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58-701: Vlissingen is mainly noted for the yards on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy ( Koninklijke Marine ) are built. The municipality of Vlissingen consists of the following places: The fishermen's hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Schelde around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into the third-most important port of the Netherlands . The Counts of Holland , Flanders , and Zeeland had

116-508: A later voyage by Fyodor Litke in 1821–1824, the western coast was mapped . Henry Hudson was another explorer who passed through Novaya Zemlya while searching for the Northeast Passage . The islands were systematically surveyed by Pyotr Pakhtusov and Avgust Tsivolko during the early 1830s. The first permanent settlement was established in 1870 at Malye Karmakuly , which served as capital of Novaya Zemlya until 1924. Later,

174-799: A listed fortified bridge in Tournai that has already been substantially modified, will again be raised to provide the necessary dimensions, including an air draught of 7.10 m (23 ft 4 in). The 13 km section between Cambrai (connection with Canal de Saint-Quentin) and Hordain (connection with Canal de la Sensée ) is only navigable for small ships ( péniche ) and has 5 locks. Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya ( / ˌ n oʊ v ə j ə ˈ z ɛ m l i ə / , also UK : / ˌ n ɒ v -, - aɪ . ə -/ , US : /- z ɛ m ˈ l ( j ) ɑː / ; Russian : Новая Земля , IPA: [ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa] ; lit.   ' New Land ' ), also spelled Novaja Zemlja ,

232-544: A lot less severe than in inland areas on a lot lower latitudes in Siberia , but instead last up to eight months a year. The milder waters to its west delays the onset of sea ice and causes vast seasonal lag in shoulder seasons. Due to latitudinal differences, the temperatures and daylight varies quite a bit throughout the archipelago, with the Malye Karmakuly station being located in the southern part. Novaya Zemlya

290-569: A new town hall in 1965. In 1294, the town was purchased by Floris V, Count of Holland , who recognised the strategic and economic potential of its location and began its development. The port facilities were further extended in the mid-15th century, financed by a local monopoly in the herring trade. In the mid-16th century, the town fell into poverty due to the Eighty Years' War , the Dutch revolt against Spanish occupation, and particularly owing to

348-456: A secret seaplane base for Nazi Germany 's Kriegsmarine , to provide German surveillance of Allied shipping en route to Siberia . The seaplane base was established by U-255 and U-711 , which were operating along the northern coast of Soviet Russia as part of 13th U-boat Flotilla . Seaplane sorties were flown in August and September 1943. In July 1954, Novaya Zemlya was designated as

406-462: A settlement of Malye Karmakuly (Малые Кармакулы). The indigenous population (from 1872 to the 1950s) consisted of about 50–300  Nenets who subsisted mainly on fishing , trapping , reindeer herding, polar bear hunting and seal hunting. Natural resources include copper , lead , and zinc . The entire civilian population was transferred to the mainland in 1957 before nuclear testing began. The population of Novaya Zemlya as of

464-601: A shore station on Dikson Island , badly damaging the Soviet ships Dezhnev and Revolutionist . Later that year, Karlo Štajner made the acquaintance of a new prisoner, a Captain Menshikov, who told him that: "In August 1942, another…transport arrived in Novaya Zemlya. The escort ships turned around and went back. Just a few hours later, the watchman in the tower announced that a ship was in sight. Everyone assumed it

522-478: A temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) that is milder than the rest of the Netherlands due to its more southern location on the coast. It is approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer annually than Groningen in the northeast. It is also one of the sunniest cities in the Netherlands, receiving approximately 180 more sunshine hours than Maastricht in the southeast. Its all-time record

580-400: Is 36.8 °C (98.2 °F) set on 27 July 2018 and −18.9 °C (−2.0 °F) on 21 February 1956. Scheldt The Scheldt ( / ʃ ɛ l t , s k ɛ l t / SHELT , SKELT ; French : Escaut [ɛsko] ; Dutch : Schelde [ˈsxɛldə] ) is a 435-kilometre-long (270 mi) river that flows through northern France , western Belgium , and

638-601: Is an archipelago in northern Russia . It is situated in the Arctic Ocean , in the extreme northeast of Europe , with Cape Flissingsky , on the northern island, considered the easternmost point of Europe . To Novaya Zemlya's west lies the Barents Sea and to the east is the Kara Sea . Novaya Zemlya consists of two main islands, the northern Severny Island and the southern Yuzhny Island , which are separated by

