Outstanding Russian naval officer, scientist, navigator and humanist F.F. Bellingshausen was born on September 20, 1778 on the island of Ezel (now Saarema) near the town of Kuressare (Ahrensburg).
He graduated from the naval cadet corps in Kronstadt. In 1797 he received the rank of midshipman and was sent to the ships of the Revel squadron of the Baltic Fleet. In 1803-1806 he took part in the first Russian round-the-world voyage on the ship "Nadezhda" under the command of I.F. Kruzenshtern. In 1806 Bellingshausen was promoted to lieutenant commander. After returning from the expedition, he commanded various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas. In 1819-1821 he headed an expedition around the world on the sloops "Vostok" (under the command of F.F. Bellingshausen) and "Mirny" (under the command of Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (1788-1851)). The purpose of the expedition was defined by the Maritime Ministry as scientific - the discovery in the possible proximity of the Antarctic Pole in order to "acquire the fullest knowledge about our globe."
4 (July 16) 1819 Russian Antarctic expedition under the command of the captain of the second rank F.F. Belinshausen left Kronstadt. The flagship was the sloop "Vostok" with a displacement of 900 tons, a waterline length of 40 m, a width of about 10 m, a sail area of more than 2000 square meters with a team of 117 people. The second sloop, called "Mirny", was commanded by Lieutenant M.P. Lazarev. The sloops developed a speed of up to 8-10 knots. By November 1919, the expedition reached the South Georgia Islands. Moving to the southeast, on December 30, 1819, the ships reached the "Sandwich Land" discovered by J. Cook. The expedition explored this land, which turned out to be an archipelago and was named the South Sandwich Islands. Russian navigators for the first time established a connection of this group of islands with other islands and rocks of the southwestern Atlantic and for the first time pointed out the presence of an underwater ridge of volcanic origin (now the South Antilles ridge), which has a length of 2.5 thousand km in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean between 53 ° and 60 ° S
On January 26, 1820, the ships crossed the Antarctic Circle, on January 28, the expedition discovered Antarctica, approaching it at 69 ° 21 "S and 2 ° 14" W. (area of the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf). On February 18, 1820, the expedition almost came close to the mainland (north-western ledge of the coast of Princess Ranhilda). For the third time, on February 26, 1820, the Russian ships reached only 60 ° 49 "S and 49 ° 26" E, approximately 100 km north of Prince Olaf Land.
In November 1820, the expedition set off for the second time to the "ice continent". On January 10, 1821, an island named after Peter I (68 ° 47 "S and. 90 ° 30" E) was discovered, and on January 28, the expedition discovered a coast named after Alexander I (the Land of Alexander I, located between 69 ° and 73 ° S and 68 ° and 76 ° E). Russian ships were unable to break through to the shore because of the solid ice. Bypassing them from the north, Bellingshausen turned to the east and crossed the extreme southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean (in the twentieth century this part was called the Bellingshausen Sea), where he found "New Shetland", discovered earlier by William Smith. The Russian expedition explored the new land and discovered that it is a chain of islands stretching from the Drake Passage to the east-northeast for almost 600 km. Some of the South Shetland Islands were named Berezina, Borodino, Waterloo, Leipzig, Maloyaroslavets, Polotsk, Smolensk, and the northeastern islands were named after Mikhailov, Mordvinov, Rozhnov, Shishkov.
On July 24, 1821, after 751 days of sailing, the ships returned to Kronstadt. During the trip, the expedition also discovered a number of islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
Bellingshausen and Lazarev compiled descriptions of the islands and maps, collected ethnographic, botanical and zoological collections, systematically monitored the state of the atmosphere and sea water.
In 1826 Bellingshausen was promoted to rear admiral. In 1827 he took part in the storming of the Turkish fortress of Varna.
On December 6, 1830 Bellingshausen received the rank of vice admiral and was appointed commander of the 2nd Fleet Division of the Baltic Fleet. During his service, he carried out scientific work in the field of artillery, later he wrote the work "On Aiming Artillery Guns at Sea".
Travel F.F. Bellingshausen is described in his book "Two-time explorations in the South Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world in the continuation of 1819-1821, performed on the sloops" Vostok "and" Mirny "", which was first published only in 1831, 10 years after the expedition.
In 1845 F.F. Bellingshausen was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1848 he was appointed an honorary member of the Marine Scientific Committee.
In the name of F.F. Bellingshausen are named:
Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen (born September 9 (20), 1778 - death January 13 (25), 1852) - Russian navigator, took part in the first Russian voyage around the world. He led the first Russian Antarctic expedition to discover Antarctica. Admiral. The sea off the coast of Antarctica, the underwater basin between the continental slopes of Antarctica and South America, islands in the Pacific, Atlantic Oceans and the Aral Sea, the first Soviet polar station on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands archipelago are named after him.
The future admiral was born in 1778 on the island of Ezel (present-day Saaremaa) near Ahrensburg (present-day Kingisepp) in Livonia (Estonia). Originally a Baltic German from the Bellingshausen noble family of Eastsee. The sound of sea waves was constantly heard around the small island. From an early age, the boy could not imagine life without the sea. That is why in 1789 he entered the Naval Corps in Kronstadt as a cadet. The sciences were easy for him, especially navigation and nautical astronomy, but Thaddeus was never among the first students.
1796 - Midshipman Bellingshausen sets off on his maiden voyage to the shores of England, and at the end of this internship he was promoted to warrant officer and sent for further service in the Revel squadron. In its composition, on different ships, the young officer sailed in the Baltic Sea. The future discoverer of the southern polar continent eagerly mastered the art of sailing, in practice comprehending its secrets. This did not go unnoticed, and in 1803 Bellingshausen was transferred to the ship "Nadezhda" to participate in the first Russian round-the-world expedition.
This voyage under the command of I.F.Kruzenshtern himself became a wonderful school for the young officer, and the leader of the expedition highly appreciated the diligence and level of the maps he had drawn up.
Upon completion of his circumnavigation of the world, Faddey Faddeevich, already in the rank of lieutenant commander, until 1810 commanded a frigate in the Baltic Sea, participated in the Russian-Swedish war. 1811 - goes to the Black Sea, where in 5 years he did a lot of work on drawing up and correcting maps, determined the main coordinates of the eastern coast.
By 1819, Captain 2nd Rank Bellingshausen had a reputation as a talented sailor, not only versed in astronomy, geography and physics, but also bold, decisive, exceptionally conscientious. This allowed Krusenstern to recommend the captain as the leader of the expedition for discoveries and research in the Antarctic region. Bellingshausen was urgently summoned to Petersburg, where on June 4 he took command of the sloop Vostok, which was to sail to Antarctica.
