards al(tng the
longt:tidinal axis of the
islan,! to carry out a cam-
era tapping sur k ev en
routi The northern end
(if N sava Zemlya displays
1 ill coastal fringe five
miles t-a- more in width be-
fore he edge of the inland
Ito is net. Somewhat far-
ther south, on the east-
ern oast, the inland ice
exte !Is directly TO the
.,, the four Norden-
skiold glaciers, in latitude 75" Ao' N About HIty small beres were
scattered in the offing of the southernmost g Her of this exottp."
Directly inland from the NordenskiOld glaciers !he inland ice slopes
rapidly upward towards a high ridge where or: v scattered summits
here and there protrude above the surface. TI: s was the first alpine
scenery met on the voyage.
Prorn the Nordenskiold glaciers to Matocl iii Shar, a distance
of 20o miles, we skirted the eastern ,fist of N Ivaya Zemlya.. It is
estimated that ten glaciers were obsente(1, and a, tint two hundred ice-
bergs that had calved were drifting in :he coast,: waters. Practically
!ill of the icebergs were of small siic, probabH, none over tilt \- to
seventv-fiye feet in height, and most of t hem, con -del-Mg their position
with relation to the glaciers, appearet to he ting southwarti more
or less parallel to the coast.
" ,)111.1),11,, It. S.1.111,110ViCh: EXplOral 1,11, III NOW .1 Zends .: an
it], Institute lOr the Exploration of the iNorth, Ark!. Vol. t. 102!
itmssian is given in Novaya Zemlya, 'lean Inst. fir I neat I
in-jewel elsewhere in tia, numb,- of the Ge2,.01 tilt, n1 te,,
lie 11.1rerits sea PI, iti red liv
2--11. .1. lull aceiiiint in
\ Alit. 40, Moss its rmtin,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
At 8.30 a. m. we arrived
off the entrance to Ma-
tochkin Shar and passed
through to the Barents Sea
end of the strait at 9.15.
The channel presents beau-
tiful scenery and affords a
magnificent cross section
of the folded rocks of this
continuation of the Urals.12
Our course from here
doubled back to Schubert
Bay on the east coast, and
from there we headed
southwestward for the
southern cape of Goose-
land, which we passed at
noon. By this means the
southern boundary of the
inland ice was determined.
It is interesting to compare
these crossings with the ski
crossing of Dr. Holtedahl's
party at a very favorable
location from Mashingi FIG. r2?An old glacier bed in the northern extremity of
Novaya Zemlya. (Photograph by Passe.)
Fjord to Zwolke Fjord and
back, which was accomplished in six clays in the summer of 1921.'3
The ship was now placed on 2150 true, and with quartering winds
from the north-northwest the speed was such that at 7 p. m. this same
day we were passing over Archangel. Leningrad wished to greet us
again; but at the last moment a stop was considered inadvisable, and
we continued directly to Berlin. The Graf Zeppelin stopped at
Templehof field for a half hour, then left for Friedrichshafen, the
final destination, which was reached at 5 a. m., July 31, 1931.
75
Results of the Expedition"
CONTRIBUTIONS TO TUE MAI'
One of the most important contributions of the Graf Zeppelin
expedition was the correction of existing maps. The installation of
12 see 0. T. GrOnlie: Contributions to the Quaternary Geology of Novaya Zemlya, Rept. of the
Scientific Results of the Norwegian Expedition to Novaya Zemlya 1021, No. 21, Oslo, 1924; Olaf floltedahl:
On the Rock Formations of Novaya Zemlya, ibid., No. 22, Oslo, 1928.
Olaf Holtedahl: A Crossing of Novaya Zemlya, Geogr, Jones., Vol. 59, 1922, pp. 370-375.
24 Preliminary statements of results are the subject of several articles now appearing in appropriate
scientific journals. The more detailed reports with data worked out will be published later in Arktis.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
111E GI.:06kAP1111 ItkVIF
tViii, t he latest approved
et-it in mapping cameras
was tie of the most im-
port..nt features of our
equt Tnent and marks,
more -er, a great advance
Tcvious aircraft ex-
pedit tits to the Arctic.'5.
