List of Arctic expeditions

This list of Arctic expeditions is a timeline of historic expeditions in, and explorers of, the Arctic.

Pre-expedition

• Inuit, Greek, and Viking voyages in the far north ( Faroes/Greenland/Novaya Zemlya )

1400s

• 1496 Russian G. Istoma venturing out of the White Sea explores Murman Coast and coast of northern Norway, also western coast of Novaya Zemlya
• 1497 Russians D. Zaytsev and D. Ralev venturing out of the White Sea follow route of G. Istoma

1500s

• 1553 English expedition piloted by Richard Chancellor searches for the North-east Passage
• 1575–77 English expeditions led by Martin Frobisher reaches Baffin Island
• 1579 Danish expedition led by John Allday fails to reach Greenland due to ice
• 1585–87 English expeditions led by John Davis explore the Davis Strait-Baffin Bay region and reaches Upernavik
• 1596–97 Dutch expedition piloted by Willem Barentsz discovers Spitsbergen

1600s

• 1605–07 Danish expeditions led by John Cunningham, Godske Lindenov and Carsten Richardson (all piloted by James Hall), search for the lost Norse colonies on Greenland
• 1606 John Knight dies commanding an English expedition in search of the Northwest Passage
• 1607 Henry Hudson explores Spitsbergen
• 1610 Jonas Poole thoroughly explores Spitsbergen's west coast, reporting that he saw a "great store of whales"; this report leads to the establishment of the English whaling trade.
• 1610 Russian K. Kurochkin explores mouth of the Yenesei River and adjoining coast
• 1612 James Hall and William Baffin explores Southwest Greenland
• 1612–1613 British Button Expedition
• 1613 Several whaling expeditions, consisting of a total of at least thirty ships, from England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands crowd Spitsbergen's west coast.
• 1614 Dutch and French expeditions discover Jan Mayen
• 1615 Robert Fotherby, in the pinnace Richard, is the first English expedition to reach Jan Mayen
• 1616 English expedition piloted by William Baffin explores Davis Strait-Baffin Bay region
• 1619–20 Danish expedition led by Jens Munk in Enhiörningen (Unicorn) and Lamprenen (Lamprey) to discover the Northwest Passage penetrated Davis Strait as far north as 69°, found Frobisher Bay, spent a winter in Hudson Bay.
• 1633-34 I. Rebrov explores the mouth of the Lena River
• 1633-35 I. Perfilyev explores Lena and Yana Rivers and intervening coast
• 1638 I. Rebrov explores coast between the Lena and Indigirka Rivers
• 1641 D.M. Zyryan and M.V. Stadukhin explore mouth of the Indigirka River and adjoining coast
• 1646 I. Ignatyev explores explores the mouth of the Kolyma River and adjoining coast
• 1648 Ya. Semyonov explores mouth of Kotuy River and adjoining coast
• 1648 Semyon Dezhnyov and Fedot Alekseyev explore from the Kolyma River through the Bering Strait
• 1649 M.V. Stadukhin explores coast from Kolyma River to Bering Strait
• 1686-1687 Bezvestnaya Expedition explores the coast of Taymyr Peninsula

1700s

• Vitus Bering
• 1712 M. Vagin and Ya. Permyakov explore vicinity of mouth of Yana River and adjoining coast
• 1733–43 Great Northern Expedition / Second Kamchatka expedition explores coast from the Ob River to the Lena River
• 1751–53 Peder Olsen Walløe explores the east coast of Greenland from Cape Farewell in umiaks
• 1760-63 S.F. Loshkin explores Novaya Zemlya
• 1765-66 V.Ya. Chichagov explores Kola Peninsula coast and Spitzbergen
• 1768-69 F.F. Rozmyslov explores Novaya Zemlya and Matochkin Shar Strait
• 1773 Captain Constantine Phipps in HMS Carcass and Commander Skeffington Lutwidge in HMS Racehorse reach 80° 37' N, with a young Midshipman Horatio Nelson among the crew.^[1]