The Vostok and the second ship of the Mirny expedition, built for circumnavigation, were specially adapted for polar conditions. The underwater part of the "Vostok" was fastened and sheathed with copper at Bellingshausen's request. The Mirny was equipped with a second plating, additional hull mountings, and replaced the pine steering wheel with an oak one. Together, the ships' crews numbered 183 people. Lieutenant MP Lazarev was appointed commander of the Mirny, who would eventually become a famous naval commander.
The expedition was prepared in a very short time - just over a month, but it was equipped, first of all, thanks to the efforts of Bellingshausen and Lazarev, excellently. At the disposal of the navigators were the best nautical and astronomical instruments of that time. Special attention was paid by the leaders of the expedition to the stock of various antiscorbutic agents, among which were coniferous essence, lemons, sauerkraut, dried and canned vegetables. Given the climatic conditions, there were stocks of rum and red wine. As a result, no serious illness among the sailors was ever observed.
1819, July 16 - sloops left Kronstadt, entered Copenhagen, then the Canary Islands, and by mid-November were already in Rio de Janeiro. There, for three weeks, the team rested and prepared ships for sailing in difficult Antarctic conditions. Then, following the instructions, the ships sailed to the islands of South Georgia and to the "Land of Sandwich" - an open group of islands, which he took for a single island. The sailors identified the error and named the archipelago the South Sandwich Islands.
It was impossible to move further south - the path was blocked by solid ice. Therefore, Bellingshausen decided to go around the Sandwich Islands and look for a path along the northern edge of the ice. 1820, January 16 - records of the alleged proximity of land appeared in the logbook. The land was not visible, since it was under a continuous ice cover, but petrels circled above the sloops, and coming closer to the ice, the sailors could hear the cries of penguins. Later it will become known that the expedition was only 20 miles from the mainland, therefore this day is considered to be the official date of the discovery of Antarctica. If the ice cover at that time was not so powerful, sailors would certainly be able to see the land. Moving further, on February 6, they again came close to the mainland, but the weather conditions again did not allow us to confidently assert that the white space on the horizon is land.
Again and again, moving away from the ice edge and approaching it further along the course, the travelers tried to break through the ice. They crossed the Antarctic Circle 4 times, sometimes approaching 3-4 km to the coast of Antarctica, but the result remained the same. In the end, attempts to get closer to the alleged land had to be stopped. Strong storms could destroy fairly battered ships, it was necessary to replenish food and firewood supplies, to give rest to the exhausted crew. We decided to go to Port Jackson (Sydney).
The instruction ordered to conduct research in the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The sailors spent only one month in Australia, and on May 22, 1820 she sailed to Tuamotu and the Society Islands. In this voyage, islands were discovered, which were given Russian names (Kutuzov, Raevsky, Ermolov, Barclay de Tolly, etc.). Several islands were also discovered near the Fiji archipelago and north of Tahiti. Also, research was carried out on the islands, which had already been visited by other travelers.
1820, beginning of September - the expedition returned to Port Jackson, thorough preparation of the ships was carried out and already on November 11 again set off for Antarctica. On January 18, the expedition clearly saw the coast, which was named the Land of Alexander I. There was no more doubt: the new continent was discovered. During the further voyage, the South Shetland Islands were explored, many of which were first mapped, about. Peter I, and others. But the work on the description of the discovered lands had to be interrupted: serious damage to the "Vostok" forced Bellingshausen to decide to terminate the expedition. The sailors traveled to Kronstadt through Rio de Janeiro, where they repaired the ship, then visited Lisbon, and returned to their homeland in July 1821.
The expedition lasted 751 days. The sailors covered 92,200 km. In addition to Antarctica, travelers discovered 29 islands. They managed to collect large ethnographic, zoological and botanical collections. 28 objects were plotted on the map of Antarctica by navigators. They surveyed large water areas adjacent to the mainland, gave a general description of its climate, described and classified the Antarctic ice for the first time.
In this difficult voyage, Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen proved himself to be a talented and skillful commander and was promoted to captain-commander. In addition, he also turned out to be a talented scientist. It was he who, long before Darwin, was the first to guess about the mechanism of formation of coral islands. He also gave the correct explanation of the causes of the appearance of the mass of algae in the Sargasso Sea, not being afraid to challenge the opinion of Humboldt himself. After visiting Australia, Bellingshausen vigorously opposed the racial theory that indigenous Australians were considered almost animals unable to learn.
Bellingshausen and Lazarev expedition route
After his famous expedition, Faddey Faddeevich continued to serve in the navy: in 1821-1827 he commanded a flotilla in the Mediterranean; in 1828, already in the rank of rear admiral, he led a detachment of sailors-guards and led it on dry land from St. Petersburg across all of Russia to the Danube to participate in the war with Turkey; then on the Black Sea he commanded the siege of the Turkish fortress of Varna, etc.
1839 - Vice-Admiral Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen received the highest post of the chief commander of the Kronstadt port and the Kronstadt military governor in the Baltic Sea. Despite his advanced age, the admiral every summer put out to sea large fleets for maneuvers and brought the coordination of their actions to perfection.
1846 - the Swedish admiral Nordenskjöld was present at the maneuvers, who concluded that no fleet in Europe would make such an evolution.
Bellingshausen died on January 25, 1852 in Kronstadt. On his desk, they found a note - the last in his life. It read: "Kronstadt must be planted with such trees that would bloom before the fleet goes to sea, so that the sailor gets a particle of summer woody smell."
Bellingshausen's work “Two-fold surveys in the South Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 1820 and 1821, performed on the sloops Vostok and Mirny, first appeared in 1831 (republished in 1869). In addition, according to the results of the expedition, the admiral himself prepared "Atlas for the voyage of Captain Bellingshausen" (1831).
(1779-1852)
The outstanding Russian navigator Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen, who together with M.P. Lazarev discovered the continent of Antarctica and thereby confirmed the priority of our Motherland in this remarkable geographical discovery, was born on September 20, 1779 near the city of Kingisepp (Ahrensburg) on the island of Saaremaa (Ezel), now part of Estonia.
From childhood, which the young F.F. Bellingshausen spent on the shores of the Gulf of Riga, either in Ahrensburg or in its vicinity, he dreamed of becoming a sailor and constantly said to himself: “I was born in the middle of the sea, and as a fish cannot live without water - so and I cannot live without the sea. " It is not surprising, therefore, that when he was 10 years old, in 1789 he was appointed a cadet in the Naval Corps, then located in Kronstadt. So they found his dream come true, and subsequently, until his advanced years, he was sailing almost every year.
Thanks to the brilliant abilities of F. F. Bellingshausen in the Marine Corps, it was easy to study, but, according to his biographers, he was distinguished by a "somewhat playful disposition", as a result of which, at the end of the Marine Corps, he was not among the first in his graduation. In 1796 F. F. Bellingshausen was promoted to midshipmen and, continuing to serve in the corps, set off on his first long overseas voyage to the shores of England. After being promoted to the first officer rank of midshipman in 1797, he was assigned to the Revel squadron, in which he sailed on various ships in the Baltic Sea for six years.
