Arctic Expeditions post 1953
Summary of Arctic Expeditions (with a known or suspected contemporaneous postal history)
Details listed by permission from: Hal Vogel, Essence of Polar Philately, (USA: American Society of Polar Philately, 2008, 2020), Appendices II-V, (separately revised).
Essence of Polar Philately by Hal Vogel
An encyclopedia of polar philately which includes chapters on
acquisition, valuation and gems; and 13 appendices on Arctic/Antarctic
expeditions, vessels, stations, and aerophilatelic polar events.
Available from the American Philatelic Society here.
A gallery of polar postal history connected to these expeditions has being added to the website. If images have already been added to the gallery for a specific expedition then you can click on the link to view.
If you have any postal history images that could be displayed please contact the webmaster!
| YEAR | EXPEDITION NAME | LEADER |
| 1954 | USSR NP-3 drift station established | |
| 1954 | HMCS Labrador transit of Northwest Passage | O. Robertson |
| 1954 | USS Burton Island McClure Strait transit and rendezvous with Labrador (see above) | |
| 1955 | Soviet Oceanographical Expedition attaining surface ship (Fedor Litke) | L.L. Balakshin |
| 1955-74 | Ice Island T-3 operations (and subsequent brief reoccupations) | |
| 1954-1991 | USSR/Russia drift station operations (NP4-31) | |
| 1956-57 | French Greenland Center Expedition | Jean Dumont |
| 1957 | US Coast Guard ships (Bramble, Spar & Storis) transit Northwest Passage | |
| 1957-60 | International Greenland Glaciological Expedition | Paul-Émile Victor |
| 1957-58 | Swedish-Finnish-Swiss Expedition to Northeast Land Svalbard | |
| 1957-58 | Polish Spitsbergen Expedition | |
| 1958 | Cambridge West Greenland Glaciological Expedition | |
| 1958 | US nuclear submarines Nautilus & Skate reach North Pole beginning | Anderson & Calvert |
| 1958 | Scottish East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1958-61 | Lead Dog Greenland scientific project | U.S. Army |
| 1959 | USS Skate surfaces at North Pole | James Calvert |
| 1959-60 | International Greenland Glaciological Expedition (EGIG) | |
| 1959-60 | Ellesmere Ice Shelf Project | |
| 1959-70 | Drift Stations Alpha/Arlis operations | |
| 1959-89 | Canadian Polar Continental Ice Shelf Project (resumed periodically) | |
| 1960 | British East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1960-64 | Italian annual Greenland (mostly alpine) expeditions | Guido Monzino |
| 1961 | Scottish East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1962 | Oxford University expedition to East Greenland | David Sugden |
| 1962 | Trans-Greenland expedition | Staib & Reese |
| 1963 | Scottish East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1963 | Cambridge East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1963-64 | Third Pearyland expedition | Eigil Knuth |
| 1963 | Swiss-German Greenland expedition | |
| 1963 | Italian Polar Geographical Institute Greenland expedition | |
| 1964 | North Pole ski expedition | Bjørn Staib |
| 1965 | Scottish Trans Greenland Expedition | Hugh Simpson |
| 1966 | City of Tortona (Italy) Greenland Expedition | |
| 1966 | German North Pole Expedition | Karl Herrligkoffer |
| 1966-68 | Project Blue Ice | Ralph Lenton |
| 1966 | Swiss Greenland Expedition | |
| 1966 | Fourth Danish Greenland Pearyland expedition | Eigil Knuth |
| 1967 | Danish scouts Greenland expedition | |
| 1967 | International Greenland Glaciological Expedition (EGIG) | |
| 1967 | Plaisted Polar Expedition | Ralph Plaisted |
| 1968 | Plaisted Polar Expedition | Ralph Plaisted |
