Laptev Sea Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea (; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy Cape. The Kara Sea lies to the west, the East Siberian Sea to the east. The sea is named after the Russian explorers Dmitry Laptev and Khariton Laptev; formerly, it had been known under various names, the last being Nordenskiöld Sea (), after explorer
Convoy PQ 18 against Russian ships thought to be sailing along the route north of Siberia. "Admiral Scheer" sailed north of Novaya Zemlya and then to the east and sank a Soviet icebreaker. By 30 August "Admiral Scheer" was back in Narvik. "B-Dienst" signals interception and documents recovered from a crashed Hampden, revealed details about the PQ 18 and QP 14 convoys, including their crossover and escort changeover points. U-boats, destroyers and the minelayer "Ulm" sailed on Operation Zar ("Unternehmen Zar") to sow mines at the entrance of the White Sea and off Novaya Zemlya. On 25 August, Ultra revealed the itinerary of