Vitus Bering - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

The first forwarding

In 1725, under the auspices of the Russian government and from Pierre Large the, it went by terrestrial way to Okhotsk, crossed the Mer of Okhotsk towards Kamtchatka and built the ship Sviatoi Gavriil ( Saint-Gabriel ). In 1728, with edge of this boat, Bering sailed towards north until it saw more ground in this direction (i.e. he borrowed the Bering Strait), proving thus that the Eurasian and American continents were separated by water. He nevertheless was criticized on his return because he had not seen the American continent which the fog hid.

The following year, he began a research in order to find the American continent in the east of Russia, but failed and did nothing but redécouvrir the island Ratmanov, most Western of the islands Diomède, already discovered by Dejnev. To the summer 1730, Bering turned over to Saint-Pétersbourg. During the long voyage in Siberia which led it to cross all the continent of Asia, Bering fell seriously sick. Five of his/her children died during the voyage.

The second forwarding

Bering was charged to carry out a new forwarding and turned over to Okhotsk in 1735. Local craftsmen, Makar Rogachev and Andrey Kozmin, built two vessels, the Sviatoi Piotr ( Saint Pierre ) and Sviatoi Pavel ( Saint Paul ), on board of which it installed. In 1740, it establishes the settlement of Petropavlovsk to the Kamtchatka.

From there, it carried out a forwarding in North America in 1741. A storm separated the two boats, but Bering saw the southern part of the Alaska, and an unloading was carried out on the island Kayak or in the vicinity. Under the command of Alexei Tchirikov, the second boat discovered the north-western coasts of North America (the Archipel Alexandre i.e. the Alaska of current South-east). These voyages of Bering and Tchirikov occupied a central place in the Russian efforts of exploration of the Northern Pacific.

Bering was soon forced to make half-turn because of the bad conditions met. On the way of the return, he discovered some of the Aleutian Islands. One of its sailors died and was buried on one of these islands. The corresponding group of islands was baptized in its honor (islands Shumagin). Bering fell sick and was not soon any more able to order its ship, which took refuge on an uninhabited island of the islands of the Commander ( Komandorskiye Ostrova ), in the south-west of the Bering Sea. Bering and 28 of its sailors died there. The island bears its name. A storm caused the shipwreck of the Sviatoi Piotr , but the only carpenter surviving, S. Starodubstev, managed with the assistance of the crew to build a small vessel from what could have been recovered at the time of the shipwreck. The new boat measured only 12.2 meters and was also named Sviatoi Piotr . Of the 77 men of the Sviatoi Piotr , only 46 managed to survive the difficulties of forwarding. The last victim died the arrival day before. The Sviatoi Piotr was in service during 12 years, sailing between Kamtchatka and Okhotsk until in 1755. Its manufacturer, Starodubtsev, turned over at his place covered of honors and built several other ships later.

Assessment of explorations of Bering

The value of forwardings which Bering carried out was underestimated during very a long time, but James Cook proved the exactitude of its observations. Nowadays, the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, the Bering island and the bridge of ice of the Bering Strait bear its name.

In August 1991, the skins of Bering and five of its sailors were discovered by a Russo-Danish forwarding. The bodies were transported to Moscow where doctors managed to reconstitute his appearance. Its teeth did not carry an apparent sign of Scorbut, leading to the conclusion which he died of another disease. In 1992, the bodies of Bering and other sailors were buried on the Bering island.

See too

References

G.F. Müller, Sammlung russischer Geschichten, vol. III. (St Petersburg, 1758)
P. Lauridsen, Bering og of Russiske Opdagelsesrejser (Copenhagen, 1885)

Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-1746)

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