List of Arctic expeditions

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 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 coasts

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.

1800s

1809-11 M.M. Gedenshtorm explores New Siberian Islands

1818 Royal Navy expedition led by Captain David Buchan

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

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, led by Baltazar M. Keilhau.

1827 Royal Navy expedition to Spitsbergen led by William Edward Parry reaches 82°45’N

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 70°05′N 96°44′W

1833 P.K. Pastukhov explores southern half of eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya

1833–35 Royal Navy expedition led by Captain George Back

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

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 British Arctic Expedition led by Captain 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 USS Jeanette expedition with Lt. George Washington De Long (commander) and George W. Melville (chief engineer)

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 NW Greenland 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 Jackson–Harmsworth Expedition, led by 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 Georg Carl 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 and Alfred Wegener cross the inland ice in North Greenland

1912–15 Brusilov Expedition, ill-fated expedition led by Captain 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 Norge (Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile and Lincoln Ellsworth)

1928 Eielson-Wilkins Arctic Ocean crossing (powered flight Alaska-Spitsbergen)

1928 The airship Italia (Umberto Nobile)

1930-31 Alfred Wegener's German Expedition to Greenland.

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

1938–39 Mørkefjord 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

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)

1996 Brazilian expedition by Marco Brotto

2000s

2004 Together to the Pole – a Polish four-man expedition led by Marek Kamiński, with Jan Mela (a teenage double amputee, who in the same year reached also the South Pole)

2004 Five members of the Ice Warrior Squad reach the Geomagnetic North Pole, including the first two women in history to do so.

2007 Arktika 2007, Russian submersible descends to the ocean floor below the North Pole.

2007 Top Gear: Polar Special, BBC's Top Gear team are the first to reach the magnetic North Pole in a car.

2008 Alex Hibbert and George Bullard complete Tiso Trans Greenland expedition. The longest fully unsupported expedition in history at 1374 statute miles

2009 MLAE-2009

2013 MLAE-2013

2015 Interdisciplinary Arctic Expedition "Kartesh" - complex arctic expedition, organized by the Polar Expedition Gallery project (later rebranded as Polar Expedition "Kartesh") in collaboration with the LMSU Marine Research Center. Research tasks: assessing the Arctic coastline vulnerability towards human impact; marine and coastal ecosystem and arctic seas landform condition monitoring; West Arctic biodiversity research; oil oxidizing microorganism activity research; testing new methods of water areas remote sensing.