Bele lnce has al ready
been nude to the fact that
Al I ,er Edward and Harms-
w )r t Islands, in the
nortt western sect o:- of
Fran, Josef Land, could
not tt found. A Lare
possit !Inv, suggested by
Lv;i. island, is that these
slain if similarly low
:1 tid -covered, might
likew c he screened by
f :tack e. Several small
islet not recorded on
tircse i -day charts were
discw ?red off the entrance
Flt:. I 3- The mountains of Novaya 'Zemlya. These I r,e to Ri odes Channel, but
protruded through t he inland ice along the mendii. for t. it matter similar
ridged the island. Note the shadow of Me fliait
t he P
ice. hotograph hy Hasse.) unkry,,,ell islets undoubt-
edly ,e scattered tiite
plentifully throughout the Franz loaf Land -tnip. The subject
if photogrammatic survey in Frarz fusel Ear was, particularly,
Alexandra Land and a portion of Print?e George
The photogrammatic material seLtired by 1;raf Zeppelin in
Severnaya Zemlya consists of extiosure-; from th? northwest coast to
Mat useyich Bay, on the east coast, t het it 'e west w;, tI towards kameney
Island, and then southward past Schokalsky So Ii to Taimyr Like_
Fog was encountered along various putt is of this 1 t.c.k, so that it is not
definitely known how much of this material is w ible. No statement
can vet he made regarding the local io a or the f trn of the unknown
vt,estern half of SeVellflaVa Zemlya. /illy one tavigational line of
position was obtained in this region, tnd since I runs more or less
normal to the general trend of the western coa.-: it alone furnished.
little information. If the mosaic map t tf photogi ohs can be referred
to an astronomically known point, such as Matt .eyich Bay, then an
ilaseassuin ot the net nod by lit-fun, I will appear -t eceeding numi rite
r;gra phIco I Re.ler,
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
FIG. 14
FIG. 15
Fics. 14 and 15?Matochkin Shar (Matthew Strait), Novaya Zemlya. Figure 14 shows the eastern
entrance, Figure 15 the northern side, of the strait. Figure ts, taken about halfway through the strait
at an altitude of about r000 meters, shows the height to which the meridional ridge of Novaya Zemlya
rises. (Photographs by Aschenbrenner.)
77
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
GHOGRAPIII4 \I-. WWII' `,"
area of considerable extent can safel, lie added -
Naturally the results of this particular survey
"blind spots" of the Arctic, will be awthed with
Mountains about 1201) meters it elevatior
charts of Taimyr Peninsula, were sichted in tl-,
75" 4.0' N., longitude 101. 3o' F. The con to ?
existing maps also will be miLditied somewhat,
made from the Graf Zeppeiin.
In Novaya Zemlya the northern and. souther
ice were photographed with the mapping came.
recorded mountain peaks that protrude throty'
meridional ridge of the island in its northern pH
section of the eastern coast of Novayi Zemlya
miles front Rusanov Bay sourhwanl TVIU,ito
the subject of survey.
M F-rt,oRor opt( 1, I ).vr\
o our existing maps.
covering one of the
Art Lcular interest _
unrecorded on our
vicinity of Lititude
of Taimyr Like on
iv the phote:"i-raphS
limits of the inland
is. as also were Un-
the ice along the
The uneNplored
, tr :a. distance of 1.21)
ikin Shar wns also
The Graf Zeppelin expedition, unlike all other
of the Arctic, was made during midsummer, a seg--
with much fog and low visibility. I I, twever. i
certain winds arid pressure conditions his bandit-,
and we were fortunate in being able take ad..
meteorological conditions.
