The Simsa Bay or Bay of Sims (russian: Залив Симса; ''Zaliv Simsa'') is a gulf in the
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, t ...
on the coast of the
Taymyr Peninsula
The Taymyr Peninsula (russian: Таймырский полуостров, Taymyrsky poluostrov) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administrat ...
.
Geography
The bay measures about 40 km from the mouth of the
Gol'tsovaya River in the west to its broadest opening to the sea in the east. Its average width is 14 km.
The cluster of islands deep inside the bay is known as Ostrova Zalivnyye . The largest island is 4 km in length.
Owing to its extreme northerly location, the climate in the area of the Simsa Bay is exceptionally severe, with prolonged, bitter winters. This gulf is covered by ice most of the year, sometimes remaining frozen even in the brief summer period.
The
Komsomolskaya Pravda Islands lie off the Simsa Bay's mouth.
Simsa Bay, ''Zaliv Simsa'', should not be confused with
Simskaya Bay, ''Bukhta Simskaya'', an inlet on the right side of the
Khatanga Gulf.
Administration
For administrative purposes the Simsa Bay belongs to the
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...
of the
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
History
In 1940-41 Soviet hydrographers found the remains of people, money, weapons and other items in the Simsa Bay and in the nearby
Faddey Islands. Apparently these were traces of an expedition undertaken by certain Akakiy and Ivan Muromets in the early 17th century. The academician
A.P. Okladnikov, an expert in the ancient cultures of Siberia and the Pacific Basin, studied these findings in 1945. He supposed that the people went there from the west, from the
Yenisei River
The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...
(Historical monument..., 1945).
However, in the 1980s hydrographer V. A. Troitsky put forward a different theory. According to his point of view the deceased seafarers tried to sail by sea from the
Khatanga Gulf to the mouth of the
Yenisei
The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук, ...
on two ships in order to load furs (Troitsky, 1991). But the first ship was crushed by ice in the area of the
Faddey Islands. Even though the crew were able to reach the land, none of them managed to survive. The second ship reached the Simsa Bay, where the crew built a house in order to leave three ill people there. Then the ship made its way to the south, and four people seem to have been able to reach populated places.
References
*
William Barr (Arctic historian)
William Barr (born 1940) is a Scottish historian now resident of Calgary, Canada, with a specific interest in the history of exploration of the Arctic, and to a lesser degree, the Antarctic. He holds degrees in Geography from the University of ...
, ''The First Soviet Convoy to the Mouth of the Lena''.
* Exploration of the area
jstor.organ
erlib.com* History of the area
jstor.org
Gulfs of the Laptev Sea
Gulfs of Krasnoyarsk Krai
{{KrasnoyarskKrai-geo-stub