Tyko Vylka Vylka investigated the coast of Novaya Zemlya and created a map of the coast. In 1909, he participated in Vladimir Rusanov's Arctic expedition around Novaya Zemlya, and created the map of the archipelago. For his role in the Rusanov's expedition, Vylka was decorated by a medal. He was initially self-taught painting, and then he left for one year (1910–1911) for Moscow where he studied with Abram Arkhipov and Vasily Pereplyotchikov. In 1918, Vylka became the Chairman of Belushya Guba settlement Soviet, and from 1925 to 1956 he served as the Chairman of Novaya Zemlya Island Soviet, the governing body of
Novaya Zemlya detected by German U-boats and visually confirmed by German reconnaissance aircraft. On the night of July 4, the German battleship "Tirpitz" and the heavy cruisers "Admiral Scheer", "Lutzow", and "Hipper," closed on PQ-17 and sank four allied merchant ships. The British Admiralty responded by diverting the convoy’s escort vessels to the west to engage the German warships, and ordered the now-vulnerable merchant vessels to scatter. Seeking the hoped-for sanctuary of Matochkin Strait, several of the ships headed toward Novaya Zemlya at flank speed. S.A. Kerslake, a crew-member aboard the British Trawler "Northern Gem", recorded in his diary: …we were making