The Laptev Sea, the photo and description of which are presented in the article, belongs to the Arctic Ocean basin. The harsh nature of this sea, as well as the entire Arctic, has been of interest to researchers for several centuries. But only today scientists can give reliable answers to questions concerning the characteristics of the climate, animal and flora this mysterious region. Although some time ago such tasks seemed unsolvable.

Laptev Sea on the map

In 1735-1742, thanks to the efforts and long work of Russian researchers, the coastline of the sea was drawn on geographical map. For example, cousins ​​Dmitry and Khariton, after whom the Laptev Sea is named, devoted many years of their lives to the study of the region. Being in the service of the Russian Navy, they were participants in a grandiose scientific research, which was organized by Peter I and was called the Great Northern Expedition.

Today, the boundaries of the sea are set exactly, but the beginning of this difficult and dangerous work was laid in those distant years by such selfless people as the Laptev brothers - Dmitry and Khariton, Semyon Dezhnev and many other of our compatriots.

From the west, the sea washes the eastern shores from the Arctic Cape to the mainland coast of the Khatanga Bay. In the north, maritime borders run from Cape Arkticheskij to the northern shores of Kotelny Island. In the eastern part of the sea waters are washed by the western shores of the Kotelny, Maly and Bolshoy islands. Then the lines pass along and Dmitry Laptev.
From the south, the border of the sea runs along the northern shores of Eurasia from Cape Svyatoy Nos to the Khatanga Bay. It was these sea frontiers that the Laptev brothers explored. The length of the coastal border is 5254 kilometers. The distance from the southeastern coast to the northwestern coast is 1300 kilometers. This is the largest indicator characterizing the size of the sea.

History of the exploration of the region

Given the harsh natural conditions of the Laptev Sea, it is easy to assume that the process of exploring its water area by travelers was not easy and safe. In addition, it should be taken into account that the work began in the 18th century - at a time when the development of many sciences, including navigation, was in its infancy. The level of geographical knowledge was also not very high.

An invaluable contribution to the organization of work on the study of the northern coast of Eurasia along its entire length and the seas of the Arctic Ocean basin was made by brave travelers. Many researchers were officers of the Russian navy.

The brothers Khariton and Dmitry, after whom the Laptev Sea is named, began serving in the navy in 1718, where they were enlisted as midshipmen at a young age. By 1721, young people had already been promoted to midshipmen. Fate decreed that for some time life paths brothers separated. But Dmitry and Khariton were always faithful to the sea, the Russian fleet, giving the best years of their lives to the service.
In 1734, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev was introduced to the Great Northern Expedition as one of the best officers of the Russian fleet. His reputation was so high that he took the position of one of Vitus Bering's assistants, who was appointed head of this large-scale event.

Dmitry Laptev was ordered to take the place of the deceased captain of the Irkutsk ship. It was on it that an attempt was made to explore the waters of the seas washing the mainland from the mouth of the Lena heading east. The expedition turned out to be extremely unsuccessful, since almost the entire team died from cold, scurvy and other diseases.
In August 1736, the Irkutsk under the command of Dmitry Laptev, having left the Lena River Delta, again found himself in the open sea. But after a few days, the voyage had to be interrupted and the ship turned back, since powerful ice blocked the way of the sailors. The captain, taking into account the experience of the previous expedition, decided to save people's lives and spend the winter on land.

Tragic was the fate of those navigators who on the ship "Yakutsk" had to move from the mouth of the Lena in a westerly direction (for research sea ​​spaces). Circumstances developed in such a way that Dmitry Laptev personally had to go to St. Petersburg to receive instructions regarding the further study of the region. He himself also had a plan and was ready to offer it to the leadership, hoping for understanding. The positive outcome of the expedition worried the Russian officer most of all.

Brothers Laptev

So, from 1738, the brothers again begin to serve one common cause. On the recommendation of his cousin Laptev Khariton Prokofievich was appointed captain of the ship "Yakutsk" instead of Pronchishchev, who died on the expedition.
In the summer of 1739, an expedition began, whose goal was not only to survey the northern expanses of the sea, but also to inventory the coastal territories. Therefore, it included detachments that followed by land.

Having a well-developed plan of action, a brave dedicated team on land and at sea, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev by 1741 on the ship "Irkutsk" was able to overcome the distance from the mouth of the Lena to the Kolyma. Having carefully processed the information received, he returned to St. Petersburg in the fall of 1742.

Khariton Prokofievich was supposed to explore the coast and the sea to the west of the mouth of the Lena. Huge difficulties and hardships had to be experienced by the detachments led by Laptev. The explorer and his companions did not stop even when they lost the ship, which was destroyed by ice. The expedition continued on foot. Its result was a description of the territories from the mouth of the Lena River to the Taimyr Peninsula.

The life of such people as the brothers Khariton Prokofievich and Dmitry Yakovlevich, after whom the Laptev Sea is named, can rightfully be called a feat. Everyone who touches the study of history understands this. Amazing perseverance and determination, boundless love for Russia helped these people overcome the seemingly insurmountable.

Geological structure of the seabed

The depth of the Laptev Sea is very contrasting. This circumstance was discovered more than 200 years ago, when the ships of the first expeditions repeatedly ran aground. It should be noted that the largest depth indicator is 2980 meters, the smallest is 15, and the average is 540 meters. This can be explained by the steep continental slope of the area where the sea is located. Given the depth indicator, it is divided into southern and northern parts. In this case, the reference point is the parallel, where the Vilkitsky Bay is located.

On the nature of the bottom soil of the Laptev Sea big influence provided by the rivers flowing into it. They carry a large number of sand, silt and other sedimentary rocks. Their accumulation is 25 centimeters per year. In addition, boulders, large and small pebbles are found in the shallow zone at the bottom of the sea.

The huge glaciers of Severnaya Zemlya contribute to the formation of icebergs. The water column of the Laptev Sea contains a large amount of ice. Its melting and waves are actively destroying the coastline. Sometimes, as a result of such processes, small islands go under water.

Climatic conditions

There are several factors that determine the harsh climate of the region.
Considering the Laptev Sea on the map, we can draw the following conclusions:

• it is located in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere;
• the proximity of the Central Arctic Basin cannot but influence the climate of the region;
• distance of the sea from the Atlantic Pacific Ocean deprive him of the opportunity to receive the warming effect of water.

Most of the time, calm, slightly cloudy weather prevails over the sea. Only cyclones that pass south of the water area bring heavy snowfalls accompanied by strong winds.

