Message on the topic Bellingshausen. Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen - “a skilled officer and a man of a warm soul...” Discovery of the ice continent
Admiral Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen was born on the island of Ezel (now Saaremaa, Estonia) on September 9 (20), 1778. Descended from the Baltic German nobles.
His first acquaintance with Kronstadt was associated with his studies in the Naval Cadet Corps in 1789-1897, and later with his service as an officer in the Baltic Fleet. In 1803, he left Kronstadt as part of the first Russian round-the-world expedition of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, and in 1819 he himself led the expedition on the ships “Vostok” and “Mirny”, which resulted in the discovery of Antarctica.
In 1839, fate would finally connect the admiral with Kronstadt - he would take the post of military governor and chief commander of the Kronstadt port. In house No. 2 on Knyazheskaya Street (now Kommunisticheskaya) - now this house is called the “Marinesko House” - there was the official apartment of the military governor Feddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen.
Made Kronstadt green
At the beginning of Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen’s activity as governor, Kronstadt was a city that was unsettled in everyday life and culturally. The only city gardens were Romanovsky (now the Metalworkers' Garden), Inzhenerny (on the corner of Vosstaniya and Zosimova streets), as well as the Public Garden on the site of the modern Summer Garden, with adjacent residential buildings from the era of Peter I.
It is known that Thaddeus Faddeevich was a great lover of gardening, a successor of the ideas of his predecessor Admiral P. M. Rozhnov on city greening. This passion of his transformed the city: the first trees were planted by the admiral on Aleksandrovsky Boulevard (Zosimova Street), in the Engineering Garden and on the first alley near the grid of Petrovsky Park; Parks were laid out on Bolshaya Ekaterininskaya (now Sovetskaya Street), Northern Boulevard (now Vosstaniya Street), and the Summer Garden was expanded.
Since the military governor himself was in charge of monitoring the condition of gardens and parks, many trees were preserved in our city for a long time. And it should be noted that many of the subsequent military governors of the city were very jealous of the landscaping of Kronstadt. As a result, in 1875, a branch of the Imperial Horticultural Society was even established in the city. Later, the military governor, Vice Admiral N.I. Kaznakov, was a great lover of gardening, who instilled in the townspeople a love for plants and nature in general.
Not only planted
but also built
Even before his appointment as military governor, Bellingshausen, together with Lieutenant Commander I.N. Skrydlov, founded a library in 1832 with private donations and became its first director, and the books collected by the admiral became the basis of the library’s first collection.
At the same time, serving as military governor and chief commander of the Kronstadt port, Bellingshausen was the chairman of the “City Organization Committee,” which was actually involved in the improvement of Kronstadt and the territory of Kotlin Island. Under his supervision, new forts, docks, and harbors were built and old ones rebuilt; plans were considered for the construction of new residential buildings, the city administration building, the Steamship Plant, the expansion of the Lutheran cemetery and other projects. At the insistence of Bellingshausen, hospitals were set up on ships and food for sailors was improved.
Found
worthy wife
A Lutheran by religion, he was an honorary parishioner of the Church of St. Elizabeth in Kronstadt. It is interesting that his family was multi-religious. Thaddeus Faddeevich's wife, Anna Dmitrievna (née Baykova, born March 6, 1808) was Orthodox. Anna Dmitrievna came from the family of Second Major Dmitry Fedoseevich Baikov, commander of a sapper battalion who served in our city and built Military Department buildings in St. Petersburg and Kronstadt. With my family future wife Bellingshausen first met when he was preparing a trip to South Pole, and the wedding of 18-year-old Anna Baykova and 48-year-old Thaddeus Bellingshausen took place in Kronstadt after the campaign - in 1826.
Of the seven children of Anna Fedoseevna and Thaddey Faddeevich, two sons and a daughter died in infancy; Elizabeth, Ekaterina, Maria and Elena were left to raise them. Anna Dmitrievna not only raised her daughters, but was also actively involved in social and charitable activities: for many years she was a trustee of the Kronstadt parochial school, organized a canteen for the children of fallen naval lower ranks, and organized charity evenings. For her labors, she was awarded the “lesser cross of the Order of St. Catherine,” on the reverse side of which was embossed in Latin: “Through her labors she is compared with her husband.” After the death of her husband, Anna Dmitrievna left for the Pskov province, to her small estate. She died on December 16, 1892 and was buried in the Gorki graveyard of the Novosokolniki district of the Pskov region. Anna Dmitrievna’s grave has been preserved and, thanks to the activities of the local history museum of the city of Novosokolniki, is maintained in proper condition.
