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TheFirst Soviet Antarctic Expedition was a 1955–7 expedition toAntarctica by explorers from theSoviet Union, led byMikhail Somov.
The principal task of the expedition was to organise the main base,Mirny, and perform limited scientific observations. Other tasks were reconnaissance of sites for the inland basesVostok andSovetskaya; and oceanography of theIndian Ocean.
The expedition lasted from 30 November 1955 to 1957, and involved 127 expedition members and 75 crew members. It was led byMikhail Somov, while his scientific deputy wasV. G. Kort [ru].
Evgeny Suzyumov [ru] (1908–1998; known as E. M. Suzyumov; also spelt Yevgeny or Eugene Suzyumov) was the scientific secretary of the expedition. He later organised and participated in many other research expeditions to theArctic,Antarctic,Atlantic,Indian, andPacific Oceans, as well as authoring 13popular science and history books, and many articles about the war in the Arctic and oceanographic studies. He was the recipient of seven awards and 14 medals.[1][2] At a special meeting of theSoviet Geographical Society in October 1958 which paid tribute to the memory of Australian geologist and Antarctic explorerDouglas Mawson, Suzyumov said that Mawson had developed friendships with Soviet Antarctic explorers in his later years.[3] Suzyumov later wroteZhizn, otdannaia Antarktide, translated asA life given to the Antarctic: Douglas Mawson – Antarctic explorer, published in 1968.[4]
Threediesel-electric ships were used to transport the expedition. They wereRV Ob (flagship; captainI. A. Man [ru]),RV Lena (captain A. I. Vetrov) and the refrigerator ship No. 7 (captain M. A. Tsygankov). The final ship was used only for transporting perishables.Ob andLena were icebreakers 130m long and displacing 12,600 tons.
On 30 November 1955Ob left port atKaliningrad.
| Preceded by - | Soviet Antarctic expeditions | Succeeded by |