In the southern part of the Laptev Sea, it is cold for nine months, and in its northern regions, negative temperatures are recorded for 11 months. The coldest month of winter is January. The average monthly air temperature is 26-28 degrees below zero. There are known cases of lowering the mercury column to -61 o C.
cool summers here are far from uncommon. Rather, on the contrary - a significant increase in temperature (for example, up to 24-32 degrees) is a rare and unusual phenomenon. August is considered the warmest summer month. At this time, thermometers record +7...+9 degrees in the south and +1 o C in the northern part of the sea. The main distinguishing characteristic of the climate of the Laptev Sea is a strong and prolonged cooling with a relatively calm wind regime.

salinity and water temperature. Currents and glaciers

The distribution of water salinity in the Laptev Sea is significantly affected by the fact that major rivers mainland carry here a significant amount fresh water. In this regard, the salinity of the southern regions of the sea is much lower than the northern ones. For the same reason, the percentage of salt content increases in winter, and in the warm season, water desalination is observed. The rivers Lena, Khatanga, Yana, Olenyok in summer bring up to 90% of the annual flow of fresh water. At the same time, intense activity occurs, which also affects the salinity index. It should also be noted that this indicator is not the same in the surface and deep layers of the sea water column. Salinity is lower on the surface.

The depth of the Laptev Sea determines the water temperature. This indicator also depends on the location of the waters relative to the coastal part, the influence of currents, and the time of year. Most often it is equal to zero. AT summer period in some coastal zones and in shallow water, the temperature is 4-6 degrees Celsius. In the bays, which, by the way, there are a lot, it approaches the mark of 10 o C, and in the open sea it does not exceed two degrees.

The system of currents in the Laptev Sea has not been studied well enough. However, it is known that rivers again play a big role in this, carrying huge volumes of water into the sea.
Among the permanent currents of the Laptev Sea, one can name the Novosibirsk and East Taimyr. It should be noted that the speed of water movement is low, the strength of the currents is weak and unstable.

At the end of September, the process of ice formation begins throughout the water area, which greatly complicates navigation. From October to May, the waters of the Laptev Sea are ice-bound. At the same time, fast ice forms on approximately 30% of its area, the rest is covered with drifting ice floes. In June and July, they melt. However, only by August a large area of ​​the sea surface is freed from ice shackles.

Animal and plant world

The flora and fauna of the Laptev Sea is typical of the Arctic. Phytoplankton is represented by algae. Marine ciliates, copepods and amphipods, rotifers are typical representatives of zooplankton.

In the depths of the sea, such fish species as Siberian whitefish, omul, nelma, and sturgeon are common. Walruses, beluga whales, seals are representatives of the order of mammals. In the icy deserts there is a formidable inhabitant of the Arctic - the polar bear.

Islands of the Laptev Sea

On the territory of the sea there are about two dozen large and small islands. It is noteworthy that scientists discovered the remains of mammoths on them. They are well preserved, so the finds are of great scientific value. The modern inhabitants of the islands are arctic foxes and polar bears.
Near the coast of the continent, small islands are usually located in groups. It's about about such areas of land as the islands of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Thaddeus, Petra, Aerial photography, the Danube. There are also larger ones located singly. These include Bolshoi Begichev, Sandy, Muostah, Makar.

Rivers of the Laptev Sea

As mentioned earlier, the largest rivers flowing into the sea have a significant impact on many factors. Their location in the direction from east to west is as follows: Yana, Lena, Olenyok, Anabar, Khatanga. It was these reservoirs that were actively used by the researchers of the region - Khariton and Dmitry Laptev, after whom the Laptev Sea was named.

These rivers affect the level of salt content in sea water. Thanks to the work of the mentioned water arteries, the relief of the seabed was formed, its outlines coastline, composition of sedimentary rocks and suspensions.

Prospects for the development of the region

Today, the Laptev Sea is included in the research program, which has been carried out jointly by scientists from Russia and Germany for the past twenty years. Modern scientists always remember that this event was started by Peter I. And such brave travelers as Vitus Bering, Dmitry Laptev and Khariton and many other polar explorers are forever inscribed in the history of Arctic exploration.

Now the program for the study of the Laptev Sea and the territories adjacent to it has received international status. About 15 Russian and 12 German scientific organizations of various profiles are included in the mentioned activity. The work is expected to be completed by 2015. And today, scientists have made many sensational discoveries.

The results obtained during the study of the territories under consideration are unique. Thanks to the materials obtained during sea and land expeditions, scientists can learn a lot of interesting things about the past climatic epochs of the Arctic, understand the conditions for the formation of the climate that exists in the region today.

The Laptev Sea is considered to be a huge storage of ice and fresh water.
The expedition, carried out by the efforts of the two states, using the most modern technology, instruments and scientific methods, will expand people's understanding of the Arctic, use the obtained scientific data for practical purposes.

12/21/1763 (3.1). - Khariton Prokofievich Laptev, explorer of the Arctic and the Russian North, captain of the 1st rank, died.

(1700–21.12.1763) - a polar explorer, the creator of the map of Taimyr, who wrote a glorious page in the history of the development of the Russian North. Born in 1700 in a family of small landed nobles in the village of Pekarevo, Velikoluksky district (later as part of the Pskov province). He received his first education at the Trinity Church under the guidance of priests. In 1715 he continued his studies at the Naval Academy of St. Petersburg, graduating in 1718.

He began his service in the Navy in 1718 as a midshipman. In the spring of 1726 he was promoted to midshipman. In 1734, he participated in the War of the Polish Succession on the frigate Mitava, which was taken prisoner by the French by deceit. After returning from captivity and being declared innocent, Laptev returned to the fleet. In 1737 he commanded the court yacht "Dekrone" and was promoted to lieutenant. However, the calm service in the capital did not correspond to his character, and, having heard that officers were being recruited for distant expedition to Kamchatka and the Arctic, he applied for enrollment.

In December 1737, he was appointed head of one of the detachments with instructions to survey and describe the Arctic coast west of the Lena to the mouth of the Yenisei. At that time, they had no idea how laborious this task was and how far north the Arctic tip of the earth's continental landmass (now) goes.

In July 1739, Laptev and his people left Yakutsk on the dubel-boat "Yakutsk". Having gone out into the ocean and constantly struggling with the ice, either sailing, or oaring, or pushing with poles among the ice, almost a month later he reached the mouth of the Olenyok River. Having described part of the mouth, he went to the Khatanga Bay, where he was detained by ice. Only on August 21 did he approach Cape St. Thaddeus at 76 ° 47 "north latitude. Here he met solid ice and returned to the Khatanga Bay, where he had to spend the winter in the neighborhood with several Evenki families. Using their experience, to protect the team from scurvy, Laptev included stroganina (frozen fresh fish) in his daily diet. During the winter, he collected information from local residents about the northern coast, taking it into account in his plans.

The following year, by August, we again reached the exit to the ocean. At a latitude of 75 ° 30 "the ship was covered with ice, carried across the sea, every minute threatening to crush. Two days later it was decided to leave the ship that had leaked, a day later it was crushed and sank along with the main part of the cargo. Having dragged part of the vital supplies to the shore along ice, after a grueling campaign they returned to the old winter quarters on October 15. Thus, two years of efforts to go around the northern tip of Eurasia by sea failed (this is not even possible every year even in our time). big ships). Laptev decided to describe the shores by land, moving on dogs, which he set about in the spring of 1741 with the onset of daylight. The polar day (when the sun does not set below the horizon, describing circles in the sky) lasts about four months in Taimyr, and snow blindness has become an unforeseen obstacle for researchers.