Descendants remember
The death of Admiral Bellingshausen in 1852 was mourned by the entire Kronstadt and the Fleet. "Sea Collection" published an obituary.
His grave was located in the Lutheran (German) cemetery in Kronstadt, but, unfortunately, was lost. Already in our time, a cenotaph was installed at the site of the supposed burial.
On September 11, 1870, a monument was unveiled in Catherine (Soviet) Park with the inscription “To our polar explorer Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen. 1870." At the opening of the monument, a solemn ceremony took place with the consecration and marching of Kronstadt sailors and units of the Kronstadt artillery. Subsequently, the opening ceremony of the monument to Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen formed the basis for the grand openings of two other monuments: to Pyotr Kuzmich Pakhtusov in Kronstadt and to Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern in St. Petersburg.
13 geographical points are named after Bellingshausen on the world map, including a mountain in Antarctica, a cape on Sakhalin, islands, the sea and a basin in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Antarctica. For a long time, the USSR Navy included the expeditionary oceanographic vessel "Thaddeus Bellingshausen", which in 1983 repeated, together with the ship "Admiral Vladimirsky", well known to the Kronstadters, the route of the Bellingshausen and Lazarev expedition of 1819-1821. The name of Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen is now especially honored at the “Young Sailor” Children's Maritime Center. Every year in September, a celebration of initiation into cabin boys takes place in Soviet Park near the Bellingshausen monument.
This is how our city tries to preserve the connection between times.
Svetlana Kislyakova,
Museum of the History of Kronstadt
Russian navigator, participant in circumnavigations
He led the first Russian Antarctic (around the world) expedition on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”, which discovered Antarctica and several islands in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in January 1820.
Named after him cape on Sakhalin, Russian scientific polar station Bellingshausen on King George Island (Waterloo), part of the South Shetland Islands group (discovered on February 22, 1968 at the southwestern tip of the island, Cape Fidles), Bellingshausen Sea(marginal sea of the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica, between the Antarctic and Thurston Peninsulas), shelf Bellingshausen Glacier(located in the eastern part of Princess Martha Coast (East Antarctica)), Bellingshausen Basin(lowering of the bottom in the southeast Pacific Ocean between the continental slope of Antarctica, South America and the West Chilean uplift), island in the Tuamotu archipelago, and Thaddeus Islands And Thaddeus Bay in the Laptev Sea.
“I was born in the middle of the sea; just as a fish cannot live without water, so I cannot live without the sea.”
(Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen)
“Our fleet, of course, is rich in enterprising and skillful officers, but of all of them that I know, no one except Golovnin can compare with Bellingshausen.”
(Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern)
Brief chronology
1789 entered the Kronstadt Naval Cadet Corps
1797 promoted to midshipman - first officer rank
1803-06 took part in the first circumnavigation of Russian ships on the frigate Nadezhda under the command of Ivan Kruzenshtern
1810-19 commanded various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas
1819-21 as captain of the 2nd rank, he led a new round-the-world expedition sent to the south polar seas on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”. Over 751 days of sailing, the expedition discovered 29 islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and Antarctica, including a new continent called the “ice continent” by Bellingshausen. The first descriptions of Antarctica were made, rich collections of plants and animals were collected.
1828-29 as a rear admiral he took part in the siege and capture of the Varna fortress during Russian-Turkish war
1839-52 made military governor of Kronstadt and in this post received the rank of admiral and the Order of Vladimir I class.
1845 Thaddeus Bellingshausen was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society
1848 the great navigator was appointed an honorary member of the Marine Scientific Committee
Life story
F.F. Bellingshausen was born on September 20, 1778 on the Baltic island Ezel(now Saarema) near the city of Kuressare (Arensburg). The great navigator spent his childhood on the family estate of Pilguze, where all the dreams of young Bellingshausen were connected with the sea and the profession of a sailor.
