Sannikov Land

Sannikov Land – a phantom island in the Arctic Ocean to the north of the New Siberian Islands that was first seen in 1811 from Kotelny Island by a Yakut tradesman and a hunter Y. Sannikov. According to him there were “high stone mountains” rising in the north over the sea. In 1822 the Russian Navy lieutenant P. F. Anjou tried to find the S. L. searching for thousands of sq. miles in different directions, but he found nothing. In 1902 Baron E. V. Toll with his companions tried to find this land, but died. In 1937 the Soviet icebreakers “Joseph Stalin” and “Yermak” were searching for S. L., in 1937–1938 – the icebreakers “Sadko” and “G. Sedov.” They proved that S. L. does not exist. Its existence was not confirmed by the arctic aviation trips either. In due course of the ship’s documents recorded, the existence of Makarov Land, Bradley Land, Gillis Land, Kenan Land, Harris Land, Tak-Puk Land, and others turned out to be disappearing lands.

It was S. L. that the Arctic expeditions of...