Today, a joint expedition of the Northern Fleet and the Underwater Research Center of the Russian Geographical Society has started in Arkhangelsk. On two vessels of the White Sea naval base of the Northern Fleet, an expeditionary group of nine participants left the port of Arkhangelsk and headed for the White Sea Throat. Previously, ships were found there, that sank in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
On a large hydrographic boat "Vsevolod Vorobyov" is the search group of the expedition. Divers-researchers are located in the rescue tug СБ-9.
In the White Sea Throat, the expeditionary group will continue the research, which the RGS Underwater Research Center, with the support of the Northern Fleet, began in 2018. Over the previous two joint expeditions, using the multi-beam echosounder of “Vsevolod Vorobyov”, more than 400 square kilometers of the White Sea Throat were examined and 11 objects were discovered, 6 of which turned out to be ships that sank during the First World War
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Specialists of the RGS Underwater Research Center identified such underwater finds as the 98-meter American cargo ship “Caroline”, built in 1896; the Russian-Finnish SS “Urania”, which was sailing with cargo of military equipment from England to Russia; the English SS “Cape Antibes” and SS "African Monarch", and the Norwegian steamer “Lysaker”, that were sunk by underwater mines in 1915; the English ship "Drumloist" carrying wood, that was blown up by two mines at once.
In addition, an English timber carrier, that had sunk before the war, in 1911, and five wooden ships were found. Among them are a 22-meter two-masted trapping schooner and a 36-meter ship, presumably a merchant vessel or a military convoy.
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During the expedition, it is planned to continue research at the point where the “Urania” steamer sank. The expedition is expected to last until the second half of July.
The Northern Fleet has been cooperating with the Russian Geographical Society since 2017. Among the joint projects are complex expeditions to the Arctic archipelagos, search expeditions on the Kola coast, underwater work on a number of sunken objects, as well as research in the White Sea.