In 1789 F.F. Bellingshausen entered the Naval Cadet Corps in Kronstadt. After graduating in 1797, with the rank of midshipman, he sailed in the Baltic for 6 years on ships of the Revel squadron.
The love for science was noticed by the commander of the Kronstadt port, who recommended Bellingshausen to Ivan Kruzenshtern, under whose leadership in 1803-06 F.F. Bellingshausen made the first circumnavigation of the world on the frigate Nadezhda. Completed most of the maps included in " Atlas for Captain Krusenstern's trip around the world". In 1806, F.F. Bellingshausen received the rank of captain-lieutenant. After returning from the expedition, he commanded various ships in the Baltic and Black Seas, and conducted important hydrographic research
In 1819-1821 he headed round the world expedition on the sloops "Vostok" (under the command of F.F. Bellingshausen) and "Mirny" (under the command Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev). The purpose of the expedition was defined by the Maritime Ministry as scientific - the discovery of the Antarctic Pole in the possible vicinity with the aim of “acquiring complete knowledge about our globe.”
On July 4, 1819, the ships left Kronstadt. On January 16, 1820, the ships of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the area of the Princess Martha Coast approached an unknown “ice continent”. Dates this day discovery of Antarctica. Three more times this summer they crossed the Antarctic Circle, and in early February they again approached Antarctica near the Princess Astrid Coast, but due to snowy weather they were unable to get a good look at it. In March, when navigation off the coast of the mainland became impossible due to the accumulation of ice, the ships separated by agreement to meet in the port of Jackson (now Sydney). Bellingshausen and Lazarev went there by different routes. Precise surveys of the Tuamotu archipelago were carried out, and a number of inhabited atolls were discovered, including the Russian Islands. In November 1820, the ships headed for Antarctica for the second time, rounding it from the Pacific Ocean. The islands of Shishkov, Mordvinova, Peter I, and Land of Alexander I were discovered. On January 30, when it became clear that the sloop "Vostok" had leaked, Bellingshausen turned north and, via Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon, arrived in Kronstadt on July 24, 1821, completing his second circumnavigation of the world.
The expedition members spent 751 days sailing and covered more than 92,000 km. 29 islands and 1 coral reef were discovered. F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev compiled descriptions of the islands and maps, collected ethnographic, botanical and zoological collections.
Upon his return from the round-the-world expedition, F. F. Bellingshausen commanded the naval crew for 2 years, held staff positions for 3 years, in 1826 he led the flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea, took part in the siege and storming of Varna during Russian-Turkish war.
In 1831-38 he led a naval division in the Baltic, from 1839 until the end of his life he was a military man governor of Kronstadt, and during the summer voyages he was annually appointed commander of the Baltic Fleet. During his service he spent scientific work in the field of artillery, he subsequently wrote the work “On Aiming Artillery Guns at Sea.”
In 1843 he received the rank of admiral. It is worth noting that F.F. Bellingshausen did a lot to strengthen and improve Kronstadt; he took care of his subordinates in a fatherly manner, seeking to improve the nutrition of the sailors; founded a maritime library. Bellingshausen's biographers noted his goodwill and composure: he maintained his presence of mind both under enemy fire and in the fight against the elements.
F.F. Bellingshausen was married and had four daughters. The great navigator died on January 25, 1852 in Kronstadt, where a monument was erected to him in 1870.
Discovery of Antarctica
The fact that there could be vast land beyond the Antarctic Circle was not in doubt among most geographers and navigators. Another thing is that swimming in these icy latitudes was extremely difficult. And after James Cook himself, confident in the existence of land there, declared it inaccessible in 1773, attempts to break through to it stopped for a long time. Only at the beginning of the 19th century did English sailors discover several small islands between 50 and 55 degrees south latitude. Captain W. Smith, having passed south of the Drake Passage in 1819, discovered an island there, which he named South Shetland.