The young officer tried to improve his knowledge in the field of naval sciences and diligently carried out his service activities. With these qualities, F. F. Bellingshausen attracted the attention of the fleet commander, Admiral Khanykov, who recommended him for appointment to the first Russian round-the-world expedition of Kruzenshtern-Lisyansky. In 1803 he was transferred to the ship "Nadezhda", which was commanded by the head of the expedition, the lieutenant captain. Under the leadership of the head of the expedition, F. F. Bellingshausen, he improved his maritime knowledge and took an active part in the marine inventory of the investigated shores and in the compilation of new nautical charts. IF Kruzenshtern gives the following assessment of his hydrographic and cartographic works: “Almost all the maps are drawn by this last skillful officer, who at the same time shows the ability of a good hydrograph; he also drew up a general map. " The Central Naval Museum contains a whole atlas with numerous original maps of the young F.F. Bellingshausen.
During his voyage around the world F. F. Bellingshausen received the rank of lieutenant, and upon his return from the voyage - the rank of lieutenant commander.
After returning from the expedition, F. F. Bellingshausen sailed until 1810 in the Baltic Sea, successively commanding various frigates. In 1809, he took part in the Russian-Swedish war, commanding the frigate "Melpomene" and carrying an uninterrupted six-month patrol in the Gulf of Finland to observe the actions of the enemy, Swedish and British fleets. In 1811 F. F. Bellingshausen was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet, in which he remained until 1819 as the commander of the first frigate "Minerva" and then the frigate "Flora", and took part in the hostilities off the Caucasian coast. On the Black Sea, he paid great attention to the issues of hydrography and contributed a lot to the compilation and correction of maps, determining the coordinates of the main points of the eastern coast of the Black Sea. In 1816 F. F. Bellingshausen was promoted to captain of the 2nd rank.
In 1819 he was urgently summoned by the naval minister to Petersburg to receive a responsible appointment.
At that time in St. Petersburg, two expeditions were urgently equipped, each consisting of two ships: one of them, the so-called first division, consisting of the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" was intended for research in the South Pole region; second expedition. representing the second division, consisting of the sloops "Otkrytme" and "Blagonamerenny" - in the North Pole area. The main task of both expeditions was scientific geographical research and discoveries, and the first Russian Antarctic expedition was intended to verify the assertion of the English navigator James Cook, who, on the basis of his own navigation, denied the possibility of the existence of the continent in high southern latitudes, in places accessible for navigation. This opinion of Cook was accepted by geographers and navigators around the world as an immutable truth, and his mistake was the reason for refusing for more than 40 years from further scientific expeditions to the Antarctic regions.
Outstanding seafarers of that time took part in organizing these expeditions, from the older generation, represented by the famous hydrograph Admiral Gavrila Andreevich Sarychev, to the young lieutenant OE Kotsebue, who had just returned from his circumnavigation of the world on the Rurik brigade. A detailed note on this matter, referring mainly to the Antarctic expedition, was also compiled by I.F. Kruzenshtern considered the Antarctic expedition a great Russian patriotic deed and dedicated the following words to it in his note: "We must not allow the glory of such an enterprise to be taken away from us: it will certainly go to the British or French for a short time." IF Kruzenshtern further drew attention to the need for the most thorough all-round preparation of the expedition, including its scientific part and the appointment of a suitable leader. The most worthy chief of the "first division" intended for discoveries in the Antarctic region, IF Kruzenshtern considered the outstanding navigator, captain of the 2nd rank V.M. ... In view of this, IF Kruzenshtern proposed to appoint FF Bellingshausen in his place, characterizing him with the following words: “he has special merits for the leadership of such an expedition: an excellent naval officer and has rare knowledge in astronomy, hydrography and physics. Our fleet, of course, is rich in enterprising officers, however, of those whom I know, no one except Golovnin can compare with Bellingshausen. " The appointment of F. F. Bellingshausen took place: on June 4, 1819, he took command of the sloop "Vostok" and at the same time assumed command of the "first division".
At that time he was 40 years old, and he was in the full bloom of his powers and abilities. Service in his younger years under the command of an experienced old sailor Admiral Khanykov, participation in the first Russian round-the-world voyage under the leadership of IF Kruzenshtern, and finally, 13-year independent command of ships developed the basic business and personal qualities of FF Bellingshausen. His contemporaries portray him as a bold, decisive, knowledgeable commander, an excellent sailor and a learned hydrograph navigator, a true Russian patriot. Remembering the joint voyage, MP Lazarev subsequently did not call him anything other than "a skillful fearless sailor", and added to this that "he was an excellent, warm-hearted man." Such a high assessment, coming from the mouth of one of the largest Russian naval commanders, MP Lazarev, is worth a lot. FF Bellingshausen was a strict but humane boss. He manifested his humanity more than once in the cruel age of the Arakcheev regime and during his voyage around the world he never used corporal punishment in relation to the sailors subordinate to him, he took care of their living conditions and health.
FF Bellingshausen had very little time left for the final preparation of the expedition for going on a dangerous and responsible long voyage - a little more than a month. The commander of the second of them - "Mirny" - Lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, who was appointed much earlier and was a worthy subordinate and associate of F. F. Bellingshausen, did a lot to properly supply both sloops.
In view of the urgent preparation of the expedition, ships that were not specially built for sailing in ice were included in its composition, but those already under construction and intended for other purposes. The sloop "Vostok", built at the Okhtenskaya shipyard in St. Petersburg, was of the same type as the sloop "Kamchatka", already sailing around the world under the command of V. M. Golovnin (the latter gives the following data on the dimensions of these sloops: a displacement of about 900 tons , length 39.5 m, width 10 m, draft at full load 4.5 m). "Vostok" had a number of design flaws (excessive height of the masts, insufficient strength of the hull, poor material, careless work), of which F. F. Bellingshausen directly blames the builder V. Stoke. The second ship of the expedition, commanded by MP Lazarev, was originally built as a transport for navigation in the Baltic Sea; It was built at the shipyard in Lodeynoye Pole by the Russian master Kolodkin. In preparation for the campaign, Lazarev made a number of changes to the design of the Mirny, as a result of which it turned out (according to his commander) “the most comfortable in terms of its strength, spaciousness and peace,” his only drawback was its slow speed, which required a special maritime art. P. Lazarev, so as not to be parted during the voyage with the faster "Vostok" (dimensions of the "Mirny" sloop: displacement 530 tons, length 36.5 m, width 9.1 m, draft 4.3 m). The personnel of the expedition included 9 officers and 117 sailors on the Vostok sloop, and 7 officers and 72 sailors on the Mirny sloop. In addition, the astronomer, professor of Kazan University I. Simonov and painter P. Mikhailov were on the sloop "Vostok".
