Wednesday 12 November 2025Before the Wire, which starts 26 October 2026Updated 23:59
Polar night, day 17 of 111. The sun returns 15 February.
Svalbard Wire starts on 26 October 2026. Pages before that date show the history of the island.
This day, 12 November
1942
On 12 November 1942 a lifeboat from the British steamer Chulmleigh, wrecked on a reef off Sørkapp, was thrown ashore at Kapp Linné, at the mouth of Isfjorden; nine of its men were found alive there by a Norwegian patrol on 2 January 1943. On 14 November a lifeboat from the Soviet steamer Dekabrist landed on Hopen, where four of its crew lived through the winter.
History Store norske leksikon
From the timeline, The coal town
1962
On 5 November 1962 an explosion in the coal mine at Ny-Ålesund, on the south side of Kongsfjorden on Spitsbergen, killed the whole shift of 21 men. Mining at Ny-Ålesund stopped for good the following year, and criticism of conditions at the state-owned company brought down the Gerhardsen government.
History Store norske leksikon
The timeline by era
Svalbard