By this time, Russia, inspired by the victory over the Napoleonic coalition and increased influence in Europe and the world, realized itself as a great maritime power. Experienced sailors I.F. Krusenstern, O.E. Kotzebue and the polar explorer Admiral G prix du cialis .A. Sarychev took the initiative to equip a Russian expedition to search for the Southern Continent. After the highest approval of the project by Alexander I, the Ministry of the Navy already in early February 1819 formulated the scientific task of the expedition: “discovery of the Antarctic Pole in the possible vicinity” with the goal of “acquiring complete knowledge about our globe.”
Then everything was done in the “best” traditions of the Russian authorities. It turned out that “the deadline is yesterday!” The start was scheduled for the summer of that year. The sloop, a three-masted warship with cannons on the upper deck, was considered the most suitable for carrying out such a serious government task. Such ships were in the Russian Navy in the first half of the 19th century. In administrative haste, the expedition was composed of the sloop "Vostok" (with a displacement of 985 tons) and a transport, which was urgently converted into a sloop with a displacement of 884 tons called "Mirny". However, both ships were not adapted to sailing in polar waters. In addition, “Vostok” and “Mirny” had different speeds - 18.5 and 14.8 km/h, respectively.
"Vostok" and "Mirny" left Kronstadt on July 4, 1819. During December, while exploring the surroundings of the island of South Georgia, Russian sailors discovered several islands and gave them the names of the expedition members, officers M.D. Annenkova, A.S. Leskova, K.P. Thorson and I.I. Zavadovsky. The group of islands of the Marquis de Traverse received its name in honor of the Minister of the Navy. To the southeast, the ships went to Sandwich Land, discovered by D. Cook, and found out that it was an archipelago. It was given the name South Sandwich Islands. After discovering an underwater ridge stretching for 3.5 thousand km in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean, Mirny midshipman Pavel Mikhailovich Novosilsky wrote: “Now it is obvious that from the Falkland Islands itself a continuous mountain range continues under water, emerging from the sea with the rocks of Aurora, South George, Clarke Rocks, Marquis de Traverse, Candlemas and Sandwich Islands; the volcanic nature of this ridge is undeniable: the smoking craters on the islands of Zavadovsky and Sanders serve as clear proof of this.” Now this underwater ridge is called the South Antilles and is supposedly considered an underwater continuation of the Andes.
The voyage took place in difficult weather conditions. For long weeks and months it snowed incessantly, it was replaced by continuous fogs, the ships were forced to maneuver almost blindly between huge ice floes and intact icy mountains- icebergs. During snow storms, the temperature dropped to -5◦ C, which hurricane wind corresponds to a temperature of minus twenty degrees and below. Clear weather, which delighted the sailors on January 3, 1820, allowed them to approach Southern Tula, the land closest to the pole discovered by D. Cook, and discover that it consists of three rocky islands covered with eternal snow and ice. This gave reason to assume that there must be new islands or even a mainland behind them.
“Don’t lose face” On January 15, Russian sailors crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time, and the next day, as M.P. wrote. Lazarev, “We reached latitude 69°23ў8І, where we encountered hardened ice of extreme height, and on a beautiful evening then... it extended as far as vision could reach, but we did not enjoy this amazing spectacle for long, for soon it became cloudy again and went on as usual snow... From here we continued our way to the east, trying whenever possible to go south, but we always met ice continent not reaching 70°. Cook gave us such a task that we were forced to expose ourselves to the greatest dangers, so as to, as they say, “not to lose face in the dirt.” What did the future admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev understand by this “not to lose face in the dirt”? The famous English navigator, a representative of a country that not without reason called itself the title of “Mistress of the Seas,” argued that there is a southern land, but its inaccessibility does not allow confirming the reality of its existence. What follows from this? Yes, young Russia does not call itself the mistress of the seas, and its navy is still very young. But only she, Russia, was able to repel the invasion of the united forces of Europe under the command of Napoleon. And the victories of the Russians in battles at sea forced all the naval powers of the world to reckon with this new strength. Of course, it was the Russian sailors who had to solve the geographical and nautical problem, which the great Briton Cook considered insoluble. And it was done. The ships of Bellingshausen and Lazarev came closer than 3 km to the northeastern protrusion of that section of the coast of the “ice continent”, which more than a century later Norwegian whalers called the Princess Martha Coast. During that Antarctic “summer”, “Vostok” and “Mirny” crossed the Arctic Circle three more times, trying to move closer to the pole.
