Russian expedition set to locate sunken US Navy ship
© RIA Novosti. Mikhail Fomichev

Russian expedition set to locate sunken US Navy ship

Members of a Russian historical/ethnographic expedition aboard the vessel Viktor Buinitsky are set to reach the De Long Islands in the East Siberian Sea October 5-6, and start searching for the USS Jeannette, a naval exploration vessel commanded by Captain George Washington De Long that sank in the East Siberian Sea in 1881.

The expedition is organized on the initiative and with the participation of Prince Albert II of Monaco and the US National Geographic Society. The management of the independent NGO Marine Technologies and Security, a subsidiary of the Russian Defense Ministry's State Research Institute of Navigation and Hydro-Cartography, voiced their intention to conduct the expedition.

"As the remains of the USS Jeannette are an important object of Russian and US history, a team of US scientists acting as observers has been included in the expedition," a spokesperson for expedition organizers said.

On September 27, the historical/ethnographic expedition sailed out from Arkhangelsk aboard the vessel Viktor Buinitsky. The expedition's academic projects include comprehensive scientific research, such as measuring temperature profiles, seawater salinity and meteorological atmospheric parameters, assessing seabed terrain with various devices, using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to study the remains of the USS Jeannette and more.

"We are very happy and proud that we will, at long last, locate the USS Jeannette. Our duty is to remember successful expeditions and those persons who paved the way for future explorers with their efforts and lives. Captain de Long of the USS Jeannette was precisely such an explorer, and our expedition pays tribute to him and his crew," Arthur Chilingarov, the project's head of research and President of the Association of Polar Explorers, told journalists.

On August 28, 1879, the USS Jeannette sailed into the Arctic and toward the North Pole via the Bering Strait. However, the vessel froze fast in just a few days and drifted with sea ice north of the Siberian coast for almost two years. The expedition was well-equipped for research projects, and the crew conducted numerous observations during the entire drift.

The vessel was crushed by ice-floes and sank in June 1881. Only a few crew members were saved, but the ship logs and substantial amounts of data survived. That expedition proved a sensation in its time. If located, the ship's remains will provide unique opportunities for scientific research.