Having sent surplus people on deer to Dudinka, Laptev left the surveyor Nikifor Chekin, four soldiers, one carpenter and a non-commissioned officer to survey the coast of Taimyr. Laptev divided the rest into three groups. He first sent Chelyuskin to the west to survey the Pyasina River and the western bank from the mouth of the Pyasina to the Taimyr River. Chekin was sent to describe the east coast, moving to the northwest (that is, he had to discover the northernmost cape), but due to snow blindness, he described only 600 kilometers and was forced to return to the winter hut. Laptev himself in April-May 1741 went from the winter hut to Lake Taimyr and further along the Lower Taimyr reached the ocean. Then, changing the original route, he moved northeast along the coast to the proposed meeting with Chekin. However, also suffering from snow blindness, Laptev could only reach 76°42'N, left a sign for Chekin there, and returned to the Taimyr Bay. The warehouse with food for the expedition prepared earlier was stolen and eaten by polar bears and arctic foxes. Having barely recovered from an eye disease and hoping to find food at Chelyuskin, Laptev went west, examined several islands (from the Nordenskiöld archipelago), turned south and on June 1 at Cape Leman (in Middendorf Bay) met with Chelyuskin. However, Semyon Ivanovich's food also turned out to be short, and his dogs were very emaciated, he had to hunt for polar bear. Further, in a joint campaign, they identified and mapped a number of bays, capes and coastal islands in the Kara Sea. This entire section of the Arctic Ocean was subsequently named the coast of Khariton Laptev (and the famous northern cape, discovered a year later, was named after Chelyuskin).

On June 9, 1841, both returned to the mouth of the Pyasina, where they again separated: Laptev went up the river in a boat to Lake Pyasino, and from there on deer went to the Yenisei, Chelyuskin on deer along the coast also reached the mouth of the Yenisei and there caught up with Laptev, and near at the mouth of the Dudinka River they were met by Chekin. In August, everyone moved to the Yenisei and wintered in Turukhansk in order to build up strength and prepare for the description of the most inaccessible northern part of the Taimyr Peninsula. We decided to start it in the conditions polar night. S.I. was sent there in December 1741. Chelyuskin, along with the three soldiers accompanying him and the cargo on five dog sleds. On May 7, 1742, Chelyuskin reached this cape and then made an inventory from Cape St. Thaddeus to the Taimyr River, where Laptev went to meet him. After that, they returned to Turukhansk, and Laptev went to St. Petersburg with reports and reports that contained valuable information about the previously unexplored coast of the Arctic with a length of over two thousand kilometers and about the Taimyr Peninsula with its lakes and rivers.

Subsequently, Laptev continued to serve on the ships of the Baltic Fleet. From 1746 he commanded the ship "Ingermanland". In 1754 he was promoted to captain of the 3rd rank, in 1757 - of the 2nd rank. In the course, commanding the ship "Uriil", went to Danzig and Karlskrona, in 1758 he was promoted to captain of the 1st rank. In 1762, he was appointed Ober-Ster-Krigs Commissar, who was in charge of providing the armed forces with everything necessary. In this position, Laptev worked until his death in his native village of Pekarevo on December 21, 1763.

In honor of Khariton Laptev, the southwestern coast of the Taimyr Peninsula was named the coast of Khariton Laptev. The two capes of Makhotkin Island are named Cape Laptev and Cape Khariton. In 1913, the Russian Geographical Society approved the name of the Laptev Sea in honor of Khariton Laptev and his cousin Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev (he also participated in the Great Northern Expedition, describing the coast east of the Lena River to the mouth of the Kolyma River).

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev remained as a navigator, but most geographical discoveries it was not made by him at sea. If you trace the route of the polar wanderings of the legendary explorer on the map, you can easily make sure that he made the main path by land.

Khariton was born in 1700 in the small village of Pekarevo, which lies in the Veliky Slutsk province, now located on the territory of the Pskov region. The future navigator received his first education at the Trinity Church under the supervision of priests. And in 1715, Laptev continued his studies at the Naval Academy of St. Petersburg, graduating in 1718. In the same year he entered the fleet with the rank of midshipman. The next years the young guy spent in the study of the sea craft. It is known that Khariton Prokofievich did not avoid any difficult or painstaking work. People like him were always called workhorses in the service. In the spring of 1726, he was promoted to midshipman, and in 1734, on the Mitau frigate, Laptev took part in hostilities against the associates of the rebellious Polish magnate, the king of the Commonwealth - Leshchinsky.

During the operations of the Russian fleet near Danzig, their ship was sent for reconnaissance, during which the ship was fraudulently captured by the French, who spoke just a couple of days before what happened on the side of the prince of Lithuania. Returning from captivity, Laptev, along with the rest of the frigate officers, was sentenced to death penalty. However, after lengthy proceedings and additional investigation, the Mitau crew was fully acquitted, and midshipman Khariton Laptev, who was found not guilty along with the rest of the officers, returned to the fleet.

In the summer of 1736, Laptev, already an experienced sailor, took part in the campaign of the Baltic Fleet, after which he was sent to the Don, entrusted with finding a suitable place for building ships. In 1737 he was promoted to lieutenant, having received command of the court yacht Dekron. However, when he heard that there was a recruitment of officers wishing to participate in the Northern Expedition, he applied for enrollment. Apparently, the calm service at the court attracted Khariton less than the full deprivation of the fate of the polar explorer. In the end, on the twentieth of December 1737, he was appointed commander of the detachment of the next Great Northern Campaign. Time has shown the correctness of the choice for such a responsible post of this most educated and most experienced naval officer, who possessed outstanding willpower, energy and courage.

It must be added here that the Russian Admiralty initially did not recognize the results of Vitus Bering's campaign. Having studied his reports along with the attached materials, on December 20, 1737, the members of the board considered them incomplete and, contrary to the opinion of Bering himself, decided to send two expeditions “for verification” with instructions to explore and describe the coast in the area between the mouths of the Lena and Yenisei rivers.

Both detachments were given deadlines for the completion of all work, instructing "to try with extreme diligence and jealousy so that the work is completed in every possible way." In February 1738, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev, a famous polar traveler and cousin of Khariton Prokofievich, arrived in the northern capital. He brought with him journals, reports and maps that he had compiled during his previous trip as head of an expedition to study the sea coast east of the Lena. It was he who spoke about the accumulations of ice near the mouth of the Lena, which extremely hinder the progress of ships, and also suggested the idea of ​​mapping the coast by moving overland. Here, Dmitry Yakovlevich received an order to continue the inventory of the coast east of the Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma, and from there, on the way back, taking a ship, try to go around Cape Dezhnev.

The brothers left St. Petersburg together, in Kazan they accepted rigging for ships, and in Irkutsk - money, provisions and gifts to the inhabitants of Siberia. The far-sighted Khariton Laptev convinced the Irkutsk office to prepare dogs and deer for them on the coast just in case. In addition, people were sent to the mouths of Taimyr, Khatanga and Anabar in order to start harvesting fish and building dwellings in case the expedition spent the winter in those places.