Approaching 3 km to the northeastern ledge of the Princess Astrid Coast (above 69 degrees south latitude) on February 5 and 6, the sailors discovered an ice shelf in this area (now bearing the name M. Lazarev). On modern maps it is located further south, because as a result of melting, Antarctica's ice shelves are gradually retreating to the south.
The weather conditions remained extremely difficult, the sun very rarely pleased the northerners who always missed it. M.P. Lazarev wrote: “Running between the ice islands in clear weather and hoping for its continuation, we sometimes climbed into such a thicket that there were up to one and a half thousand of them in sight at one time, and suddenly a clear day turned into the gloomiest one, the wind got stronger and it was snowing, “Our horizon was sometimes limited to no further than 20 fathoms...”
When the Antarctic so-called “summer” ended, Bellingshausen and Lazarev took the “Vostok” and “Mirny” to the north and agreed to spend some time on an autonomous voyage in order to explore in more detail the southeastern part of the Indian Ocean, which was shown very roughly on the maps of that time . In the second half of April, the ships met in Sydney, where they stayed for a month. In July, captains, exploring the Tuamotu archipelago, found a number of inhabited atolls unknown to Europeans, not yet mapped, and gave them Russian names statesmen, generals and naval commanders. To the north of Tahiti, sailors discovered the island of Vostok, and southeast of Fiji they named the newly discovered islands in honor of the participants in the expedition of the artist P.N. Mikhailov and astronomer I.M. Simonova.
Having rested for about 2 months, the expedition in November 1820 again headed for the “ice continent”. Having passed Macquarie Island, in mid-December the ships withstood a severe storm with “such great gloom that one could barely see 30 fathoms... The gusts of wind were terrible, the waves rose into the mountains...” (F.F. Bellingshausen). Again the sloops crossed the Arctic Circle three times, and on the third time clear signs of land appeared.
Finally, on January 10, 1821, when the expedition, having advanced south to 69°53", turned east, the Russian sailors saw the coast a few hours later. P. Novosilsky wrote: "... The sun flashed from the clouds, and its rays illuminated the black rocks of the high , an island covered with snow. Soon gloom set in again, the wind freshened, and the island that appeared to us disappeared like a ghost. On the morning of January 11... we clearly saw a high island covered with snow, blackened capes and rocks on which it could not stand. The open island... named named after... Peter I"
On January 15, 1821, the sky over Antarctica was unusually clear and clear, the sun was bright and the air was clear. Everything came together as if on purpose so that polar sailors could see land in the south. From the Mirny, a very high cape was clearly visible, which was connected by a narrow isthmus with a chain of low mountains extending to the southwest. The Vostok sailors looked at the mountainous coast, covered with snow, with the exception of screes on the mountains and steep cliffs. Head of the expedition F.F. Bellingshausen called it “The Coast of Alexander I,” explaining: “The sudden change of color on the surface of the sea suggests that the coast is extensive.” On January 30, 1821, it became clear that the “East” needed major renovation, and the expedition turned north. On July 24, 1821, the sloops returned to Kronstadt. According to the authors of “Essays on History geographical discoveries", the sailors spent 751 days away from their native shores, and during this time they were under sail for 527 days, including 122 days south of 60 degrees south latitude, never being separated against the will of the commanders. They circumnavigated the world in the high southern latitudes.
Since historians of geographical discoveries do not mention cases of scurvy during the expedition, this can be explained by the peculiarities of Russian cuisine: as you know, people in Rus' did not spend the winter without supplies of sauerkraut. Therefore, the commanders of the Vostok and Mirny did not have to, like Cook, figure out how to force the sailors to eat this delicacy. So there was enough vitamin C in the naval diet.
But people die not only from scurvy, and during the more than two-year voyage the ship’s priest performed funeral services for his dead comrades twice, sending their bodies to deep sea. Of the 190 participants in the expedition, 188 returned home. Such statistics, despite all the harshness of the conditions of polar navigation and the severity of discipline in the Russian navy, were simply unprecedented at that time.