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696-452: Is cloudy in general, but snowfall and rainfall is relatively scarce for being a maritime location. Even so, glaciers dominate the northern interior and there is strong snow accumulation each winter due to the length of the season. Polar bears enter human-inhabited areas more frequently than previously, which has been attributed to climate change. Global warming reduces sea ice, forcing the bears to come inland to find food. In February 2019,

754-497: Is influenced by its severe climate, but the region nevertheless supports a diversity of biota . One of the most notable species present is the polar bear , whose population in the Barents Sea region is genetically distinct from other polar bear subpopulations . Novaya Zemlya has a maritime-influenced variety of a tundra climate ( Köppen ET ). Due to some effect from the Gulf Stream and its offshore position, winters are

812-524: The 2010 Census was about 2,429, of whom 1,972 resided in Belushya Guba , an urban settlement that is the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District. 457 more persons resided in the second largest settlement of Rogachevo, Rogachevo . The population consists mainly of military and construction workers. Novaya Zemlya is an extension of the northern part of the Ural Mountains , and

870-480: The Barents Sea from the Kara Sea . The total area is about 83,000 square kilometers (32,000 sq mi). The highest mountain is located on the Northern island and is 1,547 meters (5,075 ft) high. Compared to other regions that were under large ice sheets during the last glacial period , Novaya Zemlya shows relatively little isostatic rebound . Possibly this is indebted to a counter-effect created by

928-753: The Canal de Saint-Quentin follows its course. The port of Antwerp , the second-largest in Europe, developed on its banks. Several canals (including the Scheldt-Rhine Canal connecting Antwerp to Rotterdam , the Albert Canal connecting it to Liège and the Brussel-Scheldt , Brussels and Brussels-Charleroi canals connecting it to Charleroi via Brussels ) connect the Scheldt with

986-496: The Dutch Republic took control of Zeelandic Flanders , a strip of land on the left bank, and closed the Scheldt for shipping. That shifted the trade to the ports of Amsterdam and Middelburg and seriously crippled Antwerp, an important and traumatic element in the history of relations between the Netherlands and what was to become Belgium. Access to the river was the subject of the brief Kettle War of 1784, and during

1044-495: The French Revolution shortly afterwards, the river was reopened in 1792. Once Belgium had claimed its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the treaty of the Scheldt determined that the river should remain accessible to ships heading for Belgian ports . Nevertheless, the Dutch government would demand a toll from passing vessels until 16 July 1863. The Question of the Scheldt , a study providing "a history of

1102-591: The Matochkin Strait . Administratively , it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya District , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast , Russia. Municipally , it is incorporated as Novaya Zemlya Urban Okrug . Novaya Zemlya was a sensitive military area during the Cold War , and parts of it are still used for airfields today. The Soviet Air Force maintained a presence at Rogachevo on

1160-495: The Northern Sea Route in the 16th century led to its exploration. The first visit from a Western European was by Hugh Willoughby in 1553. Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz reached the west coast of Novaya Zemlya in 1594, and in a subsequent expedition of 1596, he rounded the northern cape and wintered on the northeastern coast. (Barentsz died during the expedition, and may have been buried on Severny Island. ) During

1218-535: The Semipalatinsk Test Site ; it was used for air drops and underground testing of the largest of Soviet nuclear bombs, in particular the October 30, 1961, air burst explosion of Tsar Bomba , the largest, most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. The Russian people knew of Novaya Zemlya from the 11th century, when hunters from Novgorod visited the area. For Western Europeans, the search for

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1276-544: The Dutch in 1616. During the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age , ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces . The history of Vlissingen was also marked by invasion, oppression and bombardments. Because of its strategic position at the mouth of the Schelde , the most important passageway to Antwerp , it has attracted

1334-441: The Dutch name. The American settlement of Flushing , originally a Dutch colonial village founded in 1645 and now part of Queens , New York City , was first called Vlissingen after the town in the Netherlands. The English settlers who also came to live in the village shortened the name to "Vlissing" by 1657 and then began to call it by its English name "Flushing." The Anglicisation of "Vlissingen" into "Flushing" did not occur after

1392-846: The Empire, which later became France and the Holy Roman Empire . This status quo remained intact, at least on paper, until 1528, but by then, both the County of Flanders on the western bank and Zeeland and the Duchy of Brabant on the east were part of the Habsburg possessions of the Seventeen Provinces . Antwerp was the most prominent harbour in Western Europe. After this city fell back under Spanish control in 1585,

