Sir Henry Hudson opened the western gateway to the Arctic for the world - the Hudson Strait. In addition, he was the first to describe in detail the Northwest coast of America: the Hudson River (the one at the mouth of which New York is located) and the Hudson Bay in Canada are named after him.
Henry Hudson became a polar explorer on duty - in 1607, the Moscow Trading Company (an English enterprise that had the exclusive right to trade with Russia) hired him as a captain and tasked him with finding a northern route to Asia. Yes, the Arctic was then poorly studied, and many in Europe believed that, moving north, you can get to India and China by a shortcut.
Henry Hudson made his first attempt in 1607 on the Hopewell ship. The Hudson headed straight north, hoping to pass through the North Pole and reach China (at that time it was believed that the ocean was free of ice near the pole). "Hopewell" passed along Greenland, reached the northern coast of Svalbard and even moved a little more to the North, reached a record parallel at that time 80 ° 23 ', but was stopped by ice.
Jan Mainen Island, presumably discovered by the Hudson on the first Arctic voyage.
In 1608 it was decided to continue the search. This time the Hudson passed along the northern coast of Russia, but even here the ice stood in his way as an insurmountable obstacle. The expedition managed to reach the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, but further advance was impossible.
After the second failure of the Hudson, the Moscow trading company decided to suspend the search and do more pressing business. But the captain, fired up with the idea of finding a way to Asia, decided to return to the Arctic by all means.
For this, the Hudson needed funding. He resigned (or was fired, opinions differ on this) from the Moscow trading company and offered his services to the Dutch. The East India Company entered into a contract with Henry Hudson and placed at his full disposal a small three-masted vessel, Halve Man.
Replica of the Dutch ship * Halve Man *.
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In 1609, the Hudson headed north for the third time. First, the captain decided to repeat his last year's route, and the Halve Man began to make its way through the ice to Novaya Zemlya. For the untrained crew, sailing in high latitudes in harsh weather, heavy ice conditions and constant stress was beyond their capabilities.
The sailors mutinied, demanding a return to Amsterdam, and the Hudson had to make concessions. Of course, he did not want to and could not return to Holland empty-handed. It was decided to go explore the east coast of North America. The main goal was to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. The coveted strait, of course, was not found (it simply does not exist), but hundreds of miles of coastline were described in the four months of sailing from Newfoundland to Manhattan. "Halve Man" reached the Hudson River and even climbed upstream, and the captain declared these lands to be the possessions of Holland. In 1624, the city of New Amsterdam was founded here, which was later renamed New York.
The Hudson River today.
On the way back, Hudson decided to go to his native England. They met him there unfriendly - he was arrested for violating maritime laws (more precisely, because he, an English captain, dared to go under a false flag). However, the authorities soon changed their anger to mercy. The Hudson was freed and, in addition, even received funding for his next Arctic expedition on the condition that it be conducted on behalf of the English crown.
In 1610 Discovery raised anchor and Henry Hudson embarked on his final northern voyage.
This time, their path lay through Iceland and Greenland to the northwest, to the northern shores of America.
Hudson's Bay coast.
They managed to pass through the ice into a large bay jutting deep into the mainland, which would later be named after the Hudson. The captain enthusiastically set about mapping the shores of the open bay. But the team was at the limit. The sailors were sick, the supply of provisions on the Discovery was severely limited, and ahead loomed the bleak prospect of wintering in these unfriendly lands. A riot was ripe. But the captain managed to persuade the team to continue the expedition.
In the end, the "Discovery" was covered with ice, and the sailors went to winter on the southeast coast of the bay. The winter turned out to be difficult - people had to hunt for food. Scurvy raged among the crew. The people were physically and emotionally exhausted, and the relationship between the captain and the sailors was extremely tense.
Already in the spring, Hudson made an attempt to go to the Indian dwellings in order to exchange for something for provisions to continue the expedition, but he could not find the aborigines.
There, a riot was brewing on the ship. The ship was freed from the ice captivity and the sailors were ready to return home. But Henry Hudson insisted on continuing the voyage.
The conspirators, led by Henry Green (a friend of the Hudson's), Djuet and the boatswain Wilson, seized the captain, his son, the cabin boy John Hudson, and also the sailors who were especially devoted to him, and put them into a boat. Having set the sails, "Discovery" with the rebels and their loyal crew members set off for England, leaving its captain unable to escape.
Henry Hudson and his comrades found themselves abandoned in a distant northern bay with practically no means of subsistence (they were given one musket, some bullets and gunpowder, and a carpenter's locker). Since then, the renowned captain and his companions have never been seen alive or dead.
And "Discovery" returned to England, where the surviving members of the team were sent to prison during the investigation into the case of the missing Captain Henry Hudson. The court acquitted the conspirators, since it considered that the Hudson, by his unauthorized actions (unfair division of rations, selection of favorites, etc.), himself provoked a mass unanimous riot, which, given the difficult conditions of the expedition, took on such a cruel form. All the accused were released.
How the earthly journey of the unfortunate Henry Hudson and his comrades ended, no one knows. Perhaps they all died at sea. Or maybe they managed to get to the coast and live there for some time, waiting for salvation. But they had little chance - exhausted by hunger and disease, without weapons and food, they were doomed to death, in vain expecting that Discovery would return for its captain.