1800s

• 1809-11 M.M. Gedenshtorm explores New Siberian Islands
• 1818 Royal Navy expedition led by Captain David Buchan^[2]
• 1818 Royal Navy expedition led by John Ross to search for the Northwest Passage extended a far north along the west coast of Greenland as Pituffik and met the Kap York-Inuit
• 1819 Royal Navy expedition aboard HMS Hecla and HMS Griper led by William Edward Parry^[3]
• 1820-24 F.P. Wrangel explores east Siberian coast from mouth of the Kolyma River to the Bering Strait
• 1821-24 F.P. Litke explores eastern Barents and west coast of Novaya Zemlya, including Matochkin Shar
• 1821-23 P.F. Anzhu continues exploration of New Siberian Islands
• 1822 William Scoresby lands in East Greenland near the mouth of the fjord system that would later be named for him – Scoresby Sund.
• 1823 Douglas Charles Clavering and Edward Sabine explores East Greenland northwards to Clavering Island, where they get in contact with the now extinct Northeast Greenland Inuit.
• 1826 F. Beechy aboard "Blossom" explores Alaskan coast from Point Barrow to the Bering Strait
• 1827 First Norwegian expedition to the Arctic, lead by Baltazar M. Keilhau.
• 1827 Royal Navy expedition to Spitsbergen led by William Edward Parry reaches 82°45’N ^[4]
• 1828–30 Danish expedition led by W. A. Graah tries to locate the lost Norse colonies in Southeast Greenland, but does not reach Ammassalik Island.
• 1829–33 Royal Navy expedition led by John Ross to search for the Northwest Passage discovered James Ross Strait and King William Land, located the magnetic north pole at
• 1833 P.K. Pastukhov explores southern half of eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya
• 1833–35 Royal Navy expedition led by [5]
• 1838–40 La Recherche Expedition (1838-1840)
• 1845 Franklin's lost expedition led by Sir John Franklin searches for the Northwest Passage.
• 1848 Rae–Richardson Arctic Expedition searched overland for Franklin's lost expedition.
• 1850 McClure Arctic Expedition led by Robert McClure, a British search for the members of Franklin's lost expedition.
• 1850–51 First Grinnell Expedition led by Edwin DeHaven, first American search for the members of Franklin's lost expedition.
• 1852 Edward Augustus Inglefield sets out to search for Franklin's ill-fated expedition
• 1853–55 American expedition led by Elisha Kent Kane^[6]
• 1857–59 British expedition led by Francis Leopold McClintock
• 1860–61 American expedition led by Isaac Israel Hayes
• 1860–62 First expedition led by Charles Francis Hall (USA)
• 1864–69 Second expedition led by Charles Francis Hall
• 1868 First German North Polar Expedition led by Carl Koldewey along the east coast of Greenland
• 1869–70 Second German North Polar Expedition (Germania and Hansa) led by Carl Koldewey reaches Sabine Island.
• 1871–73 Third expedition led by Charles Francis Hall: Polaris expedition
• 1872–74 Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition led by Captain Karl Weyprecht
• 1875–76 George Nares
• 1876–78 Norwegian Northern Seas Expedition in Vøringen explored the Northern Atlantic up to 80°N.
• 1878 J. A. D. Jensen explores the inland ice sheeth from West Greenland
• 1878–1881 different voyages with Dutch polar schooner Willem Barents in the area around Spitsbergen and Nova Zembla, organised by Geographical Society of Amsterdam. Goals were 1) placing memorial stones for 17th century Dutch discoveries and 2) scientific research.
• 1878–79 Swedish Vega expedition, led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld
• 1879–82 [7]
• 1881–84 Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, US Army expedition led by Adolphus Greely
• 1882–1883 (First International Polar Year) Danish Dijmphna expedition to the territory between Russia and the North Pole
• 1883–85 Umiak Expedition led by Gustav Holm and Thomas Vilhelm Garde along the southeastern coast of Greenland in the shallow waters between the coast and the sea ice.
• 1883 Failed attempt by Nordenskiöld to cross Greenland from the west
• 1886 Failed attempt by Robert E Peary (USA) to cross Greenland
• 1888–89 First successful crossing of the Greenland inland ice by Norwegian expedition led by Fridtjof Nansen (from east to west)
• 1891–92 The East Greenland Expedition on the Hekla led by Carl Ryder fails to get through the sea ice of East Greenland, but explores the Scoresby Sund system in detail
• 1891–92 Third US Greenland expedition led by Peary
• 1892 Swedish expedition led by Alfred Björling
• 1893–95 Fourth US Greenland expedition led by Peary
• 1893–96 Norwegian expedition by Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen on the Fram and over ice towards the North Pole.
• 1894–97 Frederick George Jackson
• 1897 S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition
• 1898–1902 Second Fram voyage under Otto Sverdrup
• 1898–1900 The Carlsbergfund Expedition to East Greenland led by G. C. Amdrup explores the Blosseville Coast
• 1899 Alfred Gabriel Nathorst explores the fjords of Northeast Greenland, in particular the King Oscar Fjord system
• 1899 Attempt to ski to North Pole from Franz Josef Land by Walter Wellman
• 1899–1900 Italian North Pole expedition led by Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi on the ship Stella Polare

