Editing Kara Sea (section)

==History==
The Kara Sea was formerly known as '''Oceanus Scythicus''' or '''Mare Glaciale''' and it appears with these names in 16th century maps. Since it is closed by ice most of the year it remained largely unexplored until the late nineteenth century.

In 1556 [[Stephen Borough]] sailed in the ''Searchthrift'' to try to reach the [[Ob River]], but he was stopped by ice and fog at the entrance to the Kara Sea. Not until 1580 did another English expedition, under [[Arthur Pet]] and [[Charles Jackman (explorer)|Charles Jackman]], attempt its passage. They too failed to penetrate it, and [[England]] lost interest in searching for the [[Northeast Passage]].

In 1736–1737 [[Russia]]n Admiral [[Stepan Malygin]] undertook a voyage from [[Dolgy Island]] in the [[Barents Sea]]. The two ships in this early expedition were the ''Perviy'', under Malygin's command and the ''Vtoroy'' under Captain A. Skuratov. After entering the little-explored Kara Sea, they sailed to the mouth of the [[Gulf of Ob|Ob River]]. Malygin took careful observations of these hitherto almost unknown areas of the Russian Arctic coastline. With this knowledge he was able to draw the first somewhat accurate map of the Arctic shores between the [[Pechora River]] and the [[Ob River]].

In 1878, Finnish explorer [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]] on ship ''Vega'' sailed across the Kara Sea from [[Gothenburg]], along the coast of Siberia, and despite the ice packs, got to [[180th meridian|180° longitude]] by early September. Frozen in for the winter in the [[Chukchi Sea]], Nordenskiöld waited and bartered with the local [[Chukchi people]]. The following July, the Vega was freed from the ice, and continued to [[Yokohama]], Japan. He became the first to force the [[Northeast Passage]]. The largest group of islands in the Kara Sea, the [[Nordenskiöld Archipelago]], has been named in his honour. The year 1912 was a tragic one for Russian explorers in the Kara Sea. In that fateful year unbroken consolidated ice blocked the way for the [[Northern Sea Route]] and three expeditions that had to cross the Kara Sea became trapped and failed: [[Georgy Sedov|Sedov]]'s on vessel ''St. Foka'', [[Georgy Brusilov|Brusilov]]'s on the [[Svyataya Anna|''St. Anna'']], and [[Vladimir Rusanov|Rusanov]]'s on the ''Gercules''. Georgy Sedov intended to reach Franz Josef Land on ship, leave a depot over there, and sledge to the pole. Due to the heavy ice the vessel could only reach [[Novaya Zemlya]] the first summer and wintered in [[Franz Josef Land]]. In February 1914 Sedov headed to the [[North Pole]] with two sailors and three sledges, but he fell ill and died on [[Rudolf Island]]. [[Georgy Brusilov]] attempted to navigate the [[Northeast Passage]], was trapped in the Kara Sea, and drifted northward for more than two years reaching latitude 83° 17' N. Thirteen men, headed by [[Valerian Albanov]], left the vessel and started across the ice to [[Franz Josef Land]], but only Albanov and one sailor ([[Alexander Konrad]]) survived after a gruesome three-month ordeal. The survivors brought the ship log of ''St. Anna'', the map of her drift, and daily meteorological records, but the destiny of those who stayed on board remains unknown. In the same year the expedition of [[Vladimir Rusanov]] was lost in the Kara Sea. The prolonged absence of those three expeditions stirred public attention, and a few small rescue expeditions were launched, including [[Jan Nagórski]]'s five air flights over the sea and ice from the NW coast of [[Novaya Zemlya]].

After the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]] in 1917, the scale and scope of exploration of the Kara Sea increased greatly as part of the work of developing the Northern Sea Route. Polar stations, of which five already existed in 1917, increased in number, providing meteorologic, ice reconnaissance, and radio facilities. By 1932 there were 24 stations, by 1948 about 80, and by the 1970s more than 100. The use of icebreakers and, later, aircraft as platforms for scientific work were developed. In 1929 and 1930 the [[Icebreaker Sedov]] carried groups of scientists to [[Severnaya Zemlya]], the last major piece of unsurveyed territory in the Soviet Arctic; the archipelago was completely mapped under [[Georgy Ushakov]] between 1930 and 1932.

Particularly worth noting are three cruises of the [[Sadko (1913 icebreaker)|Icebreaker ''Sadko'']], which went farther north than most; in 1935 and 1936 the last unexplored areas in the northern Kara Sea were examined and the small and elusive [[Ushakov Island]] was discovered.

In the summer of 1942, German [[Kriegsmarine]] warships and submarines entered the Kara Sea to destroy as many Russian vessels as possible. This naval campaign was named "[[Operation Wunderland]]". Its success was limited by the presence of ice floes, as well as bad weather and fog. These effectively protected the Soviet ships, preventing the damage that could have been inflicted on the [[Soviet Navy|Soviet fleet]] under fair weather conditions.

In October 2010, the Russian government awarded a license to Russian oil company [[Rosneft]] for developing the [[East-Prinovozemelsky field|East-Prinovozemelsky oil and gas structure]] in the Kara Sea.<ref name=upstream151010>
{{cite news
 | url = http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article232846.ece
 | title = Rosneft and Gazprom clinch Arctic acreage
 | newspaper = [[Upstream (newspaper)|Upstream Online]]
 | publisher = NHST Media Group
 | date = 15 October 2010
 | access-date = 30 January 2011}}
</ref><ref name=upstream140111>
{{cite news
 | url = http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article241699.ece
 | title = BP and Rosneft in exploration pact
 | newspaper = [[Upstream (newspaper)|Upstream Online]]
 | publisher = NHST Media Group
 | date = 14 January 2011
 | access-date = 30 January 2011}}
</ref>