At the end of May 1739, the members of the expedition gathered in Yakutsk, and on June 5, Khariton Laptev led the small ship Yakutsk down the Lena. A month later, the travelers reached the mouth of the Olenyok River, where they entered the “great ice”. Further, the dubel-boat went either under oars, or under sails, either pushing ice floes with poles, or punching the way with picks. On July 28, the Laptev team reached east entrance into the strait between Begichev Island and the mainland. The entire strait was occupied by motionless ice.

To bypass the island and enter the Khatanga Bay, Yakutsk headed north. Having broken through the ice, Laptev brought the ship into the Khatanga Bay on August 6, and on August 17, having passed the Peter Islands, the ship went west along the coast. On August 21, at Cape Thaddeus, the path of Yakutsk was again blocked by motionless ice. It was not possible to determine its boundaries due to dense fog, and besides, frosts began. It was necessary to choose a place for wintering, but a survey of the coast led to disappointing results: there was no fin for building housing. After conferring, the researchers decided to return to the Khatanga Bay. By the 27th, "Yakutsk" with great difficulty made its way to the place where it stood at the beginning of the month. From here, Laptev went south, entering Khatanga, he reached the mouth of the Prodigal, where several Evenk families lived. Next to them, the detachment stayed for the winter.

To protect the team from scurvy, Khariton Laptev included frozen fresh fish in his daily diet. Largely due to this, during the entire first winter, not one of the travelers caught this terrible disease. During the winter, Laptev himself collected information about the northern region, listening to the stories of local residents.

On June 15, Khatanga opened up, but due to the ice masses accumulated in the bay, the dubel-boat managed to get out of the river only on July 13. For a whole month, Yakutsk overcame the ice in the bay. Once at sea, the ship already during the first days moved relatively far to the north. However, on August 13, at around 75 ° 26 "northern latitude, the dubel-boat approached the border of unbroken ice, which stretched to the northeast from the coast. The Yakutsk headed along the edge, but the wind changed, began to overtake the ice, and soon the ship jammed. The wind intensified ", the ice squeezed the ship more and more, the flow began. The team protected the sides with logs from ice pressure, bailed out water, but this did not save the ship. Soon the ice broke the stem, and already on August 14, Laptev ordered to unload a heavy load: anchors, guns, provisions. When it became it is finally clear that the position of the dubel-boat is hopeless, the people also left the ship.

A day later, after the formation of sufficiently strong ice, Khariton Laptev led the sailors ashore. Having warmed themselves by the fires, the tired travelers set about building a dugout and carrying cargo left near Yakutsk. On August 31, the ice began to move, as a result of which the double-boat was destroyed. Together with her, the part of the cargo that remained on the ice also disappeared. The detachment could not immediately go to the populated areas to the south because of the ice drift on the rivers. Travelers waited until September 21, after which they set off on an exhausting hike. On October 15, Laptev and his detachment arrived at the place of the second wintering near the Prodigal River.

The results of the voyages of Vasily Pronchishchev in 1736 and his own sad experience convinced Khariton Prokofievich of the impossibility of sailing along the coast between the mouths of Taimyr and Pyasina. In addition, his only ship, the Yakutsk, was destroyed by ice. However, the courageous traveler did not even think of complaining about the difficult conditions or returning back to St. Petersburg with requests to organize a new expedition. In November 1740, Khariton Laptev made a non-standard decision - to carry out the planned cartographic work "dry way", on dogs. He began to carry out this in the early spring of 1741.

Map of Taimyr created by Khariton Laptev based on the results of his expedition

Since a much smaller number of people were needed to carry out an inventory of the coast from land than lived in the camp, Khariton Laptev left only the surveyor Nikifor Chekin, Semyon Chelyuskin, four soldiers, one carpenter and a non-commissioned officer. The remaining members of the detachment in two groups (February 15 and April 10) went on reindeer to Dudinka, located on the Yenisei.

The first group, including Chelyuskin and two soldiers, set out west on three dogsleds on March 17, 1741. Their goal was to make an inventory of the coast from the mouth of the Pyasina to Taimyr. On April 15, the second group, consisting of Chekin, one soldier and a local Yakut resident, left the winter hut, who set off on an assignment to reconnoiter the eastern coast of Taimyr. Khariton Prokofievich himself, on four dog sleds and accompanied by one soldier, set off on April 24. Six days later he reached Lake Taimyr, crossed it and went to the source of Taimyr. Moving further north along its valley, on May 6, Laptev found himself at the mouth of this river and made sure that his location was much west of the Gulf of Thaddeus. In this regard, he decided to change his original plan. Realizing that Nikifor Chekin would have to complete an inventory of the coast of a much larger area than expected, Khariton Laptev moved forward to meet his surveyor. His path lay to the east, and not to the west, as he planned earlier.

On May 13, Laptev reached a latitude of 76 ° 42 "and was forced to delay due to the onset of a strong blizzard. In addition, he began to have pain in his eyes, the so-called snow blindness. Further travel could only increase the disease. After the weather improved, Laptev decided Leaving Chekin a sign, return to the mouth of the Taimyr and find a previously prepared camp with food for the expedition.On May 17, he was in place, but there was no food brought in. The prepared fish was taken away and eaten by polar bears and arctic foxes, and it was necessary to leave the food supply to Chekin for feeding dogs. Therefore, he went west to meet Semyon Chelyuskin, hoping to find "help" from him. He set off on May 19, as soon as the pain in his eyes subsided. Moving west, on May 24, Laptev approached an unknown cape, from which the coast turned south. Having determined the latitude - 76 ° 39 "- and putting a noticeable sign on the cape, the traveler moved on.

He met Chelyuskin on June 1 at the end point of his route - near the sign of Sterlegov, set in 1740 at Cape Leman. Unfortunately, Semyon Ivanovich's food also turned out to be short, and Chelyuskin's dogs were extremely exhausted. Travelers were rescued only by a successful hunt for polar bears. The local spring was approaching and, fearing to get stuck on the deserted shores for a long time, the sailors moved to the winter hut at the mouth of the Pyasina. Along the way, together they discovered and mapped a number of coastal islands, bays and capes.

By June 9, they reached the mouth of the Pyasina and were stopped by the onset of floods. A month later, the travelers managed to take a boat up the river to a lake called Pyasino. The path was very difficult, however, fortunately, here Laptev met the nomadic Nenets and got on reindeer to Golchikha, and from there on a passing ship along the Yenisei to Dudinka.

Near the mouth of the Dudinka River, Chekin was already waiting for travelers. It turned out that he managed to get only to the Peter Islands (up to a latitude of 76 ° 35 "), describing six hundred kilometers of the coast. After that, his eyes were struck by the eternal illness of all explorers of the polar deserts - snow blindness. He could not go further and was forced to return to the winter hut .