hir start from I.eningrad on the tin ,nning if
delayed until the receipt of the mornitn, obseryaL
of considerable intensity had been centered ox
giving Franz Josef Land a strong northeast, gt
map showed an area of high pressure over the 1AT
westward pressure was low from Not-v.1y towan'
that the disturbance in the kara Sea v as movim
allowed us to begin the northward flit, ht. Moms
started the better, for the easterly advance of a
direction of the Gulf Stream f )rift would, it was
visibility and, fog all too soon. Fortunately,
ailed to materialize, and instead a large mass o
.?.Liutheastwards, forming a ridge of high pressure -,
previously noted near Archangel. The slow eas:.
the pressure system during the following three da',
barometer and an unusually clear atmosphere for
we worked. The winds were relatively t Ott and air
oomponent. Some restricted areas of fog- were en'
,Nere always of small altitude, not mu Ii over Po,
well defined. The construction of isol tonic map
on the Graf Zeppelin is of the utmost: importance
iircraft explor i ti )n
on usually attended
seemed that given
D cotild be ay &led:
t age of fay trable
ly 26 was purposely
ons. A disturbance
,r Novaya Zemlya,
ie. The morning's
,te Sea, while to the
Iceland. The Flet
off to the eastward
iver, the sooner we
,ither low from the
tredicted, bring low
uch a development
' polar air inx aded
ith the anticyclone
tvard movement of
s resulted in a high
he region in v,.hich
,tys had a northerly
,tuntered, but they
feet, with the top
- three times daily
to take advantage
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AF,ROARCTIC EXPEDITION 79
of the knowledge thus gained of the continually varying atmospheric
conditions spells successful navigation with lighter-than-air craft.
The air temperatures at our altitudes in the Arctic varied from a
minimum of 2.2? C., recorded somewhat south of Franz Josef Land to
a maximum of ii? in the southern part of Novaya Zemlya. Con-
siderable inversions were recorded by the thermometers, one of which
was suspended at various distances below the dirigible, in a stream
line metallic case. A routine meteorological record was maintained
throughout the cruise."
One of the most interesting instruments with which the Graf was
equipped for this flight was the so-called Molchanov balloon, invented
by Professor P. A. Molchanov." Briefly, it consists of a large sounding
balloon from which is suspended a case containing a small radio trans-
mitter, thermometers, and a barometer. Connecting an electric bat-
tery circuit causes the changes in the temperature, the humidity, and
the pressure to be communicated to the transmitter, which in turn
broadcasts by radio a coded sequence of signals. Although such bal-
loons with their apparatus have previously made several ascents, it was
quite another matter to launch one successfully from the Graf Zeppelin
with her five motor appendages. This problem was finally solved by
weighting the Molchanov balloon and releasing it through a trapdoor
near the keel of the mid-section of the ship. After dropping clear
of the hull one hundred feet or so the weight was automatically loosed,
and the balloon was free to begin its ascent. Of course, after the balloon
is once released there is slight possibility that either the balloon or its
instruments, costing at least two hundred dollars, will be recovered.
Three successful ascents were made with Molchanov balloons during
the Aeroarctic expedition: one east of Franz Josef Land, one over
Severnaya Zemlya, and one in the vicinity of Vaigach Island.
OBSERVATIONS ON EARTH MAGNETISM
Throughout the flight frequent observations (every four hours
north of Leningrad) were taken of the in tensity of the horizontal
force of the earth's magnetism. These determinations were made by
means of the "double compass," loaned for use on the Graf Zeppelin
Expedition by the Carnegie Institution of Terrestial Magnetism of
Washington, D. C.'8 The Italia had a similar instrument which
was lost when the dirigible was destroyed in the Arctic in May, 1928.