There was not a single foreigner on the ships of F.F.Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev. This circumstance is emphasized by a member of the expedition, Professor Simonov, who, in his speech delivered at a ceremonial meeting of the university after returning in July 1822, stated that all the officers were Russian, and although some of them bore foreign names, but, “being children of Russian subjects born and brought up in Russia cannot be called foreigners. "
Among the officers of the expedition there were many leading representatives of the Russian liberal intelligentsia, including the future participant in the Decembrist uprising, Lieutenant K.P. Thorson.
Despite the great haste with the expedition's equipment, it was generally well supplied. Particularly great attention was paid to providing ships with the best seaworthy and astronomical instruments for that time.
The expedition was well supplied with all kinds of antiscorbutic foodstuffs, which included coniferous essence, lemons, sauerkraut, dried and canned vegetables; in addition, on every suitable occasion, the commanders of the sloops bought and exchanged (on the islands of Oceania from local residents) a large amount of fresh fruit, which was partly prepared for future use for the forthcoming voyage in Antarctica, and partly provided for use by the personnel. A stock of rum was available to warm the sailors who froze while working on masts and yards during icy winds and frosts in Antarctica; red wine was also purchased to add to drinking water when sailing in hot climates. All personnel, on the basis of special instructions, were obliged to observe the strictest hygiene; living quarters were constantly ventilated and, if necessary, heated, frequent washing in the bath was provided, requirements were imposed on constant washing of linen and beds, and on airing clothes, etc .; Thanks to the above measures and the high qualifications of ship doctors, there were no serious illnesses on the sloops, despite the harsh climatic conditions of navigation and frequent transitions from heat to cold and vice versa.
Each of the sloops had a significant library containing all published descriptions of sea voyages in Russian, English and French, nautical astronomical yearbooks, works on geodesy, astronomy and navigation, sailing directions and instructions for sailing, various nautical tables, works on earth magnetism , celestial atlases, notes of the Admiralty Department, etc.
The main goal of the expedition was determined by the instructions of the Minister of the Sea as follows: Bellingshausen should, after exploring the island of New Georgia and the area of the so-called "Sandwich land", "set off to the south" and "continue his research to the remote latitude that he can reach", use "every possible diligence and the greatest effort to reach as close to the pole as possible, looking for unknown lands ", and he was allowed to stop these searches only" with insurmountable obstacles. "
The sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" left Kronstadt on July 16, 1819, and after a short stay in Copenhagen, Portsmouth and the Canary Islands, arrived on November 14 in Rio de Janeiro, where they spent three weeks for the crew to rest before a tiring and difficult voyage. in Antarctica, to prepare sloops for storm voyages and to take fresh provisions.
According to the instructions received, the expedition was to begin its research work from the island of South Georgia and the "Sandwich Land" discovered by Cook, the nature and size of which were not determined. FF Bellingshausen surveyed the southern coast of New Georgia Island and plotted it on a map, marking a number of geographical points with Russian names in honor of the expedition members.
Further, the expedition headed to the notorious "Land of Sandwich" on the way to this "Land" was made on January 3, 1820, the first major discovery - a group of islands was discovered, which was named by Bellingshausen after the name of the then Russian naval minister, the islands of the Marquis de Traversay, and its individual islands - by the names of the expedition participants (Zavadovsky Island, Leskov Island and Torson Island, renamed to Vysokiy Island after the Decembrist uprising). On January 11, the expedition approached the Sandwich Land area and discovered that the points that Cook considered its capes were in fact separate islands. FF Bellingshausen showed exceptional tact, keeping for the islands discovered by Russian navigators the names that Cook gave to the capes, and for the whole group - the name of Sandwich (South Sandwich Islands). Then the expedition proceeded to those "attempts" to reach the mainland, which were prescribed by the instructions.
With the entry of the ships of the expedition into high southern latitudes, the sailing conditions became very difficult, requiring from the Russian navigators the greatest art of sailing ships, attention, observation, endurance and perseverance in achieving the set goal. From the beginning of January 1820 the ships entered the zone of Antarctic floating ice and icebergs, maneuvering between them in conditions of fog and snow, in stormy winds, strong waves and swell required great skill and courage. The joint navigation was very difficult because of the difference in speed between the two sloops: "Vostok" had to constantly reduce its speed, and "Mirny", on the contrary, despite the stormy winds, to force the sails. FF Bellingshausen in his reports repeatedly notes the merits of MP Lazarev, only thanks to the maritime skill of which the ships never parted even in poor visibility and all dangerous areas passed together. The sloops were repeatedly close to death when, in stormy winds and in fog, they made their way at a great speed between the huge floating ice and icebergs, swaying on the swell, determining the location of the latter only by the noise of the breakers. Despite his exceptional courage and experience, M.P. Lazarev believed that Bellingshausen was taking too much risk, maneuvering large passages between ice fields in poor visibility. In his remarks, MP Lazarev said: "although we looked ahead with the greatest care, it seemed to me not entirely prudent to go 8 miles per hour on a cloudy night." F. F. Bellingshausen replied to this remark: “I agree with this opinion of Lieutenant Lazarev and was not very indifferent during such nights, but I thought not only about the present, but arranged my actions so as to have the desired success in our enterprises and not remain in the ice during the coming equinox ”(during the equinox violent storms are common). This was, perhaps, the only disagreement during the voyage between him and his companion, with whom he had cordial friendly relations.
Both sloops still did not avoid collision with ice fields and received serious damage to the hulls. Especially serious damage was sustained to the Vostok, the condition of this sloop by the end of the expeditions generally aroused fears: its hull was very loose and took in a lot of water, dampness and rot developed in the interior, the crew had to continuously pump out the water entering the ship through the hole with hand pumps. FF Bellingshausen, describing his voyage, writes on this occasion that he found "one consolation in the thought that courage sometimes leads to success."
During the voyage, the members of the expedition used every opportunity to determine their position astronomically. In addition to navigators and astronomer Simonov, both commanders took part in the observations. The accuracy of the observations of Russian sailors still amazes the participants of modern Antarctic expeditions.
The Russian expedition first came close to the mainland of Antarctica on January 16, 1820, during its first "attempt" to penetrate south, and we consider this day as the date of its discovery. The visibility conditions, however, were not good enough, and the exceptional honesty and exactingness to the issues of the reliability of the discovery did not allow the Russian sailors to claim that they actually saw the low-lying part of the continent, and not the ice coastal fast ice. Now, however, no one doubts that FF Bellingshausen and MP Lazarev on this very day discovered the sixth part of the world. For the second time, the expedition was close to the mainland on February 2, 1820. In the same place in 1948 there was a Soviet whaling expedition "Slava", which, given excellent visibility, clearly saw all the coast and mountain peaks in the interior of the continent. He describes his impressions of the ice, which F.F. Bellingshausen saw in front of him from 17 to 18 February at the next approach to the mainland, with the following words: as far as our sight, towering to the south like a coast. " This characterization shows that F. F. Bellingshausen himself doubted whether he could see the shore in front of him. The very description of the ice, made by the Russian navigator, is quite consistent with the view of the Antarctic coast in this area, as we know it from later studies. Many of the expedition officers were confident in the proximity of the coast. Perhaps the most convincing in this respect is the conclusion of F. F. Bellingshausen, made by him at the end of the voyage, after the discovery by the expedition of the island of Peter I. This conclusion is, as it were, the result of his idea of the circumpolar regions. He writes: “The huge ice, which rises into the sloping mountains as it approaches the South Pole, I call mature, assuming that when the frost is 4 ° on the best summer day, then, of course, the cold does not decrease further to the south, and therefore I conclude that this ice goes through the pole and should be motionless, touching in places shallow water, or islands like the island of Peter I, which are undoubtedly located in large southern latitudes and also adjoins the coast, which exists (in our opinion) in the vicinity of that latitude and longitude , in which we met sea swallows ”[vol. e. 5-7 February 1820].