When Laptev analyzed the results of the work of all three groups, it turned out that their task was not fully completed. The section of the coast located between Cape Thaddeus, located in the east, and the place in the west, which Khariton Prokofievich himself reached, remained unmapped. It was decided to postpone the description of this site until next winter. On September 29, the travelers arrived in Turukhansk, where they prepared for the decisive campaign.

On December 4, 1741, Chelyuskin was the first to leave Turukhansk, along with three soldiers accompanying him and on five dog teams. On February 8, 1742, Khariton Laptev followed him in five teams. At the end of May, he reached the mouth of the Taimyr, where he met with Semyon Ivanovich, who made an inventory from Cape Thaddeus to Taimyr, including the North-Eastern Cape - the northernmost part of the Taimyr Peninsula, later called Cape Chelyuskin. From the mouth of the Taimyr, they returned together to Turukhansk, from where the whole detachment went to Yeniseisk, mapping the banks of the Yenisei along the way. By August 27, 1742, the travelers were at their destination, the task assigned to them was successfully completed.

Expeditions led by Khariton Laptev, as a result of the most difficult trials and incredible efforts, managed to plot over two thousand kilometers of land on the maps of Russia. In addition, he was able to largely explore the previously “closed” Taimyr Peninsula, and also prove that the Taimyr flows into the Kara Sea in a different place than previously assumed. Of course, the data collected by Khariton Laptev and his people cannot be considered absolutely correct. He himself understood this very well. Indeed, at that time, researchers were armed with rather imperfect tools that gave extremely approximate results. In those days, even the chronometer, the simplest device for determining longitude, had not yet been invented. In addition, we must not forget that the Laptev detachment worked in the winter. Heavy snow cover made it difficult to determine the exact contours of the coastline. Nevertheless, this in no way detracts from the merits of Khariton Prokofievich, an explorer of one of the most severe places in the Arctic Ocean.

On September 13, 1743, Khariton Laptev brought a report to the Admiralty describing the results of the work of his detachment. In addition, the report included personal notes of the navigator, which, as it turned out, were of great scientific value. Laptev himself explained that he wrote them as "news" to his descendants and entered into them only what he considered "indecent to mark in a journal" as not related to the main activity of the detachment. The papers gave a detailed description of various rivers, lakes and their shores in a concise form, systematization of ethnographic information about the peoples inhabiting the Taimyr Peninsula was carried out. The traveler's observations were fully confirmed later. Khariton Prokofievich's notes were highly appreciated by scientists in Russia and many other countries.

After his great journey to the north, Laptev continued to serve in the Baltic Fleet. In 1746 he commanded the 66-gun battleship Ingermanland. Later, as the captain of the Uriel ship, he went to Karlskron and Danzig. In the spring of 1757, Laptev was assigned to the Navigator Company to carry out special training future navigators. Laptev held military positions until 1762, commanding ships in the summer months. By this time, he was already in the rank of captain of the First Rank.

On April 10, 1762, the elderly Khariton Prokofievich was appointed Ober-Ster-Kriegs-Commissar of the Fleet. On the one hand, this "four-story" land position was very profitable and was considered very high, but on the other hand it was unbearably boring and tedious. In the Russian army, "commissars" were in charge of money, supply of troops, equipment, uniforms, camp and convoy equipment, manual equipment and much more. In this position, Laptev worked until his death. The legendary navigator died in his native village of Pekarevo on December 21, 1763.

The Motherland has not forgotten the names of the brave participants in the Great Northern Expedition. The names of the leaders of the expedition, which described the coast between the mouths of the Yenisei and the Lena, remained on the map of the globe, reminding posterity of the feat of their compatriots. The name of Khariton Laptev was given to a section of the coast lying between the mouths of the Pyasina and Taimyr rivers. The two northeastern capes of Pilot Makhotkin Island, located near Taimyr Island, are called Cape Laptev and Cape Khariton, respectively. And on the eastern shores of the Taimyr Peninsula, Cape Khariton Laptev protrudes into the sea. In honor of the Laptev cousins, Khariton and Dmitry, one of the most severe seas of the Arctic Ocean, the Laptev Sea, is named. What could be the best posthumous award for a Russian polar traveler?

The name "Laptev Sea" officially appeared on the map of the Arctic Ocean only in Soviet time, despite the fact that these places were explored by the Laptev brothers in the first half of the 18th century. Previously, this sea was called differently - both Tatar and Lena, even Siberian and Arctic. In 1883, the famous polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen from Norway even gave the sea the name Nordenskiöld. However, the Russian Geographical Society in 1913 approved its current name, which was officially fixed by a resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR in the summer of 1935.

Adapted from www.polarpost.ru/Library/Notes_Laptev/03.html and www.polarmuseum.ru/bio/polarex/bio_hlap/bio_hlap.htm

ctrl Enter

Noticed osh s bku Highlight text and click Ctrl+Enter

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev (1700 - 12/21/1763), Russian navigator and explorer of the Arctic, cousin Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev.

Khariton Prokofievich Laptev in December 1737 was appointed head of the detachment of the Great Northern Expedition with instructions to explore and describe the Arctic coast to the west of Lena to the mouth of the Yenisei. In 1743 he returned to St. Petersburg, having successfully completed the task, continued to serve on the ships of the Baltic Fleet (since 1762 - ober-shter-kriegs-commissar). The reports and reports of Laptev in 1739-1743 contain valuable information about the progress of the work of the northern detachment of the Great Northern Expedition, about the hydrography of the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula.

Laptev Khariton Prokofievich (? -1763) - captain of the 1st rank, member of the Great Northern Expedition, chief stern-kriegscommissar (since 1762).

In 1734, as a midshipman, he sailed on the Baltic Sea on the Mitau frigate, which was captured by a French squadron. After the exchange of prisoners, the commander and all the officers of the frigate, including Laptev, were sentenced to death for surrendering the ship without a fight to the enemy. When it became clear that the convicts were not guilty, they were all returned to their former ranks.

In 1737 he was appointed to the Great Northern Expedition to survey the coast of Siberia from the river. Lena to the river. Yenisei. He participated in the expedition by water until 1740, when the dowel-boat "Yakutsk" was covered with ice. Then he continued the expedition by land. By 1742, he completed an inventory of the entire continental coast of the sea, which in Soviet times was called the Laptev Sea.

Used materials of the book: A.A. Grigoriev, V.I. Gasumyanov. History of state reserves of Russia (from the 9th century to 1917). 2003.