1450-657: The North, ship surgeon Pierre Martin de La Martinière , gave a description of the indigenous population of the archipelago, whom he called Zembliens , from Nova Zembla or Nouvelle Zemble for "Novaya Zemlya". He noted that the Zembliens worshipped the Sun and wooden idols. In 1870s several Nenets families were resettled from elsewhere as part of the colonization of the territory by the Russian Empire , which established

1508-614: The administrative center was transferred to Belushya Guba , in 1935 to Lagernoe , but then returned to Belushya Guba. In the months following Hitler's June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain organized convoys of merchant ships under naval escort to deliver Lend-Lease supplies to northern Soviet seaports. The Allied convoys up to PQ 12 arrived unscathed but German aircraft, ships and U-boats were sent to northern Norway and Finland to oppose

1566-508: The basins of the Rhine , Meuse , and Seine rivers, and with the industrial areas around Brussels , Liège , Lille , Dunkirk , and Mons . The Scheldt flows through the following departments of France , provinces of Belgium , provinces of the Netherlands , and towns: The Scheldt estuary has always had considerable commercial and strategic importance. Called Scaldis in Roman times, it

1624-613: The bay. That's all the Germans were waiting for. At the moment when the ship reached the narrowest part of the bay, the German guns sent off their first salvo — a direct hit… our coastal batteries opened fire… but the guns didn't reach far enough… [they] came closer and destroyed all the ships in the bay, as well as a large part of the harbor [and] left a hundred dead and wounded." Whether the attack on Menshikov's battery occurred on Dikson Island or on Novaya Zemlya, Stajner's account illuminated

1682-628: The case of the September 12, 1973 test, a seismic magnitude of 6.97 on the Richter scale was reached, setting off an 80-million-ton avalanche that blocked two glacial streams and created a lake 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in length. Over its history as a nuclear test site, Novaya Zemlya hosted 224 nuclear detonations with a total explosive energy equivalent to 265 megatons of TNT. For comparison, all explosives used in World War II, including

1740-642: The confluence of the Lys , one of its main tributaries, and the Scheldt, which then turns east. Near Antwerp , the largest city on its banks, the Scheldt flows west into the Netherlands toward the North Sea . Originally there were two branches from that point: the Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt); and the Westerschelde (Western Scheldt). In the 19th century, however, the Dutch built a dyke that cuts

1798-744: The conquest of New Netherland , but in England well before then. This village was the site of the Flushing Remonstrance . The village of Flushing in Cornwall was also named after Vlissingen. Originally named Nankersey, the village was given its name by Dutch engineers from Vlissingen in the Netherlands who built the three main quays in the village. Michigan and Ohio in the US have villages called Flushing as well. [REDACTED] Topographic map of Vlissingen (city), Sept. 2014 Vlissingen has

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1856-415: The contents of the bottle did not diminish. When the bishop realised the beggars did not want to listen to his words, he gave them his bottle. After that, he supposedly called the city Flessinghe . Another source states that the name had its origins in an old ferry-service house, on which a bottle was attached by way of a sign. The monk Jacob van Dreischor, who visited the city in 967, then apparently called

1914-687: The convoy. The convoy was able to sail north of Bear Island but encountered ice floes on June 30; a ship was damaged too badly to carry on and broke radio silence. On the following morning, the convoy was detected by German U-boats and German reconnaissance aircraft and torpedo bomber attacks began on July 2. On the night of July 2/3, the German battleship Tirpitz and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper , sortied from Trondheim with four destroyers and two smaller vessels. The pocket battleships Admiral Scheer and Lützow and six destroyers sailed from Narvik, but Lützow and three destroyers ran aground. The British Admiralty responded on July 4 by diverting

1972-415: The convoys. Convoy PQ 17 consisted of thirty-six merchant ships containing 297 aircraft, 596 tanks, 4,286 other vehicles and more than 150,000 long tons (152,407 t) of other cargo, six destroyer escorts, fifteen additional armed ships (among which were two Free-French corvettes) and three small rescue craft. The convoy departed Iceland on June 27, 1942, one ship running aground and dropping out of

2030-649: The detonations of two US nuclear bombs, amounted to only two megatons. In 1988–1989, glasnost helped make the Novaya Zemlya testing activities public knowledge, and in 1990 Greenpeace activists staged a protest at the site. The last nuclear test explosion was in 1990 (also the last for the entire Soviet Union and Russia). The Ministry for Atomic Energy has performed a series of subcritical underwater nuclear experiments near Matochkin Shar each autumn since 1998. These tests reportedly involve up to 100 grams (3.5  oz ) of weapons-grade plutonium. In October 2012, it