During this period, the expedition crossed the South Arctic Circle three times.
At the beginning of March 1820, due to unfavorable weather and the need to stock up on fresh provisions and firewood and give rest to the personnel, F.F. a long stay, and after that, according to the instructions, during the winter of the southern hemisphere, start exploring the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
After a month's stay in Sydney, on May 22, 1820, both sloops headed for the Tuamotu archipelago and the Society Islands. To the east of the island of Tahiti, a Russian expedition in June 1820 discovered a whole group of islands, called the islands of the Russians (the islands of Kutuzov, Lazarev, Raevsky, Ermolov, Miloradovich, Greig, Volkonsky, Barclay de Tolly, Wittgenstein, Osten-Saken, Moller, Arakcheev ). After that, the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" visited the island of Tahiti and set off again for Sydney to rest, repair and receive various supplies before a new voyage to Antarctic waters. On the way to Sydney, the expedition discovered a number of islands (Vostok, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, Ono, Mikhailov and Simonov).
At the beginning of September 1820, the expedition returned to Sydney, where they began the most thorough repair of both ships, in particular the sloop Vostok. The expedition stayed in Sydney for almost two months and on November 11, 1820 again set out to sea to reach high latitudes in other, not yet visited sectors of Antarctica. Since the end of November, the expedition has resumed its attempts to reach the mainland of Antarctica. "Attempts" to penetrate as far south as possible during this period were made four times, and three times the ships penetrated the southern polar circle.
However, in this sector of Antarctica, the continent does not reach the southern polar circle, and only the fourth attempt was crowned with success: on January 21, 1821, the island of Peter I was discovered, and on January 18 - the Alexander I Coast, about which F. F. Bellingshausen writes: “I I call this finding the shore because the remoteness of the other end to the south has disappeared beyond our sight. " On February 1, Bellingshausen headed for the South Shetland Islands, the discovery of which he learned while in Australia. From 5 to 8 February, the expedition surveyed the southern shores of the archipelago, finding that it consists of a dozen larger islands and many smaller ones. All the South Shetland Islands were put on the map, and all of them were given names (Borodino, Maly Yaroslavets, Smolensk, Berezina, Polotsk, Leipzig, Waterloo, the island of Vice Admiral Shishkov, etc.). After exploring the South Shetland Islands, the expedition headed back to their homeland with a call in Rio de Janeiro, where the sloops were again thoroughly repaired, and to Lisbon.
Finally, on July 6, 1821, the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" anchored in the Small Kronstadt roadstead in the places from which they set off on their glorious and dangerous journey more than two years ago.
The expedition lasted 751 days (of which 527 sailing days and 224 anchored days); the ships traveled about 49,000 nautical miles, which is 2.25 times the length of the equator.
What were the results of the first Russian Antarctic expedition? The expedition discovered the mainland of Antarctica and walked around it. In addition, it rediscovered 29 previously unknown islands, including 2 in Antarctica, 8 in the southern temperate zone and 19 in the hot zone.
The tremendous merit of the Expedition consisted in the precise determination of the geographical position of the islands, capes and other points and the compilation of a large number of maps, which was the favorite specialty of F. F. Bellingshausen himself. These definitions have not lost their meaning and differ very little from the latest definitions produced on the basis of more accurate methods and more advanced seaworthy instruments. The map of the South Shetland Islands was the most accurate until the second half of the twentieth century, and sketches of the islands made by the artist Mikhailov are still used today. Astronomer Simonov made systematic observations of changes in air temperature, navigators - over the elements of terrestrial magnetism. The expedition carried out many important oceanographic studies; she was the first to get water samples from the depth with a primitive bottle made from improvised means; experiments were carried out with lowering the bottle to a depth; for the first time, the transparency of water was determined by lowering a white plate to a depth; the depths were measured as far as the length of the available lotlin would allow (apparently, up to 500 m); an attempt was made to measure the temperature at depth; the structure of sea ice and the freezing capacity of water of different salinity were studied; The deviations of the compasses at different courses and the direction of the wind at different heights were determined with the help of sounding balloons, which was then a novelty.
The expedition gathered rich ethnographic, zoological and botanical collections, which were then transferred to various museums in Russia, where they are still kept.
The expedition was greeted at home with great solemnity. Great importance was attached to her discoveries. In foreign countries, the priority of the Russian discovery was indisputably recognized.
Only more than 20 years later, the first foreign expedition to Antarctic waters was sent. The leader of this English Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843. James Ross wrote: "The discovery of the southernmost known continent was valiantly conquered by the fearless Bellingshausen, and this conquest remained with the Russians for over 20 years."
In 1867, the German geographer Peterman, noting that the merits of the Russian Antarctic expedition were not appreciated at all in the world geographical literature, points to the fearlessness of F.F. Bellingshausen can be placed alongside the names of Columbus, Magellan and James Ross, with the names of those people who did not retreat before the difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were the destroyers of obstacles to discoveries, who epochs are indicated. "
Academician Yu. M. Shokalsky, comparing the achievements of the Antarctic expeditions of Cook and Bellingshausen, made the following calculation: the first of them was located south of parallel 60 ° for 75 days, the second - 122 days; Cook was in the ice for 80 days, Bellingshausen - 100 days; Cook's ships parted, and the two Russian sloops under the most difficult conditions went together all the time.
FF Bellingshausen himself showed himself on this voyage not only as a talented head of the expedition, an outstanding sailor and an excellent comrade, but as a highly educated scientist and observer.
FF Bellingshausen solved many complex physical and geographical problems, however, unfortunately, the scientific fame went not to him, but to foreign scientists who dealt with the same issues much later. Thus, long before Darwin, F. F. Bellingshausen completely correctly explained the origin of the coral islands, which was a mystery before him; he gave a correct explanation of the origin of algae in the Sargasso Sea, challenging the opinion of such an authority in the field of geographical science of the time as A. Humboldt; he has many correct thoughts on the theory of ice formation, which have not lost their significance; he also solved many questions of oceanography. Finally, one cannot ignore the statements of F. F. Bellingshausen, directed directly against the racial theory and concerning the Australians (in the description of his voyage, he says: “the consequence has shown that the natural inhabitants of Australia are capable of education, despite the fact that many Europeans are deprived them of all their abilities ").