LAPTEV Khariton Prokofievich (1700–1763/64), Russian navigator, captain of the 1st rank (1753), one of the discoverers of the Arctic, a member of the Great Northern Expedition. In the position of head of the Lena-Khatanga detachment, together with the surveyor Nikifor Chekin and the navigator S.I. Chelyuskin in 1733–42. made the first instrumental survey of more than 3.5 thousand km of the coast of North Asia between the Lena and the Yenisei, including both shores of the Khatanga Bay (about 500 km). Identified the Taimyr Peninsula (the largest on the territory of Russia) with a lake, a river and the Byrranga mountains, discovered the islands of Bolshoi and Maly Begichev, Nordvik Bay, a number of bays and capes, as well as islands included in the Nordensheld archipelago, mistakenly taken for sowing . protrusion of the mainland. He discovered the seaside, later named the Khariton Laptev Coast, correctly mapped the south. border of the North Siberian lowland for 1.5 thousand km and collected the first information about the local population - the Tavgians (Nganasans). Thanks to the diet of stroganina (frozen fish), introduced by the commander, there was not a single case of scurvy during three winterings. Upon his return to St. Petersburg (1743), Laptev submitted a report to the Admiralty Board, in which he outlined the results of the work of the detachment. He prepared for printing the first charter of the Kara and Laptev seas, published only in 1851. Later he participated in the compilation of the General Map of the Russian Empire (1746). Three capes bear his name (except for the Taimyr coast); The sea is named after cousins ​​Khariton and Dmitry Laptev.

Modern illustrated encyclopedia. Geography. Rosman-Press, M., 2006.

Dmitry Yakovlevich and Khariton Prokopevich Laptev (XVIII century)

The Russian Navy gave our country not only remarkable naval commanders and scientists, but also a whole galaxy of brave travelers and explorers. The latter include cousins, lieutenants of the fleet - Dmitry Yakovlevich and Khariton Prokopyevich Laptev, wonderful Russian polar explorers, members of the Great Northern Expedition.

Peter I laid the foundation for one of the grandest scientific expeditions of all times - the Great Northern Expedition. The first, so-called Kamchatka, expedition set itself the task of determining whether Asia and America are connected by an isthmus or separated by a strait. Commander was appointed head of the expedition Vitus Jonassen Bering, a Dane by origin, even in his youth adopted by Peter I to serve in the Russian fleet and served in it for 37 years.

This expedition, successfully carried out from 1725 to 1730, was a prologue to the second stage of work - the Great Northern Expedition, which worked from 1733 to 1743 and was led until 1741 by V. Bering.

The task of the expedition was to study and describe the Russian shores from Yugorsky Shar to Kamchatka and map them. Up to 600 people, divided into several detachments, took part in it.

Two of them, under the command of lieutenants Pronchishchev and Lasinius, had to leave Yakutsk along the Lena to the sea, explore and make an inventory of the coast - Pronchishchev from the Lena to the Yenisei and Lasinius - from the Lena to Kolyma and further to Kamchatka.

The detachments did not fulfill their task.

Peter Lacinius, Swede by nationality, was accepted into the Russian service in 1725. He swam a lot and was a knowledgeable navigator. Lasinius volunteered for the expedition. Bering appointed him head of the detachment, which was supposed to describe the coast from the mouth of the Lena to Kamchatka. The detachment had built in Yakutsk boat "Irkutsk"eighteen meters long, five and a half meters wide, with a draft of two meters.

Lasinius and his detachment left Yakutsk on June 29, 1735, at the same time as Pronchishchev's detachment. On August 2, both detachments arrived at Stolb Island, located at the beginning of the Lena delta.

On the second day, "Irkutsk", having passed the Bykovskaya channel, reached the seaside. Two days later, waiting for a fair wind, Lasinius took his ship out to sea.

Navigation was hampered by large accumulations of ice and unfavorable winds. Therefore, already on August 18, Lasinius introduced a boat at the mouth of the Kharaulakh River, deciding to spend the winter here.

From the fin lying on the shore, the team quickly built a house.

Counting on another two years of work, Lasinius decided to save food and halved the ration. Chronic malnutrition with ignorance of antiscorbutic drugs led to a massive illness with scurvy, which claimed the lives of thirty-eight people. One of the first to die was Lasinius himself.

Only 9 people survived this terrible winter. Commander Bering sent a special expedition to rescue 9 people under the command of navigator Shcherbinin, who delivered them to Yakutsk. Boat "Irkutsk" remained at the mouth of Kharaulakh. Bering appointed one of his closest assistants, Lieutenant Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev.

Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev was born in 1701 in the village of Bolotovo not far from Velikiye Luki. In 1715, together with his cousin Khariton Laptev, Dmitry entered the Naval Academy in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the Academy in 1718, he was promoted to midshipman and began serving in the Baltic Fleet on the ships of the Kronstadt squadron.

In 1721 Laptev received the rank of midshipman, in 1724 he was promoted to non-commissioned lieutenant for special services in marine sciences. Since 1725, the young officer served on the Favoritka ship, which sailed along the Gulf of Finland. From 1727, for two years, Dmitry Laptev served as commander of the frigate "Saint Jacob", and then commander of a packet boat that cruised between Kronstadt and Lubeck.

Laptev's first acquaintance with northern seas took place in the summer of 1730, when he sailed in the Barents Sea on the frigate "Russia" under the command of Captain Barsh. In 1731 Dmitry Laptev was promoted to lieutenant.

A highly educated and knowledgeable officer, Dmitry Laptev, was noticed by the Admiralty College and included in the list of participants in the Great Northern Expedition. In July 1735, D. Ya. Laptev arrived in Yakutsk. He was instructed to lead a caravan of small river boats with the property of the expedition along the Aldan, Maya and Yudoma as close as possible to Okhotsk, build warehouses, put cargo in them, and then bring the ships to Yakutsk. Laptev successfully completed this task, guiding the ships to the Yudoma Cross.

Initially, it was supposed to appoint Lieutenant Laptev to the Bering-Chirikov detachment or to the Shpanberg detachment. However, in 1736, when the tragic fate of the detachment of Lieutenant Lasinius became clear, a decision was made to appoint Dmitry Laptev as the new commander of the Lena-Yenisei detachment.

Having received an order to replace the deceased Lasinius, D. Ya. Laptev formed a detachment in Yakutsk and in the spring of 1736, having gone out to sea along the Lena, reached the mouth of the river in light boats. Kharaulakh, where the abandoned Irkutsk stood.

Having put the ship in order, D. Ya. Laptev returned on it to the delta of the river. Lena for loading food and equipment delivered there in advance by boat from Yakutsk. On August 22, 1736, D. Ya. Laptev finished loading and went to sea, heading east. Heavy ice blocked the way. Four days later, D. Ya. Laptev was forced to turn back. With difficulty he reached the Lena and, climbing up it, stood a little higher than Bulun for the winter.

The scurvy came again. But D. Ya. Laptev took into account the sad experience of his predecessor. He recommended to his team more air, more movement, more nutrition. As a result, the wintering went relatively well - everyone had scurvy, but only one person died.

In the summer of 1737, D. Ya. Laptev returned to Yakutsk to agree on a plan for further work with Bering. But Bering was no longer in Yakutsk. Here D. Ya. Laptev learned about the sad fate of Pronchishchev.

Biography

Born in 1702 in the estate of Bogimovo, Tarusa district, Kaluga province (12 kilometers from the city of Aleksin) in the noble family of the Pronchishchevs. He was the fifth child in the family. In April 1716, he entered the Navigation School in Moscow, located in the Sukharev Tower, as a student.

