ocr: was judged a rousing success, a5 was another ice station, SP-31, drifting near the Alaska coast that spring. No one knew it at the time, but SP-31 would be thel last Soviet drift station int history. OR DECADES the Soviets had been tireless - in their pursuit of knowledge about the Arctic. Part of the reason was military, ofcourse: Sokolov's oceanographic data, like that from all drift stations, were considered vital for the fleet of Soviet: submarines operat- ingin Arctic waters: from Murmansk andother ports. But the Soviets also had important eco- nomic and scientific reasons: to be up there ...