As a reward for the successful fulfillment of the order, F. F. Bellingshausen “was promoted to captain-commander and received a number of other awards. From 1822 to 1825 he held coastal positions, apparently to be able to process the materials of his voyage for publication. For this purpose he used his diaries and notes, the page journals of the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" and the notes of all members of the expedition, as well as the observations of the astronomer Simonov and the maps and drawings of the artist Mikhailov. This work was completed in 1824, when the author presented to the Admiralty Department the manuscript, including 10 notebooks. However, this work was published under the title "Two-time surveys in the South Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 1820 and 1821, performed on the sloops" Vostok "and" Mirny "only in 1831. This first edition consisted of two volumes without all illustrations, and all the maps and drawings were collected in the attached "Atlas" (19 maps, 13 species. 2 types of ice islands and 30 different drawings depicting various animals, birds and fish, etc.).
All further service of F. F. Bellingshausen proceeded in almost continuous voyages, combat and combat service and in the highest command positions. In 1821-1827. we see him commanding a squadron of ships in the Mediterranean. In 1828, being a rear admiral and commander of a guards crew, he, together with the latter, set out from St. Petersburg by dry route and went to the Danube to participate in the war with Turkey. On the Black Sea, he played a leading role in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Varna, and then, having his rear admiral's flag on the ships "Parmen" and "Paris", and in the capture of this fortress, as well as a number of other cities and fortresses. In 1831, already Vice-Admiral F. F. Bellingshausen was the commander of the 2nd naval division and annually cruises with it in the Baltic Sea.
In 1839, the last stage of his life and career begins: he was appointed to the highest combat post on the Baltic Sea - the chief commander of the Kronstadt port and the Kronstadt military governor. This position was combined with the annual appointment of the commander of the Baltic Fleet during his summer voyages and until his death (at the age of 73) F. F. Bellingshausen continued to go out to sea for combat training of the fleet entrusted to him.
As the chief commander of the Kronstadt port, Admiral (since 1843) F.F. Bellingshausen took an exceptionally large part in the construction of new granite harbors, docks, granite forts, preparing the Baltic stronghold to repel enemy invasions, just as he performed a similar task former co-sailor Admiral MP Lazarev in the south - in Sevastopol. FF Bellingshausen diligently trained his fleet and to improve the quality of artillery fire developed and calculated special tables published under the title "On Aiming Artillery Guns at Sea". As already noted, F. F. Bellingshausen was an excellent sailor and until the end of his days skillfully trained his commanders in maneuvering and evolution. Contemporaries who participated in these evolutions gave him the certification of "master of his craft", and the Swedish admiral Nordenskjold, who was present at the naval maneuvers of 1846, exclaimed: "I bet with anyone that not a single fleet in Europe will make these evolutions." To the old admiral's credit, it must be said that he highly appreciated the courage and initiative of young commanders, and when (in 1833), during an autumn voyage at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland on a stormy autumn night, the commander of the frigate "Pallada", the future renowned naval commander P.S. Nakhimov raised the signal to his admiral "the fleet is heading for danger", the latter unquestioningly changed the course of the wake column, thanks to which the squadron was saved from an accident on the rocks.
FF Bellingshausen all his life was interested in geographical issues, reread all descriptions of voyages around the world and transferred all new discoveries to his map. His name appears among the first elected full members of the Russian Geographical Society.
During his tenure as the main commander in Kronstadt, he showed many concerns about raising the cultural level of naval officers; in particular, he was the founder of one of the largest Russian libraries of that time - the Kronstadt Maritime Library. His great practical experience owes much of their success to the Russian round-the-world expeditions of the period when he was in charge of their equipment in Kronstadt.
FF Bellingshausen was also engaged in ship architecture: during the overhaul of ships in Kronstadt, their contours were improved, and he himself was the author of the project of the large military schooner "Whirlwind", for which he himself made all the drawings and calculations.
FF Bellingshausen is characterized by his humanity in relation to the sailor staff and constant concern for him. In Kronstadt, he significantly improved the living conditions of the teams by building barracks, setting up hospitals, and greening the city; he did especially much to improve the nutrition of the sailors in the sense of increasing the meat ration and the wide development of vegetable gardens to supply them with vegetables. After the death of the admiral, a note was found on his desk with the following content: "Kronstadt must be planted with such trees that would bloom before the fleet goes to sea, so that the sailor gets a particle of summer woody smell."
Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen died on January 25, 1852 in Kronstadt and was buried here. In 1870 a monument was erected in Kronstadt in memory of F.F.Bellingshausen. Subsequently, the following geographical objects were named after F.F.Bellingshausen: 1) Bellingshausen Sea - in Antarctica, in the area of Peter I Island and Alexander I Land discovered by the Russian expedition, and 2) Bellingshausen Island - in the South Sandwich Islands group. Bellingshausen left a noticeable mark on the history of the Russian fleet and raised the world authority of Russian navigators and Russian oceanographic and hydrographic science with his remarkable voyage to the shores of Antarctica.
Bibliography
Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen
Main events
Discovery of Antarctica
The pinnacle of a career
Order of Vladimir I st., Order of the White Eagle, Order of St. Alexander Nevsky with the award of diamond signs to him two years later, Order of St. George IV degree
Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen(at birth Fabian Gottlieb Thadeus von Bellingshausen, (German. Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen ; September 20, 1778 - January 25, 1852 (73 years old) - Russian naval leader, navigator, admiral (1843). In 1803-1806. participated in the first Russian round-the-world voyage on the ship "Nadezhda" under the command of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern. Returning to Russia, he served in the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. In 1819-1821. headed on the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny" round-the-world expedition, during which on January 28, 1820 was discovered "ice continent" - Antarctica and a number of islands in the Pacific Ocean.
From early childhood I wanted to connect my life with the sea: "I was born in the middle of the sea; just as a fish cannot live without water, so I cannot live without the sea." In 1789 he entered the Kronstadt Naval Cadet Corps. He became a midshipman and in 1796 sailed to the shores of England.
In 1797 he became a midshipman - he received his first officer rank. In 1803-1806 Bellingshausen served as a member of the expedition of IF Kruzenshtern and Yu. F. Lisyansky, who made the first Russian round-the-world voyage.
Bellingshausen's abilities were noticed by the commander of the Kronstadt port, who recommended him to Kruzenshtern, under whose leadership in 1803-1806, on the ship "Nadezhda", Bellingshausen made the first round-the-world voyage, having drawn up almost all the maps included in the "Atlas for a voyage around the world" by Captain Kruzensh.
In 1810-1819 he commanded various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas.
Bellingshausen and Lazarev's route From the Atlas of the History of Geographical Discovery and Research. 1959 g.
