Thaddeus Bellingshausen's scientific programme in the Southern Ocean, 1818–21

Abstract

Following Cook's historic circumnavigation (1772–75) of the globe in Antarctic waters and his reports of great numbers of seals on South Georgia, considerable numbers of commercial sealing expeditions had made new discoveries of islands in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, not until 1819 was another government-sponsored exploring and scientific expedition organized to continue the search for the then still-unknown southern continent. This time the expedition was a Russian one, and in command of the two-ship squadron was Thaddeus Bellingshausen, then a lieutenant in the Black Sea Fleet; previously he had sailed around the world in an expedition under Kruzenstern in 1803–06. He also gained much experience in coastal surveying and charting in the Black Sea. The two ships in the squadron were Vostok (985 tonne, 117 men) under Bellingshausen's command, and Mirnyy (884 tonne, 73 men) under Lt Mikhail Lazarev, who had served for several years in the British Navy. Bellingshausen, in the opinion of some, merits equal consideration as a navigator and seaman with Cook (Debenham, 1945, p xi, xiii; Barratt, 1981, p 202). He, himself, had a high admiration for Cook and drew heavily upon Cook's narratives for guidance in sailing the. Southern Ocean. The aim of the expedition, according to a letter by the Minister of Marine to Bellingshausen, was ‘to carry out a voyage of discovery in the high southern latitudes, and to circumnavigate the ice-belt of the southern Polar Circle.’ (Debenham, 1945, p 6). The two ships sailed from Kronshtadt on 14 July 1819f and returned to that port on 5 August 1821 having achieved the aim of the expedition, spending two summer seasons in Antarctic waters and one season exploring the South Pacific islands. They called at Rio de Janeiro on the outward and homeward sailings.