| 1968 | Netherlands Spitsbergen expedition | |
| 1968 | Japanese Trans-Greenland Expedition | |
| 1968 | International Greenland Glaciological Expedition (EGIG) | |
| 1968-69 | British Trans-Arctic Expedition | Wally Herbert |
| 1969 | Tanker SS Manhattan transits Northwest Passage | Roger Steward |
| 1969 | Danish scouts Greenland expedition | |
| 1969 | British Joint Services North Pearyland Expedition | |
| 1969 | Watkins Mountain Expedition | |
| 1969 | Italian Polar Geographical Institute Repulse Bay expedition | Silvio Zavatti |
| 1969 | Daily Telegraph North Pole Expedition attempt using skis | Simpson & Tufft |
| 1970 | Second Northwest Passage transit of SS Manhattan | Arthur Smith |
| 1970 | German East Greenland expedition to Stauning Alps | Wolfgang Weinzierl |
| 1970 | Ohio State Greenland expedition | R. Goldthwait |
| 1970 | Ladies Scottish East Greenland Expedition | |
| 1970 | Arctic phase of "Hudson 70" cruise around the Americas | David Butler |
| 1971 | Monzino North Pole Expedition | Guido Monzino |
| 1971 | UK submarine Dreadnought attains North Pole | |
| 1972-76 | USA Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) | |
| 1973 | Transworld Snowmobile Expedition | Bill Cooper |
| 1973 | Solo trans-Northern Canada sled expedition | Colin Irwin |
| 1974 | Aberdeen University Greenland expedition | |
| 1975 | Canadian North Pole Taylor Expedition | Jim Taylor |
| 1976 | UK submarine Sovereign attains North Pole | |
| 1976 | Canadian North Pole Taylor aborted Expedition | Jim Taylor |
| 1977 | Arktika North Pole cruise | J. Kutchiev |
| 1977 | British North Pole (Transglobe preparatory) Expedition | Ranulph Fiennes |
| 1978 | Japanese solo North Pole and Greenland traverse | Naomi Uemura |
| 1979 | USSR North Pole ski expedition | Dmitri Shparo |
| 1979-82 | Transglobe Expedition (included Arctic phase) | Ranulph Fiennes |
| 1980 | Joy of Sound (North Pole) Balloon Expedition | Sid Conn |
| 1980 | Fram 80 drift station operation | |
| 1980 | Amateur Radio North Pole & Skydiving Expedition | Porter & Fronk |
| 1982 | Norwegian North Pole expedition | Ragnar Thorseth |
| 1983 | Canadian-US expedition to dive 1853 wreck of HMS Breadalbane | Ralph White |
| 1984 | Lindblad Explorer cruise liner transits Northwest Passage | Tom Pullen |
| 1985 | USCGC Polar Sea transits Northwest Passage | J. Howell |
| 1985 | World Discoverer cruise liner transits Northwest Passage | Heinz Aye |
| 1985 | Japanese North Pole expedition | Masako Izumi |
| 1986 | French solo North Pole expedition | Jean-Louis Etienne |
| 1986 | Steger North Pole Expedition | Will Steger |
| 1987 | Japanese North Pole (motorcycle) Expedition | Shinji Kazama |
| 1988 | International (off Northern Alaska) whale rescue operation | |
| 1988 | Polar Bridge North Pole expedition | Richard Weber |
| 1988 | Japanese North Pole expedition | Masako Izumi |
| 1988 | Great British Polar Quest NP expedition | Ranulph Fiennes |
| 1989 | Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill | |
| 1989 | The Bering Bridge Expedition | Paul Schurke |
| 1989 | Ice Walk International North Pole Expedition | Robert Swan |
| 1990 | Norwegian North Pole unsupported ski expedition | Kagge & Ousland |
| 1990 | USSR Atomic icebreaker Rossiya North Pole tourist cruise | |
| 1991 | Swedish Oden North Pole cruise | |
| 1991 | German Polarstern North Pole cruise | |
| 1992 | North Pole Expedition | Weber & Malakhov |
| 1994 | U.S. Polar Sea North Pole cruise | |
| 1994 | Canadian Louis St. Laurent North Pole cruise | |
| 1994 | First solo traverse to North Pole | Borge Ousland |
| 1995 | North Pole Expedition | Weber & Malakhov |