1900s

• 1898, 1899, 1906, 1907 Prince Albert I's Arctic Exploration with Princesse Alice
• 1900–03 Russian ship Zarya
• 1901–02 First North Pole expedition financed by US industrialist William Ziegler, led by Evelyn Baldwin
• 1902–04 The Literary Expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen together with Knud Rasmussen explores the Northwest Greenland coast between Uumanaq and Thule
• 1903–06 Amundsen's ''Gjøa'' Expedition when Roald Amundsen traversed the Northwest Passage for the first time
• 1903–05 Ziegler Polar Expedition overland, led by Anthony Fiala
• 1905–06 North Pole expedition led by Robert Peary, from Ellesmere Island
• 1906–08 The Danmark Expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen reaches Nordostrundingen, but ends fatally
• 1906, 1907, 1909 The airship America and Walter Wellman
• 1906–08 Anglo-American Polar Expedition (Mikkelsen–Leffingwell Expedition)
• 1907–09 US North Pole expedition led by Frederick Cook
• 1909–12 The Alabama Expedition to Northeast Greenland led by Ejnar Mikkelsen in an operation to recover bodies and logs of the fatal Danmark expedition
• 1908–09 expedition led by Robert Peary
• 1910–15 Russian Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition in Taymyr and Vaigach
• 1912 First Thule Expedition – Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen explores North Greenland
• 1912–13 J.P. Koch crosses the inland ice in North Greenland
• 1912–15 Georgy Brusilov
• 1913 Crocker Land Expedition
• 1913–14 Russian expedition aboard Foka, led by Georgiy Sedov
• 1913–18 Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913–1916 led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, initially in the Karluk
• 1916–18 Second Thule Expedition – Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen explores North Greenland and establishes that Peary Land is not an island
• 1918–25 Roald Amundsen traversed the Northeast Passage with Maud
• 1919 Third Thule Expedition – Knud Rasmussen explores North Greenland and lays out depots for Roald Amundsen's polar drift in Maud
• 1919–20 Fourth Thule Expedition – Knud Rasmussen explores East Greenland
• 1921–23 Bicentenary Jubilee Expedition (commemorating Hans Egede's landing in Greenland) led by Lauge Koch explores North Greenland
• 1921–24 Fifth Thule Expedition led by Knud Rasmussen crossed the Northwest Passage on dog sledges from Thule across Arctic Canada to Nome, Alaska demonstrates how inuit culture could spread rapidly
• 1925 Flying boat expedition led by Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth
• 1926 Aircraft flight by Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett
• 1926 The airship Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Lincoln Ellsworth)
• 1928 Eielson-Wilkins Arctic Ocean crossing (powered flight Alaska-Spitsbergen)
• 1928 The airship Italia (Umberto Nobile)
• 1930 Bratvaag Expedition to Franz Josef Land, found long lost remains of S. A. Andrée's expedition.
• 1931 Sir Hubert Wilkins with submarine Nautilus (failed 800 km south of the pole).
• 1931 Sixth Thule Expedition led by Knud Rasmussen explores Northeast Greenland
• 1931–34 The Three-year Expedition to East Greenland led by Lauge Koch explores Northeast Greenland
• 1932 Icebreaker Sibiryakov
• 1933 Russian steamship Chelyuskin
• 1937 Soviet transpolar flights
• 1937–1938 MacGregor Arctic Expedition
• 1938–present Soviet and Russian manned drifting ice stations
• 1948 Russian scientific expedition led by Aleksandr Kuznetsov lands aircraft at Pole
• 1952–54 British North Greenland Expedition
• 1958 USS Nautilus passes under the Arctic ice
• 1959 Discoverer 1 first satellite in polar orbit. (Prototype; no camera.)
• 1960 Tiros 1 weather satellite in polar orbit; eventually returned 22952 cloud cover photos
• 1968 Ralph Plaisted and three others reach the north pole by snowmobile.
• 1968–69 Wally Herbert, British explorer, reaches Pole on foot and traverses the polar sea
• 1977 Arktika, nuclear-powered icebreaker, reaches the North Pole
• 1982 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Charles Burton cross the Arctic Ocean in a single season.
• 1986 Will Steger and party reach the north pole by dogsled without resupply.
• 1988 Will Steger completes first south-north traverse of Greenland.
• 1988 Ski-Trek a joint Soviet-Canadian transpolar expedition aided by satellites.
• 1992 Scientific environmental expedition; crossing of the Greenland inland ice by Japanese expedition led by Kenji Yoshikawa (from east to west)
• 1993-94 Pam Flowers dog sledded alone 2,500 miles from Barrow, Alaska to Repulse Bay, Canada^[8]
• 1994 Shane Lundgren led expedition began in Moscow and proceeded north of the Arctic Circle across Siberia to Magadan.
• 1995 Smithsonian Institution's Arctic Studies Center joined Shane Lundgren in a flying expedition to chronicle indigenous people from Yakutsk to Alaska across the Bering Straits. Discovery Online was launched through this expedition.
• 1995 Marek Kamiński unsupported walked to the North Pole on 23 May 1995 (27 December 1995, he reached the South Pole alone)