The double compass, in order to record accurate determinations of
16 See Fahrtbericht des "Graf Zeppelin," Arktis, Vol. 4,193 r, PP. 39 -41.
11 P. A. Molchanov: Problems and Methods in the Investigation of the Atmosphere in Arctic
Regions, pp. 51-60 in "Transactions of the Second Polar Conference, Leningrad, June 18-23,1928,''
Leningrad, 1930. [In Russian: the original report of the conference, which is less full, was published
in German.[
18 A description of the instrument and the results of earlier observations made on the Graf Zeppelin
are contained in Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity for December, 1930.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18 : CIA-RDP83-00423Rnn7f1nnn1nnnc_n
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE 1-,I;j)( ilt.1111 *I. REVI IkV
its, Ii, -P.115 ice Aoof , f.atul
Hi, pool, of water on 1111 I Dlii kes ,11111114,ill un
PkIll11/(4-1,11.,11 1,7
Ic horizontal MT en-
requires a steady
rm. Th-;e con-
ions were or the
part satt,hed on
G raj. Zept,Ji
ii cx-
Ii when the ship was
ii in cot. 1-Se
.ing in bully rc air.
.erI he ice an water
Ile Arctic he air
!e..tred to I j v-ery
1-1 Ind dou'ile III
ions ag,ree,I. as a
within o.002o of
value of 1.1 with
ii other. In the
air of Se\ 'rriava
Zemlya, where the horizontal imensi weal-? the accuracy of oh-
-;ervations necessarily was less_ The flstrittnet vcas secured to the
fluor of the first caltin on the oral ?-ide aiiaft i e living-roon quar-
tet-sin the forward gondola of the Cr,/ In 01-("11' no eliminate all local
sources of attraction, aluminum beril- were su ?tinned for the iron
ones in this room, and all other in in or ueel obie,
A few determinations of the deviation of th
magnetism were also made, and these ndicated
instances as great as two or three de, lees from
- were also renioved.
total force 01 earth
difference in numy
lieN;alues shown on
tile navigational charts."' En one loc: ity a difir-r"Or1Ce of six (-1:Trees
was noted on the ship's magnetic comp.t-;s front tt it which was printed
on the chart, while another test in Ft riz ,Hsel ind showed a (-lose
('heck Let W eel.] compass error .ind variati( a There was !L'o,tne
speculation as to the actior of the gvrucortipass. tilt which th,' (.;ra.f
./cppe/in is equipped. when we approHilied the itort hem n end 4.. our
flight, it being stated that near the pole the gi H) would van,: con-
,-;iderahly from the geographical meridi we did non pr)-
ceed fart her north than hit it ade t he, W-;1?-; 110 ,nrociahle fail II re
\ 11( )i-Hrity [IA \
it tie or nothing- could he under' ken in
held. The original program of AeroarLic's
he leadership of Nansen reserved a proulinent pla?
it was proposed to lower sonic soundinH apuarat
\ lot ,111 Or.! ut5,si 111 -1,11,,
11 p;Irt ii ..11- are
0 oceanographical
expedition .1 ruler
for oceanogra ph y_
from the bell of
b.1f011011.00:40'1***501110MOMMOVAVAPOW',411111WVOIP:544 ...10*A111. *WNW ? .?
1 :19 great. as
npriaccifiari in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
THE AEROARCTIC EXPEDITION
the dirigible into open
water areas of the
polar cap ice and thus
while the ship hovered
there obtain the depth
to the sea bottom.
Because of the difficul-
ties inherent in such
maneuvering no ob-
servations of this na-
ture were attempted
in 1931. -Subsurface
oceanographic obser-
vations such as are
made by a vessel at
sea would, moreover,
be quite impractical if
not impossible to carry out from a dirigible either in the air or on the
water.
On the other hand an excellent opportunity was afforded not only
for immediate personal observation of the ice from a point of vantage
but also for the securing of a permanent camera record for later study
with greater care and at more leisure. The photographic material
has yet to be arranged and classified under such headings and sub-
headings as: character, age, surface features, pattern, distribution,
percentage of open water to ice, and drift.
