25.1.1852 - Admiral Bellinghausen, who discovered Antarctica, dies

He joined the Russian Tsarist Navy as a ten-year-old boy, working his way up to admiral. Today, Faddei Feddeevich Bellinghausen is considered the true discoverer of Antarctica. He received recognition only after his death (January 25, 1852), the then Tsarist Russia was not enthusiastic about his expedition.

Bellinghausen was given command of two ships, the 600-ton war corvette Vostok and the 530-ton cargo ship Mirnyj. He and his crew sailed from Kronstadt (a fortified town on Kotlin Island in the Baltic Sea) on 4 July 1819. They stopped briefly in England, where he met Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society. This English naturalist had been on James Cook's first voyage and was able to provide the Russian expedition with the necessary books and charts. In December 1819, the Russian expedition charted the uninhabited territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. They crossed the South Polar Circle on 26 January 1820, becoming the first to do so since Cook in 1773.

Faddey Feddeyevich Bellinghausen and his crew were the first to see Antarctica. At that time, it was not yet known that it was a separate continent. Bellinghausen's account of the voyage was not translated into English until 1945. The crew had to deal with various difficulties during the voyage, including unpredictable weather. For example, on February 22, 1820, the Vostok and Mirnyj were hit by a terrible storm and the crew was forced to sail north. Nearly three months later, the Vostock arrived in Australia. Exactly on April 11, they anchored in Port Jackson Bay (today's Sydney). Mirnyj was slower and arrived eight days later.

The crew discovered two islands

Bellingshausen rested for a month and then embarked on a four-month exploratory cruise in the Pacific, where they spent the winter. But then they headed south again. A message from the Russian consul prompted him to do so. Bellingshausen learned that an American captain, William Smith, had discovered a group of islands which he called the South Shetlands and claimed as part of the Antarctic continent.

With a crew of just over 200 men, Bellingshausen therefore set out again for Antarctica. They crossed the Arctic Circle at least six times, but each time had to retreat northwards due to persistent storms. It was not until 21 January 1921 that the weather calmed down and the crew saw a dark spot in the distance. It turned out to be the island that Bellingshausen named Peter I. A week later they saw snow-free mountains in the distance and found a second island, which the Russian sailor named Alexander I.

Another week later, they spotted eight ships off South Shetland under Captain Nathaniel Palmer, who considered himself the discoverer of Antarctica. However, a satisfied Bellingshausen sailed away in peace and anchored again at Kronstadt on 4 August 1821. He ended a voyage that had lasted 2 years and 21 days. In total, they had traveled over fifty thousand kilometers. Tsarist Russia, however, was not very impressed by the expedition and Bellingshausen did not publish a detailed description of the expedition until ten years later.

Bellingshausen continued to serve his country for the next 30 years and reached the rank of admiral. He later became governor of Kronstadt. In 1968, a Soviet Antarctic expedition named a polar station after Bellingshaus. Russia now recognises him as the true discoverer of the Antarctic landmass. Ironically, it adds that this was only after his death. More than a century since the famous voyage.

Sources: www.britannica.com, https://antarctic-logistics.com/, http://www.saint-petersburg.com/