In preparation for the second Russian circumnavigation, organized with the approval of Emperor Alexander the First, Kruzenshtern recommended making Bellingshausen its leader. The main goal of the campaign was designated by the Ministry of the Navy as purely scientific: "the discovery in the possible proximity of the Antarctic Pole" in order to "acquire the fullest knowledge of the globe."
In the summer of 1819, Captain 2nd Rank Faddey Faddeyevich Bellingshausen was appointed commander of the sailing sloop Vostok and head of the expedition to open the sixth continent. The second sloop - "Mirny", commanded by the then young lieutenant Mikhail Lazarev.
Departing from Kronstadt on June 4, 1819, the expedition arrived on November 2 in Rio de Janeiro. From there Bellingshausen first headed straight south and, rounding the southwestern coast of New Georgia Island, discovered by Cook, about 56 ° S. sh. discovered 3 islands of the Marquis de Traversay, examined the southern Sandwich Islands, went to the east at 59 ° S. sh. and twice went further south, as far as the ice allowed, reaching 69 ° S. sh.
"Vostok" and "Mirny" off the coast of Antarctica
In January 1820 the ships of the expedition approached the coast of Antarctica and the coastal ice shelf was explored on the way to the east. So a new continent was discovered, which Bellingshausen called "ice". Antarctica was discovered by approaching it at 69 ° 21 "28" S. sh. and 2 ° 14 "50" W. (the area of the modern ice shelf), on February 2, ships saw the coast for the second time. And on the seventeenth and eighteenth of February, the expedition came close to the shore.
After that, in February and March 1820, the ships split up and sailed to Australia (Port Jackson, now Sydney) along the water surface of the Indian and Southern Oceans (55 ° lat. And 9 ° long.), Not yet visited by anyone. From Australia, the sloops of the expedition went to the Pacific Ocean, where a number of islands and atolls were discovered (Bellingshausen, Vostok, Simonov, Mikhailov, Suvorov, Russians and others), others visited (the Island of Grand Duke Alexander) when they returned to Port Jackson.
In November, the expedition ships again went to the South Pole seas, visiting Macquarie Island at 54 ° S. sh., south of New Zealand. From there, the expedition went straight south, then east, and crossed the Arctic Circle three times. January 10, 1821 at 70 ° S. sh. and 75 ° W. The sailors stumbled upon solid ice and were forced to go north, where they were open between 68 ° and 69 ° S. sh. the island of Peter I and the coast of Alexander I, after that they came to the islands of Nova Scotia. In August 1821, after a 751-day campaign, the expedition returned to Kronstadt.
Bellingshausen's voyage is justly considered one of the most important and difficult sailing ever done. Back in the 70s of the 18th century, the famous Cook was the first to reach the South Pole seas and, having met solid ice in several places, declared that further penetration to the south was impossible. They took him at his word, and for forty-five years there were no trips to the south polar latitudes.
Bellingshausen was able to prove the erroneousness of this opinion and did a lot for the study of the South Pole countries in the midst of constant labor and dangers, on two small sloops, not adapted for sailing in ice.
Also, Bellingshausen tried to find the possibility of passage to the Amur River for sea ships. The attempt was unsuccessful. He could not find a fairway in the Amur estuary. In addition, due to the weather, it was not possible to dispel La Perouse's erroneous opinion that Sakhalin is a peninsula.
In total, during the 751 days of the voyage of the expedition, 29 islands and 1 coral reef in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans were discovered. 92,000 km were covered. The expedition brought with it valuable botanical, zoological and ethnographic collections.
Upon his return from the voyage, Bellingshausen was promoted to the rank of captain of the 1st rank, two months later to the rank of captain-commander and awarded “for impeccable service, in officer ranks, 18 six-month naval campaigns” with the Order of St. George IV degree. In 1822-1825 he commanded the 15th naval crew, and then was appointed Zeichmeister General of Naval Artillery and General Duty of the Naval Ministry. In 1825 he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir II degree.
After the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I, Bellingshausen was appointed a member of the committee for the formation of the fleet and in 1826 he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral.
In 1826-1827 he commanded a detachment of ships in the Mediterranean.
Commanding the Guards crew, Faddey Faddeevich took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829 and was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 1st degree for the difference in the capture of Messevria and Inada.
On December 6, 1830, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and appointed chief of the 2nd division of the Baltic Fleet. In 1834 he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.
In 1839, the honored sailor was appointed chief commander of the Kronstadt port and military governor-general of Kronstadt. Annually, during the naval campaign, Bellingshausen was appointed commander of the Baltic Fleet, for his services in 1840 he was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, and two years later he was awarded diamond marks to him. In 1843 he was promoted to the rank of admiral and in 1846 was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree.
He died in Kronstadt at the age of 73.
In 1870 a monument was erected to him in Kronstadt.
During the search for the leader of the second Russian circumnavigation of the world, Kruzenshtern recommended the 2nd rank captain Bellingshausen in the following words: “Our fleet, of course, is rich in enterprising and skillful officers, but of all these, whom I know, no one, except Golovnin, can equal Bellingshausen. "
Bellingshausen's book: "Double exploration in the South Polar Ocean and sailing around the world" (St. Petersburg, 1881) has not lost its relevance until now, although it has already become rare.
Antarctica is a continent located in the very south of our planet. Its center coincides (approximately) with the geographic south pole. Oceans washing Antarctica: Pacific, Indian and Atlantic. Merging, they form
Despite the harsh climatic conditions, the fauna of this continent still exists. Today the inhabitants of Antarctica are more than 70 species of invertebrates. There are also four species of penguins nesting here. In ancient times, the inhabitants of Antarctica met. This is proved by the remains of dinosaurs found here. A man was even born on this earth (this happened for the first time in 1978).
After James Cook's statement that the lands beyond the Arctic Circle are inaccessible, for more than 50 years not a single navigator wanted to refute in practice the opinion of such a major authority. However, it should be noted that in 1800-10. in the Pacific Ocean, its subantarctic strip, English sailors discovered small lands. In 1800, Henry Waterhouse found the Antipode Islands here, in 1806 Abraham Bristow discovered the Auckland Islands, and in 1810 Frederick Hesselbrough came across about. Campbell.
William Smith, another captain from England, with the cargo to Valparaiso in the brig Williams, was thrown south by a storm off Cape Horn. In 1819, on February 19, he twice saw the land located further south, and took it for the tip of the southern mainland. W. Smith returned home in June, and his stories about this find were of great interest to the St. John's wort. The second time he went to Valparaiso in September 1819 and moved out of curiosity to "his" land. He surveyed the coast for 2 days, after which he took possession of it, which was later called New Shetland.
