Captain Konstantin Sergeyevich Badygin (or Badigin, ; 30 November 1910 – 15 March 1984) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

naval officer, explorer, author, and scientist.

Biography

Konstantin Sergeyevich Badygin began his naval career in 1928 as a sailor on Soviet ships in the Pacific Ocean. Later he studied in the Marine Technical School at

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

and became a navigator and an officer in the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

. Between 1935 and 1936 he became the third officer aboard Icebreaker '' Krasin'' and in 1937 he became the second in command aboard Icebreaker '' Sedov.'' Badygin became renowned in 1938 as captain of icebreaker ''Sedov'' when it was transformed into a Soviet Drifting Polar Station. In 1940 Badigin was awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

for his work aboard the ''Sedov'' as both a naval officer and a scientist. Between 1941 and 1943 he became the Chief of the Soviet ice-breaker fleet in the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

as well as the director of the Ice Survey Service. In 1944 and 1945 he became the captain of merchant liner ''Clara Zetkin'' which plied the Vladivostok-

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

route. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Badigin asked to be relieved of active service owing to health reasons. Then he became an author and wrote three autobiographical works, as well as historical novels. He continued writing until his death in 1984.

Soviet Polar Station "Sedov"

In the summer of 1937 the icebreaker ''

Sadko Sadko () is a principal character in Russian '' byliny'' (oral epic poems). He is an adventurer, merchant, and '' gusli'' musician from Novgorod. The story of Sadko is best known outside Russia in the opera '' Sadko'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ...

'' sailed from Murmansk. Its original goal was to sail to Henrietta, Zhokhov, and Jeannette Islands, in the De Long group and carry out scientific research. The purpose of the expedition was also to find out how could the

Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...

be used for regular shipping. But the Soviet naval authorities changed the plans and the ice-breaker was sent instead to help ships in distress in the

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...

and

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea () is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with ...

The ''Sadko'', however, became itself trapped in fast ice at 75°17'N and 132°28'E in the region of the

New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands (; ) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north of the East Siberian coast between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea north of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, of whose Bulunsky District they ar ...

. Two other Soviet icebreakers, the ''Sedov'' and the '' Malygin'', both in the same area researching the ice conditions, became trapped by sea ice as well and drifted helplessly. Owing to persistent bad weather conditions, part of the stranded crew members and some of the scientists could only be rescued in April 1938. And only on 28 August 1938, could '' Yermak'' free two of the three ships at 83°4'N and 138°22'E. The third ship, ''Sedov'', had to be left to drift in its icy prison and was transformed into a scientific polar station. It kept drifting northwards in the ice towards the Pole, very much like

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 1861 – 13 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and co-founded the ...

's '' Fram'' had done in 1893–96. There were 15 crew aboard, led by Captain Konstantin Badygin and W. Kh. Buinitzki. The scientists aboard took 415 astronomical measurements, 78 electromagnetic observations, as well as 38 depth measurements by drilling the thick polar ice during their 812-day stay aboard the ''Sedov''. Finally they were freed between

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

and

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

by icebreaker ''Joseph Stalin'' on 18 January 1940. Captain Badygin, as well as the crew and scientists were welcomed back in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

as heroes. Later Captain Konstantin Badygin was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

and became a

External links

Non-fiction literary works

* ''Men of the Ice-breaker Sedov'', Hutchinsons, London * ''Verschollen in Grumant'', Kultur und Fortschritt, Berlin 1960 * ''812 Tage im Eis der Arktis – Die Drift des Eismeerdampfers Georgi Sedow''. Vienna, Globus-Verlag, 1946. * ''Vom Eismeer zum Pazifik'', Militärverlag der DDR Berlin, 1988,

References

* Albert Hastings Markham. Arctic Exploration, 1895 * Armstrong, T., ''The Russians in the Arctic'', London, 1958. * Early Soviet Exploration

* History of Russian Arctic Exploration

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badygin, Konstantin 1910 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian non-fiction writers People from Penza Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Explorers of the Arctic Soviet polar explorers 20th-century Russian explorers Soviet Navy officers Soviet non-fiction writers Soviet scientists Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery Soviet male non-fiction writers

Biography

Soviet Polar Station "Sedov"

External links

Non-fiction literary works

See also

References