Fyodor Matisen | |
|---|---|
 Matisen inRoyal Navy uniform, 1900 | |
| Native name | Фёдор Матисен |
| Born | (1872-06-01)1 June 1872 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | 19 December 1921(1921-12-19) (aged 49) Irkutsk, Russia |
| Allegiance |  Russia |
| Branch |  Imperial Russian Navy |
| Years of service | 1897–1917 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands | Russian polar expedition of 1900–1902 |
| Awards | Order of St. Vladimir |
Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen orMathiesen (Russian:Фёдор Андреевич Матисен; 1 June [O.S. 20 May] 1872, – 19 December 1921) was an officer of theRussian Imperial Navy,hydrographer, and explorer.
Matisen explored andmapped wide areas of the coast of theKara Sea and theLaptev Sea in the Russian Arctic. He was a friend ofAlexander Kolchak and a member of theRussian Geographical Society and theRussian Academy of Sciences.
After having been senior officer and second-in-command, Matisen became the captain of Polar shipZarya during the last part of theRussian polar expedition of 1900–1902 led by BaronEduard von Toll.
Fyodor Andreyevich Matisen graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps in 1897. Barely two years later, he took part in the 1899 Russian expedition toSvalbard.
Owing to the experience in polar exploration he acquired in Svalbard, Matisen was chosen for BaronEduard Gustav von Toll's polar expedition on behalf of theRussian Academy of Sciences. He was named assistant to commander of Polar shipZaryaNikolai Kolomeitsev. Matisen's friend Alexander Kolchak accompanied the expedition as third naval officer and hydrographer. All leading officers were from military background.[1]
During the first wintering ofZarya close toTaymyr Island, the disagreements between Toll and Kolomeitsev became unsurmountable.[2] Finally Baron von Toll sent Kolomeitsev away on a long sledge trip overland with the mission of organizing coal depots for the ship. When the former captain was gone Matisen was appointed by Toll asZarya's commander.
In March, whileZarya was still stuck in ice, Matisen explored theNordenskiöld Archipelago ondogsled through the frozen sea as far asRussky Island. From there he swung SW, then south through another region of the large archipelago. On this trip Matisen could only survey parts of the coastlines of many of the Nordenskiöld islands, but on a subsequent trip in April he was able to make corrections to his previous survey by determining with accuracy the coordinates of at least one island in each of the groups in which he divided the archipelago. In total Matisen discovered and named about 40 islands of the Nordenskiöld group; he also arranged the archipelago into the following four main subgroups: Vilkitsky Islands, Pakhtusov Islands, Tsivolko Islands and Litke Islands.[1]
After the thaw, Matisen ledZarya across theLaptev Sea to theNew Siberian Islands. The aim of Toll's expedition was to explore well the area north of the New Siberian Islands and eventually sail towards the Pole in order to find the elusiveSannikov Land.[1]
However,Zarya was trapped in fast ice and was unlikely to be freed that winter. Leaving the ship, Toll and three companions went in search of Sannikov Land on foot and kayaks. They vanished in November 1902 while travelling away fromBennett Island towards the south on loose ice floes. TheZarya was able to set sail only on 11 August 1902; it headed straight towards Bennett Island but was unable to approach the island on account of the ice. Finally Captain Matisen abandoned the attempt and sailed towards theLena river delta.[3] Baron von Toll and his party were never found.
Despite this tragedy, the expedition was not a failure. Many important oceanographic investigations were carried out, so that the study of data continued until 1917 and remained uncompleted. Besides, the Expedition plotted about 200 new geographical names on the map of the Arctic region.[4]
After exploring the mouths of theLena River, Matisen left a badly leakingZarya to sink atTiksi Bay, close to the Lena delta. On 6 August 1903, after forwarding all scientific equipment toSaint Petersburg, the ship was stripped and its hull was allowed to fill with water. Matisen lowered the flag of theNeva Yacht Club for the last time and leftZarya. Matisen returned toYakutsk on board shipLena with Captain Yershevskiy. ApparentlyZarya's remains still lie close toBrusneva Island at Bukhta Tiksi.[1]
In 1904–1905, Matisen saw active service in theRusso-Japanese War. He was a senior navigator oncruiser Zhemchug which was rushed to Tsushima to assist the Russian fleet. He took part in theBattle of Tsushima.[5]
At the time of theRussian Revolution of 1917 when the Russian fleet virtually ceased to exist, Matisen left Russia like many of his naval colleagues. He served as a hydrographer in the BritishRoyal Navy for a period of time, but opted to return to Russia and went toVladivostok in 1919. During a journey to theFar Eastern Republic, Matisen contracted typhus. He became severely ill and was sent to a military hospital in Irkutsk where he died in December 1921.[5]
Matisen was awarded theOrder of St. Vladimir for his lifelong work in hydrography.
One of the two major channels separating the groups of the Nordenskiöld Archipelago has been named "Matisen Strait" (the other one is named afterLenin).[6] A "Dmitriy Ovtsyn" class coastal survey ship was namedFyodor Matisen by theUSSR government in 1976.[7]