2088-658: The escort vessels to the west to rendezvous with the Home Fleet and ordered the merchant vessels to scatter. Seeking safety in the Matochkin Strait, several ships headed toward Novaya Zemlya. In August 1942, the German Navy commenced Operation Wunderland , to enter the Kara Sea and sink as many Soviet ships as possible. Admiral Scheer and other warships rounded Cape Desire, entered the Kara Sea and attacked

2146-430: The essential commodity of the industrial revolution. Upgrading downstream from Bouchain was started in the 1960s in both France and Flanders, but the waterway is still not fully compliant with European standards. All the locks on the high-capacity section are being doubled by European Class Vb size locks, 185 by 12 m (607 by 39 ft), as part of the overall European Seine-Scheldt waterway project. The Pont des Trous,

2204-517: The fate of a Soviet officer imprisoned by his countrymen for the "crime" of suffering defeat at the hands of the enemy. Not surprisingly, Menshikov's arrest was never announced in the Soviet press. In August 1943, a German U-boat sank the Soviet research ship Akademic Shokalskiy near Mys Sporyy Navolok but the Soviet Navy, now on the offensive, destroyed the German submarine U-639 near Mys Zhelaniya . In 1943, Novaya Zemlya briefly served as

2262-537: The ferry-house het veer aan de Flesse ("the ferry at the Bottle"). Because many cities in the region later received the appendix -inge , the name, according to this etymology, evolved to Vles-inge . According to another source, the name was derived from the Danish word Vles , which means "tides". The eastern cape of Novaya Zemlya , Cape Flissingsky was named after the city in 1596 by Willem Barentsz . Vlissingen

2320-416: The first harbours dug. Over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade . The first reliable records of Old Vlissengen date from a charter of 1247, when the town already had a church and an infirmary; another in 1264 mentions a steenhuus or castle, the foundations of which were uncovered during the construction of

2378-666: The growth of glaciers during the last few thousand years. The geology of Novaya Zemlya is dominated by a large anticlinal structure that forms an extension of the Ural Mountains . The geology is primarily formed of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, including both carbonate and siliciclastic rocks spanning the Cambrian to Permian , ranging from deep marine turbidites and flysch to shallow marine and terrestrial sandstones and reef limestones. Small areas of late Neoproterozoic (~600 mya) granite and associated metasedimentary rocks are also exposed. The ecology of Novaya Zemlya

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2436-687: The interest, at one time or another, of the British, the French, the Germans and the Spanish. Floods have also been a constant threat. Vlissingen declined during the 18th century. The Napoleonic Wars were particularly disastrous. After 1870, the economy revived after the construction of new docks and the Walcheren canal, the arrival of the railway and the establishment of the shipyard called De Schelde. The Second World War interrupted this growth. The city

2494-586: The interior is mountainous throughout. It is separated from the mainland by the Kara Strait . Novaya Zemlya consists of two major islands, separated by the narrow Matochkin Strait , as well as a number of smaller islands. The two main islands are: The coast of Novaya Zemlya is very indented, and it is the area with the largest number of fjords in the Russian Federation. Novaya Zemlya separates

2552-620: The international legal arrangements governing the Western Scheldt", was prepared for the use of British negotiators at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In the Second World War , the Scheldt estuary once again became a contested area. Despite Allied control of Antwerp , German forces still occupied fortified positions in September 1944 throughout the Scheldt estuary west and north, preventing any Allied shipping from reaching

2610-562: The nuclear weapons testing venue, construction of which began in October and existed during much of the Cold War . "Zone A", Chyornaya Guba ( 70°42′N 54°36′E  /  70.7°N 54.6°E  / 70.7; 54.6 ), was used in 1955–1962 and 1972–1975. "Zone B", Matochkin Shar ( 73°24′N 54°54′E  /  73.4°N 54.9°E  / 73.4; 54.9 ), was used for underground tests in 1964–1990. "Zone C", Sukhoy Nos ( 73°42′N 54°00′E  /  73.7°N 54.0°E  / 73.7; 54.0 ),

2668-553: The port. In the Battle of the Scheldt , the Canadian First Army successfully cleared the area, allowing supply convoys direct access to the port of Antwerp by November 1944. Canalisation from Cambrai down to Valenciennes was completed in 1788. Napoleon saw the benefits of linking Paris to Belgium and accelerated completion of the Canal de Saint-Quentin to the south. The locks were deepened and doubled, as coal became