And in general, according to the achieved geographical results first Russian Antarctic expedition- the greatest of the 19th century. A new part of the world was discovered (“ice continent”, “ice continent”, “ice stronghold”), later called Antarctica, the shores of which Russian sailors approached nine times, including four times at a distance of 3 to 15 km; large water areas adjacent to the new continent were characterized for the first time; Antarctic ice was described and classified for the first time and was given in general outline correct description of its climate; There are 28 objects on the map of Antarctica that have received Russian names; 29 islands have been discovered in the high southern latitudes and tropics. The progress of the expedition and its results are presented by F.F. Bellingshausen in the book “Twice Surveys in the Southern Arctic Ocean and sailing around the world..."
Bellingshausen Thaddeus Faddeevich (Fabian Gottlieb) (1778-1852), Russian navigator.
Born on September 20, 1778 on the family estate of Pilguze on the Baltic island of Ezel (now Saaremaa, Estonia). Since childhood, Bellingshausen dreamed of becoming a sailor: “I was born in the middle of the sea; just as a fish cannot live without water, so I cannot live without the sea.”
In 1789 he entered the Naval Cadet Corps in Kronstadt. After graduation (1797), he sailed around the Baltic for six years on ships of the Revel squadron.
Bellingshausen's abilities were noticed by the commander of the Kronstadt port, who recommended him to I. F. Krusenstern, under whose leadership in 1803-1806. Bellingshausen made the first circumnavigation of the world on the ship Nadezhda, compiling almost all the maps included in the Atlas of Captain Krusenstern's Voyage Around the World.
When preparing a new round-the-world expedition, organized with the approval of Alexander I, Krusenstern already recommended Bellingshausen as its leader. The main task of the expedition was defined by the Ministry of the Navy as purely scientific: “the discovery of the Antarctic Pole in the possible vicinity” with the goal of “acquiring complete knowledge about the globe.”
On July 16, 1819, the sloops “Vostok” under the command of Bellingshausen and “Mirny” under the command of M.P. Lazarev left Kronstadt, and on January 28, 1820 they reached the shores of Antarctica. Bellingshausen led the ships to the east, trying at every opportunity to move further to the south, but, not reaching 70° south latitude, he invariably encountered an “ice continent.” Three times during this Antarctic summer, Russian sailors crossed the Antarctic Circle. On February 11, when it became clear that the Vostok had leaked, Bellingshausen turned north with stops in Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon. On August 5, 1821 he arrived in Kronstadt. During 751 days of sailing, the expedition discovered 29 islands in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and 1 coral reef, and covered 92,000 km.
In 1826, Bellingshausen led a flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea, took part in the siege and capture of the Varna fortress during the Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829.
From 1839 until the end of his life (he died on January 25, 1852), Bellingshausen was the military governor of Kronstadt and did a lot to strengthen and improve it. In 1843, the navigator received the rank of admiral. A sea in the Pacific Ocean, a cape, an island, a basin, and an ice shelf are named in his honor.
Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen (born September 9 (20), 1778 - death January 13 (25, 1852) - Russian navigator, took part in the first Russian circumnavigation. He led the first Russian Antarctic expedition to discover Antarctica. Admiral. The sea off the coast of Antarctica, the underwater basin between the continental slopes of Antarctica and South America, islands in the Pacific, Atlantic oceans and the Aral Sea, the first Soviet polar station on King George Island in the South Shetland Islands archipelago are named after him.
Origin. Childhood
The future admiral was born in 1778 on the island of Ezel (modern Saaremaa) near the city of Arensburg (modern Kingisepp) in Livonia (Estonia). By origin - Baltic German from the Baltic Sea noble family Bellingshausen. The sound of sea waves was constantly heard around the small island. Already with early years the boy could not imagine life without the sea. That is why in 1789 he entered the Naval Corps in Kronstadt as a cadet. The sciences were easy for him, especially navigation and nautical astronomy, but Thaddeus was never among his first students.
Start of service
1796 - midshipman Bellingshausen sets off on his first voyage to the shores of England, and at the end of this internship he was promoted to midshipman and sent for further service to the Revel squadron. As part of it, the young officer sailed in the Baltic Sea on various ships. The future discoverer of the southern polar continent eagerly mastered the art of navigation, learning its secrets in practice. This did not go unnoticed, and in 1803 Bellingshausen was transferred to the ship Nadezhda to participate in the first Russian round-the-world expedition.
