Vladimir Rusanov Ocean via the Northern Sea Route. Their ship "Gerkules" was too small for the kind of expedition Rusanov had in mind. The last to be heard of Rusanov's expedition was a telegram left at Matochkin Shar on Novaya Zemlya, which reached St. Petersburg on 27 September 1912. In it, Rusanov indicated that he intended rounding the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya, and heading east across the Kara Sea but nothing was heard from the "Gerkules" thereafter. He and his 11-man team, including Alexander Kuchin, disappeared without trace a year later in the Kara Sea, off the northern coast of Siberia.
Severnaya Zemlya USSR some features of the geography of Severnaya Zemlya that had been previously named in solidarity with German Communism saw their names altered to Russian or neutral-sounding names – e.g. Cape Unslicht becoming "Mys Peschanyy" and "Proliv Yungshturm" Yuny Strait. During the Cold War, the islands of Severnaya Zemlya continued to be studied by a team of geologists from NIIGA (the Scientific Research Institute of Arctic Geology) in St. Petersburg. Between 1948 and 1954 a comprehensive geological map was compiled under B. Kh. Egiazarov. Also more accurate maps were drawn by means of cartographic data gathered from aerial photography surveys.