The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or SovAE) (russian: Советская антарктическая экспедиция, САЭ, ''Sovetskaya antarkticheskaya ekspeditsiya'') was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

's Ministry of Sea Transport was responsible for the administration, logistics and supply of the expeditions. The first Soviet contact with

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

was in January 1947 when the Slava

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

flotilla began whaling in Antarctic waters.

Stations

The first Soviet Antarctic station, '' Mirny'', was established near the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

on February 13, 1956. This was added to in December 1957 by another station, ''Vostok'' built inland near the south geomagnetic pole.

Year-round stations

* Mirny (established February 13, 1956) * Vostok (established December 16, 1957) * Novolazarevskaya (established January 18, 1961) * Molodyozhnaya (established January 14, 1963) * Bellingshausen (established February 22, 1968) * Leningradskaya (established February 25, 1971) * Russkaya (established March 9, 1980) *

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

(established April 1, 1988)

Summer stations

Komsomolskaya Komsomolsky (masculine), Komsomolskoye (neuter), or Komsomolskaya (feminine) may refer to: ;Divisions * Komsomolsky District, several districts in the countries of the former Soviet Union *Komsomolskoye Urban Settlement, several municipal urban set ...

(established November 6, 1957) * Pionerskaya (established May 27, 1956) * Druzhnaya I (on the Filchner Ice Shelf in the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Mar ...

) * Druzhnaya II (on the Weddell Sea)

IGY stations

List of stations in use during the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific i ...

. * Sovetskaya * Pole of inaccessibility station

Expeditions

The Soviet Union engaged in expeditions to Antarctica from 1955 to its dissolution. After this, the Soviet Antarctic stations were taken over by

Russia 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-eigh ...

References

* Boczek, B. A. (October 1984) "The Soviet Union and the Antarctic Regime" in ''The American Journal of International Law'', 78(4):834–58 * Voronin, V. I. (1948) "The first Antarctic whaling expedition of the Slava flotilla" in ''Proceedings of the Soviet Geographical Society'', 80(3):213–222 * * Gan, I, Towards the great unknown: the Soviets prepare for their thrust into the Antarctic interior, National and transnational agendas in Antarctic Research from the 1950s and beyond. Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop of the SCAR Action Group on the History of Antarctic Research, BPRC Technical report no. 2011-01, Byrd Polar Research Centre, Columbus, Ohio, pp. 116–130. (2012) onference Edited* Gan, I, 'The first practical Soviet steps towards getting a foothold in the Antarctic': the Soviet Antarctic whaling flotilla Slava, Polar Record, 47, (240) pp. 21–28. (2009) efereed Article * Gan, I, Soviet Antarctic plans after the International Geophysical Year: changes in policy, Polar Record, 46, (3) pp. 244–256. (2009) efereed Article * Gan, I, The reluctant hosts: Soviet Antarctic expedition ships visit Australia and New Zealand in 1956, Polar Record, 45, (232) pp. 37–50. (2009) efereed Article * Gan, I, Will the Russians abandon Mirny to the penguins after 1959... or will they stay?, Polar Record, 45, (233) pp. 167–175. (2009) efereed Article* Gan, I, The Soviet Preparation for the IGY Antarctic Program and the Australian Response: Politics and Science, Bolet%#237;n Antártico Chileno 2nd SCAR Workshop on the History of Antarctic Research, 22–22 September 2006, Santiago, Chile, pp. 60–70. (2009) on Refereed Conference Paper * Gan, I, The Soviet Preparation for the IGY Antarctic Program and the Australian Response: Politics and Science, 2nd SCAR Workshop on the History of Antarctic Research, 21–22 September 2006, Santiago, Chile, pp. 11–15. (2006) onference Extract * Gan, I, There was no cold war in Antarctica. Soviet-Australian contacts in 1950s, Russia in Antarctica Conference proceedings, April 2006, Saint Petersburg, pp. 77–78. (2006) onference Extract

External links

Map of biological data from the Soviet Antarctic Expedition (1955-1958)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet Antarctic Expedition Antarctica research agencies