Circumnavigation. Service
This voyage under the command of I.F. Krusenstern himself became a wonderful school for the young officer, and the leader of the expedition highly appreciated the diligence and level of the maps he compiled.
Upon completion of the circumnavigation of the world, Thaddeus Faddeevich, already with the rank of captain-lieutenant, until 1810, commanded a frigate on the Baltic Sea and participated in the Russian-Swedish war. 1811 - goes to the Black Sea, where in 5 years he carried out big job By compiling and correcting maps, the main coordinates of the eastern coast were determined.
By 1819, Captain 2nd Rank Bellingshausen had a reputation as a talented sailor, not only knowledgeable in astronomy, geography and physics, but also courageous, decisive, and extremely conscientious. This allowed Krusenstern to recommend the captain as the leader of the expedition for discoveries and research in the Antarctic region. Bellingshausen was urgently summoned to St. Petersburg, where on June 4 he took command of the sloop Vostok, which was destined to sail to Antarctica.
Expedition preparation
"Vostok" and the second ship of the expedition, "Mirny", built for circumnavigation, were specially adapted for polar conditions. The underwater part of the Vostok, at Bellingshausen’s request, was fastened and sheathed in copper. On the Mirny, a second skin was installed, additional hull fastenings were installed, and the pine steering wheel was replaced with an oak one. Together, the ships' crews numbered 183 people. Lieutenant M.P. Lazarev, who would eventually become a famous naval commander, was appointed commander of Mirny.
The expedition was prepared in a very short term- a little more than a month, but she was supplied, primarily thanks to the efforts of Bellingshausen and Lazarev, perfectly. The navigators had at their disposal the best nautical and astronomical instruments of that time. The leaders of the expedition paid special attention to the supply of various anti-scorbutic remedies, including pine essence, lemons, sauerkraut, dried and canned vegetables. Taking into account climatic conditions there were stocks of rum and red wine. As a result, no serious illnesses have ever been observed among sailors.
Discovery of Antarctica
1819, July 16 - the sloops left Kronstadt, went to Copenhagen, then to the Canary Islands, and by mid-November they were already in Rio de Janeiro. There, for three weeks, the team rested and prepared the ships for sailing in difficult Antarctic conditions. Then, following the instructions, the ships set off for the South Georgia Islands and the “Sandwich Land” - open group islands, which he mistook for a single island. The navigators identified the mistake and named the archipelago the South Sandwich Islands.
It was impossible to move further south - the path was blocked by solid ice. Therefore, Bellingshausen decided to go around the Sandwich Islands and look for a path along the northern edge of the ice. 1820, January 16 - entries about the supposed proximity of land appeared in the ship's log. The land was not visible, since it was under a continuous ice cover, but petrels circled above the sloops, and as they approached the ice, the sailors heard the cries of penguins. Later it will become known that the expedition was only 20 miles from the mainland, which is why this day is considered to be the official date of the discovery of Antarctica. If the ice cover at that time had not been so powerful, the sailors would probably have been able to see the land. Moving further, on February 6 we again came close to the mainland, but weather conditions again did not allow us to confidently assert that the white space on the horizon was land.
Again and again, moving away from the edge of the ice and approaching it further along the course, the travelers tried to break through the ice. They crossed the Antarctic Circle 4 times, sometimes approaching 3–4 km to the coast of Antarctica, but the result remained the same. In the end, attempts to get closer to the supposed land were stopped. Strong storms could destroy fairly battered ships; it was necessary to replenish food and firewood, and give the exhausted crew a rest. We decided to go to Port Jackson (Sydney).
Discoveries
The instructions prescribed that during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere, research should be carried out in the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The sailors spent only one month in Australia, and on May 22, 1820, they set off for the Tuamotu and the Society Islands. During this voyage, islands were discovered and given Russian names (Kutuzov, Raevsky, Ermolov, Barclay de Tolly, etc.). Several islands were also discovered near the Fiji archipelago and north of Tahiti. Research was also carried out on islands that had already been visited by other travelers.
