years ago, Ogonyok reported a dramatic disaster in the North Pole region. The fact is that at the end of May 1928, a new expedition of the Italian Umberto Nobile started, who planned to reach the pole on the airship “Italy”. The Pole was conquered, but on May 25 the airship was caught in a storm and crashed onto the ice. Of the 16 crew members, only 9 survived; Nobile himself had his arms and leg broken. The surviving pilots managed to save part of the supplies, the famous red tent and a broken transmitter, with the help of which they were able to transmit a distress signal only on June 11. The most famous polar explorer at that time, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who had already participated in the Nobile polar expedition in 1926, urgently flew out to help. True, then the friends quarreled. Nobile became a supporter of the fascist regime of Mussolini, for which the dictator awarded him the title of general, and Amundsen - the most caustic nicknames (for example, “a monkey in stripes”). But when news of the Italia disaster arrived, all differences were forgotten. But, alas, Amundsen also suffered a tragic failure: near Bear Island in the Barents Sea, his Latham-47 plane crashed into the water. Only in early September, Norwegian fishermen found a float from the Latham in the water, but the exact circumstances of the death of Roald Amundsen are still unknown. The missing members of the expedition were discovered at the end of June by the Swedish pilot Einar Lundborg. Having evacuated the wounded Nobile, Lundborg returned to his comrades, but his plane crashed when landing on the ice. On July 10, the missing expedition was found by Soviet pilot Boris Chukhnovsky, and on July 12, all survivors were rescued by the Soviet icebreaker Krasin. On the way back, the Krasin had to be rescued by the crew of the sunken German steamer Monte Cervantes, which was also coming to the aid of the Italians.

Magazine "Ogonyok" No. 27 dated 07/06/2008, p. 8

dates – Ogonyok No. 27 (5053) from 07/06/2008