In 1718 he was transferred to St. Petersburg to the Naval Academy (he studied with Chelyuskin and Laptev) and became a midshipman. From 1718 to 1724 he was a navigator's student in the Baltic Fleet on the "Diana" and "Falk" shnyavis, the "Berngardus" brigantine, on the ships "Yagudiel", "Uriil", "Prince Evgeny", and the gukor "Kronshlot".

In 1722 he participated in the Persian campaign of Peter.

In 1727 he was promoted to navigator. He entered the commission for the certification of the ranks of the fleet. In 1730 he was presented to the rank of navigator of the 3rd rank. Vasily Pronchishchev served on the Postman packet boat, in 1731 on the Friedrichstadt ship, on the Esperanza frigate.

Lena-Yenisei detachment of the Great Northern Expedition

In 1733 Pronchishchev received the rank of lieutenant and took part in the Great Northern Expedition, leading the Lena-Yenisei detachment, which explored the coast of the Arctic Ocean from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Yenisei.

June 30, 1735 Pronchishchev went from Yakutsk down the Lena to dubel-boat "Yakutsk".

The Yakutsk crew consisted of more than 40 people, including navigator Semyon Chelyuskin and surveyor Nikifor Chekin.

But the name of Vasily Pronchishchev stands out in this series, because he went on a voyage with his wife, who became the first woman in the world - a polar explorer. Most likely, they knew each other from childhood - their fathers once served in the same regiment, and family estates were located in the neighborhood. Vasily Pronchishchev was born in 1702 in the town of Mytny Stan, Tarussky district, Kaluga province, in the family of a small estate nobleman. Tatyana Fedorovna Kondyreva was born in 1710 not far from the town of Aleksin in the same, Kaluga, governorship and also in a family of poor nobles. ... Actually, the Admiralty Board allowed the officers to take their wives and children with them. And this step was fully justified in view of the obvious duration of the expedition. But the presence of women in the campaign was allowed only on the basis of long-term parking and inevitable wintering. In the same detachment, an extraordinary, incredible event took place: contrary to the well-known maritime tradition, Lieutenant Pronchishchev interferes with his young wife in the execution of a matter of state importance. A woman on a warship is an unprecedented case! Pronchishchev did it arbitrarily or with the unofficial consent of Bering, modern history does not know. But only for a long time in all subsequent historical and memoir references she was erroneously called Mary.

The voyage along the Lena went well and on August 2, 1735, the expedition reached the island of Stolb, from which the Lena delta begins. Initially, Pronchishchev planned to go through the Krestyatskaya channel, which led to the west, but the search for a fairway in it was unsuccessful due to the decline in water, so he decided to lead the dubel-boat by the Bykovskaya channel to the southeast. On August 7, the ship anchored at the mouth of this channel, waiting for a favorable wind.

On August 14, 1735, Pronchishchev led the ship around the Lena Delta. After a fairly long time, Yakutsk rounded the Lena Delta and headed west along the coast. Pronchishchev was the first to map the Lena Delta. The delay in the Lena delta did not allow Pronchishchev to advance far into the first navigation. The short northern summer was ending, a rather strong leak opened on the ship, and Pronchishchev decided to arrange wintering in places where the fin was still found and the ship could be repaired. On August 25, the detachment stopped for the winter at the mouth of the Olenyok River (river) near the settlement of fur traders, having built two huts from a fin. The winter passed safely, but scurvy began in the detachment.

The spring of 1736 in Ust-Olenyok turned out to be late and the sea cleared of ice only by August. Despite the difficulties that arose, in the summer of 1736 Pronchishchev continued along the coast to the west. On August 5, 1736, the detachment reached the mouth of the Anabara River. Surveyor Baskakov, having risen upstream of the river, discovered ore outcrops.

On August 17, 1736, off the eastern coast of Taimyr, the expedition discovered the islands, which they named in honor of St. Peter. The island of Transfiguration was also discovered.

In the following days, moving further north along the edge of a continuous fast ice, holding off the coast of the Taimyr Peninsula, the detachment passed several bays. Pronchishchev mistakenly mistook the northernmost of the bays for the mouth of the Taimyr River (in fact, it is Teresa Clavenes Bay). The coast was completely deserted, without the slightest sign of habitation. At the 77th latitude, the road to the wooden ship was finally blocked heavy ice, and the frost began to tighten the free water. These days Chelyuskin wrote:

“At the beginning of this 9 o’clock, there was calm, the sky was cloudy and gloomy, there was a great frost and a sludge appeared on the sea, from which we are in great danger that if it stays so quiet for one day, we are afraid to freeze here. We entered the deaf ice, which on both sides, and in front of us, are great stagnant smooth ice. Went rowing oars. However, merciful God, God grant us a capable wind, then this sludge was blown away.

Soon the travelers lost sight of the shore. Pronchishchev ordered to determine the position of the vessel on navigational instruments. "Yakutsk" turned out to be at 77 ° 29 "N. This is the northernmost point reached by the ships of the Great Northern Expedition. Only after 143 years, Baron Adolf Eric Nordenskiöld on the ship "Vega" will advance in these places just a few minutes north. Then the path was closed. In the north and west, solid ice with rare polynyas stretched and it was impossible to pass them on a dubel-boat. "Yakutsk" turned back with the intention of wintering at the mouth of the Khatanga. Subsequently, it was found that the expedition entered the Vilkitsky Strait, moved somewhat to the north and reached a latitude of 77 degrees 50 minutes.Only poor visibility prevented the expedition from seeing the archipelago Severnaya Zemlya and the extreme northern point of Taimyr and all of Eurasia - Cape Chelyuskin.

Pronchishchev refused to land in the Khatanga Bay, not finding settlements there, and the ship headed for the former Olenyoksky winter quarters.

On August 29, Pronchishchev went on reconnaissance on a boat and broke his leg. Returning to the ship, he lost consciousness and soon died. The true cause of death - fat embolism syndrome due to a fracture - became known only recently, after the traveler's grave was opened in 1999. It was previously believed that Pronchishchev died of scurvy.

The further way "Yakutsk" did under the command of the navigator Chelyuskin. A few days later, he managed to reach the Ust-Olenyok winter hut, where Pronchishchev was interred, and soon Tatyana Pronchishcheva also died.

On October 2, "Yakutsk" stood up for the winter quarters, and Chelyuskin went with a report to Yakutsk by sledge. He was appointed the new commander of the dubel-boat and the head of the Lena-Yenisei detachment Khariton Prokopyevich Laptev.

Seeing the difficult situation of the expedition, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev, as the closest assistant to the absent Bering, decided to go for instructions and help to St. Petersburg, to the Admiralty College.

D. Ya. Laptev overcame the long journey from Yakutsk to St. Petersburg on horseback. D. Ya. Laptev had enough time to think over the reasons for the failures of Lasinius, Pronchishchev and his own and outline a plan for future actions. D. Ya. Laptev arrived in St. Petersburg, firmly knowing what was needed for further work.

