A land that strikes with extraterrestrial beauty. A land that few have seen with their own eyes, but its harsh icy expanses are admired by everyone without exception. On January 28, 1820, Russian navigators Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev made a historic event, confirming during their round-the-world voyage the existence of the sixth continent - Antarctica.
The ships "Vostok" and "Mirny" spent 751 days on the expedition and sailed over 92 thousand km. Thanks to their campaign, 29 new islands appeared on the map, and our planet lost another mystery.
Unknown Southern Land
Several centuries before the official discovery of Antarctica, travelers guessed that there was a huge land enclosed in ice on the edge of our planet. It was first mentioned in the early 1500s, when Portuguese sailors, which included the famous Florentine Amerigo Vespucci, went to the South Pole. However, their journey ended off the coast of South Georgia Island, which is located far from the Antarctic territories.
James Cook was much more successful in this matter. Thanks to him, the Unknown Southern Land, as it was called before, ceased to be so mysterious. The English traveler believed in the existence of a continent with "great cold weather" and even dedicated a serious treatise to this place. “The risk associated with sailing in these unexplored and ice-covered seas in search of the southern continent is so great that I can safely say that no man will ever dare to penetrate further south than I have succeeded. The lands that may be in the south will never be explored,”Cook wrote, not realizing that in a couple of centuries Russian sailors would refute his words.
Will of chance
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Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was born on the island of Ösel and, according to him, could not imagine his life without the sea. It was difficult to find a more suitable captain for such a dangerous journey than he was. By that time, Bellingshausen already had one very important achievement - he participated in the first Russian circumnavigation of the world. On that trip, he was known as an excellent sailor, but, despite the status and respect of his colleagues, he was not seen as the head of the Antarctic expedition. Only chance helped Bellingshausen to lead it.
Alexander I instantly agreed to organize an expedition to the southern lands, seeing in this a glorious continuation of Peter's deeds. Admiral Ivan Kruzenshtern, who sailed with Bellingshausen, was going to entrust this mission to Vasily Golovnin. But he was busy traveling around the world and would not have had time to prepare for the sail.
But even these circumstances did not help Bellingshausen to become the admiral's first choice. Experienced Makar Ratmanov was preferred. At that time, the captain was returning to Russia from Spain, but on the way home he was shipwrecked. He survived, but was injured and ended up in a Danish hospital for some time.
As a result, Bellingshausen was entrusted with the mission. Once at the helm of the expedition, he immediately took up preparations. Soon the team was supplemented by Mikhail Lazarev, who was in charge of the rebuilding of the ships. It was he who recruited sailors and soon became the second captain. Fabian stood at the helm of the high-speed ship "Vostok", and Mikhail commanded the reliable sloop "Mirny".
Icebergs and Tribute to Cook
The journey began in July 1819. The first stop was in Portsmouth, England, where the team stood for almost a month, restocking and purchasing seaworthy tools. In autumn, passing through the equator, the ships approached Brazil, from where they headed for uncharted lands.
Pretty soon, they discovered a small island. The merit belonged to Lieutenant Annenkov, after whom the territory was named. But the most interesting thing was ahead of the sailors.
Making their way to the south, the crew of the ship met the first "ice island" on its way. After some time, researchers will find practical applications for icebergs. Having learned how to extract fresh water from them, sailors will never again feel thirsty on the ship.
The list of tasks assigned to the team included the exploration of the territories of South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, once discovered by Cook. And here the Russian navigators made an important observation. It turns out that the Land of Sandwich is not just one island, as the English discoverer believed, but an entire archipelago. Bellingshausen paid tribute to Cook by naming the largest island in the cluster after him.
Icy clouds
At the end of January 1820, the ships crossed the Antarctic Circle. Next time people will be at the same shores after 100 years: in the footsteps of Bellingshausen and his team, Norwegian explorers of Antarctica will sail, who will call these places the Princess Martha Shores.
The day was overcast. Through the haze, the sailors saw a giant wall of ice blocking their path. “Continuing south,” Bellingshausen wrote in his diary on January 28, “at noon at latitude 6 ° 21'28”, longitude 2 ° 14'50 “we met ice that appeared to us through the falling snow in the form of white clouds”. These very "clouds" were part of Antarctica.
After several unsuccessful attempts to advance further, "Vostok" and "Mirny" entered the Indian Ocean. But there they were in trouble. A storm broke out, which kept on the waters for several days. Having coped with the elements, the crew decided to take a break in the Australian harbor of Port Jackson. Thus ended the first period of the expedition.
Imperial Islands
Having gained strength, the team set off on a new voyage. A couple of months later, the ships saw an unknown island: they named it in honor of Peter I, the emperor who raised the Russian navy to its feet.
The captain did not offend his current monarch either. A week later, on January 29, 1821, the land of Alexander I was marked on the maps. Its discovery finally convinced Bellingshausen that in front of them was not just an ice massif, but the most earthly continent.
In February of the same year, Vostok began to leak. Bellingshausen decided not to tempt fate and returned to Kronstadt through Brazil and Portugal, thus completing another round the world trip.