One of the important results of the ice observation was to point
out the conditions existing around the northern section of Severnaya
Zemlya. Here we found the land completely ice-locked towards the
sea, with the pack pushed in against the coast so tightly that it coa-
lesced with the ends of the glaciers. The heaviest sea ice was found
in the region adjacent to and northwest of northern Severnaya Zem-
lya. But even there the ice had not the rugged character belonging
to the heavier, older polar cap ice. In fact the relative lightness and
flatness of the sea ice over the entire length of our flight classified it
as belonging to the pack-ice zone intermediate between the polar cap
ice of the central basin and the fast ice of the coastal shelves."
8
17-- White Islands, Franz Josef Land. Note front of
inland (glacial) ice and pack (sea) ice. (Photograph by Basse.)
NAVIGATION
A total of 23 sun sights and one moon sight were taken during the
flight. Weather conditions were unusually favorable for good obser-
vations except for temporary interruptions from fog. The sextant
2. A more detailed report on the subject of ice observation will be published in this year's annual
bulletin of the U. S. Coast Guard entitled "International Ice Observation, Ice Patrol, and Derelict
Destruction Service (1935)."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0
82 l'IlE GEOGRAPHIC:AI REVIEW
used for measuring the altitudes was the lffibble pe manufactured
by C. Plath of Hamburg, Germany. krom experit Hee with the use of
a bubble sextant on shipboard it was tound that tdirigible airshp
provides a much steadier platform. A skilled obse: er under ordinary
air conditions on a dirigible is able to c: tntrol the ,tibble to errors of
altitude not greater than four or five minutes.
Th.e American Geographical Society supplied u before the expedi-
tion started with polar projection chains, ?together with tables, and
a celluloid template containing arcs of :,.-arious al' :1 ude circles, all to
be used in connection with a short nafthod of .4-Aar navigation."
The simplification of this method rests largely on :lie selection of the
geographical pole as the assumed positi,.n of the ....server. Since we
did not approach the pole nearer than fat itude 8i the method was
not considered so feasible. The facilities of na? Igational work on
the Graf Zeppelin are practically the equal of tha? of a sea ship. and
unlike an airplane there is ample table space for books, charts, and
plotting instruments. Good results were obtained with the use of
S. Hvdrographic Office Publication No. 209 entitled "Position
Tables for Aerial and Surface Navigation," and Cie lines of position
were drawn in the usual manner on the ordinary plotting sheets ern-
bracing the required latitudes. Advantage was aken to cross the
astronomical lines of position with is magnetic nnes of horizontal
intensity from values determined by thy double ,?,mpass and guided
liv lit'isk's charts," but the reliability it the isorr ignetic lines is, of
course, questionable.
CI) NI I.
It is all too early vet to form any ,ielinite cc uclusions regarding
the place the work of this expedition will take v ith other scientific
investigations in the Arctic. It was dese2.nated as ,1 preliminary cruise
to a longer flight to take place either in the sumno:N of 1932 or 933.
The S. Coast Guard, with its International lc Patrol researches,
is for one much interested in these airship invest ig ions in the Arci ic.
It hopes to see a successful flight alum. the iceb g-glacier fronts of
Baffin Bay and to realize a camera stu, ty of the eberg distributitm
in \Vest Greenland waters. The Aero trctic Soc ty deserves much
praise for what has been accomplished not onk in outlining plans
for a systematic study of the Arctic's any prof urns, but now as a
result of patience and persistency, it nen.- point w h pride to this, its
first expedition.
his method is described at Sir Iluberi [limn
cil i he Preliminary Flight,: .11. 1ii26 and 1,27, (e?.14?.. Rev 1. 15 H,28
Sec :Harlan \V. Fisk: Isomagnetic ,it Ow clic .5 red, if
"fictiiith .([cling,. pr?I (Ind 11,12., a, 1,1,-, Nate Pest,tich
ii 55.
.isk 1 5 Spitsdiergiii .t
. lwer. GeoP113,- 70,1,
V\ asliiiigton, F I, iip.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/07/18: CIA-RDP83-00423R002300010005-0