The Admiralty Board listened attentively to the reports of D. Ya. Laptev and, after discussing them, considered it necessary to continue the work. The Board released additional funds and equipment and, at the suggestion of D. Ya. Laptev, instead of the deceased Pronchishchev appointed commander of Yakutsk Khariton Prokopyevich Laptev.

Kh. P. Laptev, together with his brother, served on the ships of the Baltic, traveled to the Don, looking for places suitable for organizing a shipyard. Returning to the Baltic in 1737, Kh. P. Laptev was appointed captain of the yacht Dekron.

In March 1738, the Laptev brothers, having received the funds and equipment necessary to extend the work, left St. Petersburg for Yakutsk.

Upon arrival, they inspected and repaired their ships, equipped them, made careful plans for the expedition, designed to carry out the work both from the sea and from land.

On June 18, 1739, Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev left Yakutsk on the Irkutsk with a team of 35 people; On July 5, having passed the Lena Delta, he was already at sea, heading east.

According to the adopted plan, D. Ya. Laptev sent a detachment under the command of the senior sailor Loshkin, following to the mouth of the Yana River by land, and the second detachment - to the mouth of the Indigirka River under the command of the surveyor Kindyakov. It was also supposed to organize the execution of work further - between Indigirka and Kolyma. On July 8, "Irkutsk" reached the mouth of the Yana River and gradually moved further and further east, until the ice situation near the mouth of the Indigirka River forced it to winter.

The team left the ship and spent the winter on the shore. Everyone continued to work. The wintering went well, and during this time the team did a great job of exploring the territory. With the onset of spring, D. Ya. Laptev sent some of the people by land to Kolyma to make an inventory of the coast, and he himself returned to the ship with the rest of the team. The ship was stuck in the ice. It was separated from clear water by an ice field about a kilometer long. D. Ya. Laptev embarked on a difficult but sure path. A channel was cut through the ice for a kilometer, through which the ship entered the clear water.

But the joy of the sailors was short-lived. A storm broke out, again surrounding the ship with ice and throwing it aground. To get the ship afloat, it was necessary to completely unload and disarm it, even the masts were removed. For two weeks the sailors fought for the life of the ship and their own. But, finally, "Irkutsk" was refloated and safely reached the mouth of the Kolyma; having completed the necessary work here, D. Ya. Laptev moved further east.

Impenetrable ice met at Cape Baranov. D. Ya. Laptev decided to return for the winter to Nizhnekolymsk on the Kolyma River. The winter has gone well again. People continued to work.

In the summer of 1741, D. Ya. Laptev made another attempt to pass by sea east of the Kolyma. Again, impenetrable ice met at Cape Baranov, forcing the expedition to return to Nizhnekolymsk.

Having carefully processed the compiled inventories of the coast from the Lena to the Kolyma, D. Ya. Laptev went on dogs to the Anadyr prison, made a detailed inventory of the river. Anadyr and in the fall of 1742 returned to St. Petersburg.

Khariton Prokopyevich Laptev left Yakutsk at the end of July 1738, somewhat later than his brother. The Yakutsk crew, sailing with Lieutenant Pronchishchev, was taken by him almost unchanged. Went on a new voyage and navigator Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin.

August 17 Kh. P. Laptev reached the bay, which he gave the name "Nordvik". Having explored the bay, Kh. P. Laptev moved further west, visited the Khatanga Bay and, leaving it, discovered the island of Transfiguration. Then he headed north, following along the eastern coast of the Taimyr Peninsula. At Cape Fadeya, ice blocked the way. Winter was coming. Kh. P. Laptev came back and camped for the winter at the mouth of the Bludnaya River, in the Khatanga Bay.

The team spent the winter safely in a house built from driftwood harvested from the shore. Despite the winter conditions, the work did not stop. At the same time, preparations were made for summer work from the sea and from the land.

Kh. P. Laptev left large stocks of food and equipment at the wintering site. With the onset of spring, overland inventory work began. The boatswain Medvedev was sent to the mouth of the Pyasina River, and the surveyor Chekin with detachments and food was sent to the mouth of the Taimyr River. These two detachments were unable to complete the work, but they clarified the situation and gave Kh. P. Laptev the information necessary for the successful completion of work in the future. Kh. P. Laptev himself in August 1740, immediately after the ice broke up, made another attempt to bypass the Taimyr Peninsula by sea from the north. The attempt failed. The ship was trapped in ice and sank. The crew and cargo were, by order of Kh. P. Laptev, transferred to the ice in advance.

The beach was 15 miles from the crash site. The team on foot, dragging loads, moved to the shore. But the nearest dwelling was the base of the expedition at the mouth of the Prodigal River. Kh. P. Laptev sent his detachment there. Four people could not endure the difficulties of the journey and died along the way. The rest made it to the base. Again a successful wintering in the old place. The spring of 1741 came. Kh. P. Laptev, having lost his ship, decided to continue research by land. He singled out three groups from his detachment. He sent one group under the command of navigator Semyon Chelyuskin to the mouth of the Pyasina River with the task of exploring the coast from the mouth of the Pyasina towards the mouth of Taimyr.

The second group, under the command of the surveyor Chekin, was to explore the coast from the mouth of the Taimyr River. The third group Kh. P. Laptev headed himself. He had in mind to explore the inner regions of the eastern part of the Taimyr Peninsula and go to the mouth of the Taimyr, where he was supposed to meet with the first two groups.

To ensure the normal work of the groups, Kh. P. Laptev sent ahead of each of them spare food and equipment. Kh. P. Laptev sent all the people who were not included in the expedition groups, and the excess cargo, on reindeer to Turukhansk.

Chekin soon returned to the base, having failed to complete the task due to the difficulty of the journey and illness. Chelyuskin, on the other hand, reached his destination and began work.

Kh. P. Laptev himself went deep into the Taimyr Peninsula, went to Lake Taimyr, went down the Taimyr River to the sea and went towards Chelyuskin.

Having finished their work, the travelers spent the winter in the city of Turukhansk on the Yenisei. In the spring of 1742, Semyon Chelyuskin returned to Taimyr to explore the remaining undescribed part of the peninsula and reached the extreme northern point Asia - a rocky cape, later named after him. Cape Chelyuskin is located at 77°43" north latitude and 104°17" east longitude.

Having finished his work, Khariton Prokopyevich Laptev returned from Turukhansk to St. Petersburg, where he continued to serve in the Navy, holding command positions. He died on January 1, 1764.

More than two centuries separate us from the time when, overcoming constant difficulties and hardships, exposing themselves to all sorts of dangers, the Laptev brothers studied the distant and harsh sea and its coast.

On weak wooden ships, with primitive devices and tools, they did their work. They delivered a variety of information about the nature of the region, its geography, coastline, sea depths, tides, population, magnetic declination, wildlife, vegetation, etc. The thoroughness, accuracy and conscientiousness with which they performed their work are amazing, as amazing is the strength of their will and love for the motherland, which allowed them to complete such a difficult task.

The sea whose shores they studied is named the Laptev Sea.