Sarychev, Kotsebue and Kruzenshtern initiated the Russian expedition, the purpose of which was to search for the southern continent. approved their proposal in February 1819. However, it turned out that the sailors had very little time left: the sailing was planned in the summer of the same year. Because of the haste, the expedition included various types of vessels - the Mirny transport converted into a sloop and the Vostok sloop. Both ships were not adapted to sailing in the harsh conditions of polar latitudes. Bellingshausen and Lazarev became their commanders.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen was born on (now - Saaremaa, Estonia) on August 18, 1779. Communication with sailors, the proximity of the sea from early childhood contributed to the fact that the boy fell in love with the fleet. At the age of 10 he was sent to the Marine Corps. Bellingshausen, being a midshipman, sailed to England. In 1797 he graduated from the corps and served with the rank of midshipman on the ships of the Revel squadron sailing in the Baltic Sea.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen took part in the voyage of Kruzenshtern and Lisyansky in 1803-06, which served as an excellent school for him. Upon returning home, the seaman continued his service in the Baltic Fleet, and then, in 1810, was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet. Here he commanded first the frigate "Minerva", and then "Flora". Much work has been done over the years of service in the Black Sea to clarify nautical charts in the region of the Caucasian coast. Bellingshausen also carried out a number of He accurately determined the coordinates of the most important points of the coast. Thus, he came to lead the expedition as an experienced sailor, scientist and explorer.
His assistant, who commanded "Mirny", - Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, was a match for him. He was an experienced, educated sailor who later became a renowned naval commander and founder of the Lazarev Naval School. Lazarev Mikhail Petrovich was born in 1788, on November 3, in the Vladimir province. In 1803 he graduated from the Marine Corps, and then for 5 years sailed in the Mediterranean and North Seas, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Lazarev, upon returning to his homeland, continued his service on the Vsevolod ship. He took part in the battles against the Anglo-Swedish fleet. During World War II, Lazarev served on the Phoenix, participated in the landing in Danzig.
At the suggestion of a joint Russian-American company in September 1813, he became the commander of the ship "Suvorov", on which he made his first round-the-world voyage to the shores of Alaska. During this voyage, he showed himself to be a resolute and skillful naval officer, as well as a daring explorer.
For a long time the position of the captain of the "Vostok" and the head of the expedition was vacant. Only a month before entering the open sea, F.F. Bellingshausen. Therefore, the work on the recruitment of the crews of these two ships (about 190 people), as well as providing them with the necessary for a long journey and re-equipment into the sloop "Mirny" fell on the shoulders of the commander of this ship, M.P. Lazarev. The main task of the expedition was designated as purely scientific. "Mirny" and "Vostok" differed not only in their size. "Mirny" was more convenient and only lost to "Vostok" in one thing - in speed.
Both ships left Kronstadt on July 4, 1819. Thus began the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev. The sailors reached about. South Georgia in December. For 2 days they carried out an inventory of the southwestern coast of this island and discovered another one, which was named after Annenkov, Lieutenant of "Mirny". After that, heading to the southeast, the ships opened on December 22 and 23, 3 small islands of volcanic origin (Marquise de Traversay).
Then, moving to the southeast, the navigators of Antarctica reached the "Sandwich Land" discovered by D. Cook. It turned out to be an archipelago. In clear weather, rare in these places, on January 3, 1820, the Russians approached South Tula, the closest land area discovered by Cook. They discovered that this "land" consists of 3 rocky islands covered with eternal ice and snow.
The Russians, bypassing the heavy ice from the east, crossed the South Arctic Circle for the first time on January 15, 1820. The next day they met the glaciers of Antarctica on their way. They reached enormous heights and extended beyond the horizon. The members of the expedition continued to move to the east, but they always met this continent. On that day, a problem was solved, which D. Cook considered insoluble: the Russians approached the northeastern ledge of the "icy continent" less than 3 km away. 110 years later, the ice of Antarctica was spotted by Norwegian whalers. They named this mainland Princess Martha Beach.
Vostok and Mirny, trying to bypass the impenetrable ice from the east, crossed the Arctic Circle three more times this summer. They wanted to go closer to the pole, but they could not go further than the first time. The ships were in danger many times. Suddenly a clear day gave way to a gloomy one, it was snowing, the wind was picking up, and the horizon was almost invisible. An ice shelf was discovered in this area, named in 1960 in honor of Lazarev. It was mapped, however, much north of its current position. Nevertheless, there is no mistake: it has now been established that Antarctica's ice shelves are retreating to the south.
The short Antarctic summer is over. In 1820, at the beginning of March, "Mirny" and "Vostok" parted by agreement in order to better view the 50th latitude of the Indian Ocean in the southeastern part. They met in April in Sydney and stayed here for a month. Bellingshausen and Lazarev surveyed the Tuamotu archipelago in July, found a number of inhabited atolls that were not mapped, and named them after Russian statesmen, naval commanders and generals.
K. Thorson landed for the first time on the atolls of Greig and Moller. And those located in the west and in the center of Tuamotu were named Bellingshausen of the Russians. Lazarev Island appeared on the map in the northwest. The ships from there went to Tahiti. On August 1, to the north of it, they found Fr. East, and on August 19, on the way back to Sydney, several more islands were discovered southeast of Fiji, including the Simonov and Mikhailov Islands.
In November 1820, after anchorage in Port Jackson, the expedition set off for the "ice continent" and withstood a strong storm in mid-December. Sloops crossed the Arctic Circle three more times. Twice they did not come close to the mainland, but the third time they saw clear signs of land. In 1821, on January 10, the expedition moved south, but was forced to retreat again in front of the emerged ice barrier. The Russians, turning to the east, saw the coast in a few hours. The snow-covered island was named after Peter I.
On January 15, in clear weather, the discoverers of Antarctica saw land in the south. From "Mirny" a high promontory opened up, connected to a chain of low mountains by a narrow isthmus, and from "Vostok" one could see a mountainous coast. Bellingshausen called it "Alexander I Coast". Unfortunately, it was not possible to break through to it because of the solid ice. Bellingshausen again turned south and went out to find New Shetland here, discovered by W. Smith. The discoverers of Antarctica explored it and found that it is a chain of islands that extend almost 600 km eastward. Some of the Southern ones were named in memory of the battles with Napoleon.
On January 30, it was discovered that Vostok needed a major overhaul, and it was decided to turn north. In 1821, on July 24, the sloops returned to Kronstadt after a journey of 751 days. During this time, the discoverers of Antarctica were under sail for 527 days, and 122 of them - south of 60 ° S. sh.
According to the geographical results, the perfect expedition became the greatest Russian Antarctic expedition in the 19th century and the first in history. A new part of the world was discovered, later called Antarctica. Russian sailors approached its shores 9 times, and four times approached at a distance of 3-15 km. The discoverers of Antarctica for the first time characterized the large water areas adjacent to the "ice continent", classified and described the ice of the continent, and also outlined the correct characteristics of its climate. 28 objects were mapped to Antarctica, and all of them received Russian names. In the tropics and in the high southern latitudes, 29 islands were discovered.