2726-509: The punitive taxes imposed by the Duke of Alba . In April 1572, the townspeople staged a successful uprising, expelling the Flemish garrison, firing at ships bringing reinforcements and hanging a Spanish nobleman in front of the town hall. Under the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585, English garrisons were stationed here and at Brill to keep these ports out of Spanish hands. The towns were sold back to

2784-614: The river off from its eastern (northern) branch and connects Zuid-Beveland with the mainland ( North Brabant ). Today the river continues into the Westerschelde estuary only, passing Terneuzen to reach the North Sea between Breskens in Zeelandic Flanders and Vlissingen (Flushing) on Walcheren . The Scheldt is an important waterway , and has been made navigable from its mouth up to Cambrai. Above Cambrai,

2842-458: The southern part of the southern island, on the westernmost peninsula ( 71°37′04″N 52°28′44″E  /  71.61787°N 52.47884°E  / 71.61787; 52.47884 ). It was used primarily for interceptor aircraft operations, but also provided logistical support for the nearby nuclear test area. Novaya Zemlya was one of the two major nuclear test sites managed by the USSR along with

2900-595: The southwestern part of the Netherlands , with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sċeald ("shallow"), Modern English shoal , Low German schol , West Frisian skol , and obsolete Swedish skäll ("thin"). The headwaters of the Scheldt are in Gouy , in the Aisne department of northern France. It flows north through Cambrai and Valenciennes , and enters Belgium near Tournai . Ghent developed at

2958-532: The world pass through the Schelde. The derivation of the name Vlissingen is unclear, though most scholars relate the name to the word fles ("bottle") in one way or another. According to one story, when saint Willibrord landed in Vlissingen with a bottle in the 7th century, he shared its contents with the beggars he found there while trying to convert them. A miracle occurred, typical of hagiography , when

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3016-448: Was heavily damaged by shelling and inundation but was captured and liberated by British Commandos of 4th Special Service Brigade on 3 November 1944. The city was rebuilt after the war. In the 1960s, the seaport and industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost developed and flourished. Now this area is the economic driving force behind central Zeeland , generating many thousands of jobs. Nowadays approx. 50,000 ships annually from all corners of

3074-473: Was historically called "Flushing" in English. In the 17th century, Vlissingen was important enough for English speakers that it had acquired an anglicised name. For example, Samuel Pepys referred to the town as "Flushing" in his diaries. In 1673, Sir William Temple referred to Vlissingen as "Flushing" once and "Flussingue" twice in his book about the Netherlands. Some English writers in the Netherlands also used

3132-646: Was important for the shipping lanes to Roman Britain . Nehalennia was venerated at its mouth. The Franks took control over the region about the year 260 and at first interfered with the Roman supply routes as pirates. Later they became allies of the Romans. With the various divisions of the Frankish Empire in the 9th century, the Scheldt eventually became the border between the Western and Eastern parts of

3190-445: Was one of the Allied warships and didn't give the matter any importance. Shortly after, the watchman announced that the ship was nearing the bay. I went outside…to see for myself. As soon as I had climbed the tower, I realized to my horror that this was a German warship. I gave the alarm, but it was too late… the German cruiser was coming closer. One of the Allied freighters — the first ship we managed to get moving — steered its way out of

3248-655: Was reported that Russia would resume subcritical nuclear testing at "Zone B". In spring 2013, construction of what would become a new tunnel and four buildings was initiated near the Severny settlement, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west-northwest to the Mount Lazarev . In 2023, CNN reported that commercial satellite imagery showed new tunneling activity and surface construction at Novaya Zemlya test sites (including published imagery at 73°23′06″N 54°44′24″E  /  73.385°N 54.740°E  / 73.385; 54.740 ) that indicated possible preparation for resumption of nuclear testing. A 17th-century traveller to

3306-465: Was subsequently deployed to Cuba . 1963 saw the implementation of the Limited Test Ban Treaty which banned most atmospheric nuclear tests. The largest underground test in Novaya Zemlya took place on September 12, 1973, involving four nuclear devices of 4.2 megatons total yield. Although far smaller in blast power than the Tsar Bomba and other atmospheric tests, the confinement of the blasts underground led to pressures rivaling natural earthquakes . In

3364-415: Was used in 1958–1961 and was the site of the 1961 test of the Tsar Bomba , the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. Other tests occurred elsewhere throughout the islands, with an official testing range covering over half of the landmass. In September 1961, two propelled thermonuclear warheads were launched from Vorkuta Sovetsky and Salekhard to target areas on Novaya Zemlya. The launch rocket

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