Another assault on Antarctica. More discoveries
1820, early September - the expedition returned to Port Jackson, was carried out careful preparation ships and on November 11 set off for Antarctica again. On January 18, the expedition clearly saw the coast, which was named the Land of Alexander I. There was no longer any doubt: a new continent had been discovered. During further voyages, the South Shetland Islands were explored, many of which were mapped for the first time. Peter I and others. But the work on describing the discovered lands had to be interrupted: serious damage to the Vostok forced Bellingshausen to decide to terminate the expedition. The sailors reached Kronstadt via Rio de Janeiro, where they repaired the ship, then visited Lisbon, and in July 1821 returned to their homeland.
Results of the expedition
The expedition lasted 751 days. The sailors covered 92,200 km. In addition to Antarctica, 29 islands were discovered by travelers. It was possible to collect large ethnographic, zoological and botanical collections. Mariners put 28 objects on the map of Antarctica. They examined large water areas adjacent to the continent, gave a general description of its climate, and for the first time described and classified Antarctic ice.
In this most difficult voyage, Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen proved himself to be a talented and skillful commander and was promoted to captain-commander. In addition, he also turned out to be a talented scientist. It was he who was the first, long before Darwin, to guess the mechanism of formation of coral islands. He also gave the correct explanation of the reasons for the appearance of the mass of algae in the Sargasso Sea, not being afraid to challenge the opinion of Humboldt himself. After visiting Australia, Bellingshausen strongly opposed racial theory, according to which indigenous Australians were considered almost animals incapable of learning.
Bellingshausen and Lazarev expedition route
Continuation of service
After his famous expedition, Thaddeus Faddeevich continued to serve in the navy: in 1821–1827 he commanded a flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea; in 1828, already with the rank of rear admiral, he led a detachment of sailor guards and led it overland from St. Petersburg through all of Russia to the Danube to participate in the war with Turkey; then on the Black Sea he commanded the siege of the Turkish fortress of Varna, etc.
1839 - Vice Admiral Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen received the highest position in the Baltic Sea as the chief commander of the Kronstadt port and the Kronstadt military governor. Despite his advanced age, the admiral took large flotillas to sea every summer for maneuvers and brought the coordination of their actions to perfection.
1846 - Swedish Admiral Nordenskiöld was present at the maneuvers, and concluded that no fleet in Europe would make such an evolution.
Death. Heritage
Bellingshausen died on January 25, 1852 in Kronstadt. A note was found on his desk - the last one in his life. It read: “Kronstadt should be surrounded by trees that would bloom before the fleet goes to sea, so that the sailor can get a piece of the summer woody smell.”
Bellingshausen’s work “Twice explorations in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 1820 and 1821, carried out on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”, was first published in 1831 (republished in 1869). In addition, based on the results of the expedition, the admiral himself prepared the “Atlas for the Journey of Captain Bellingshausen” (1831).
Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen is a Russian navigator, an outstanding naval figure who took part in the first round-the-world expedition of Russian navigators under the command of I. F. Kruzenshtern. Subsequently, he was also entrusted with the command of a round-the-world expedition, during which Antarctica was discovered by Bellingshausen.
Beginning of a naval career
Thaddeus Faddeevich was born on September 20, 1778 on the island of Ezel into a noble family of Baltic Germans. WITH early childhood the boy wanted to connect his destiny with the sea, and at the age of ten he entered the Naval Cadet Corps. After graduating in 1796 with the rank of midshipman, young Bellingshausen set off on a voyage to the coast of England.
A year later, having received his first officer rank of midshipman, the navigator became part of I. F. Kruzenshtern’s expedition, which made the first trip around the world in the history of the Russian fleet.
Rice. 1. F. F. Bellingshausen.
Bellingshausen took an active part in the compilation of maps, which were later included in the famous Krusenstern Atlas. He was trusted to conduct important hydrographic research.
Having received the rank of captain-lieutenant in 1806, Bellingshausen commanded various ships of the Black Sea and Baltic fleets.
Bellingshausen's trip around the world
When preparing the next round-the-world expedition, I. F. Kruzenshtern persistently recommended Bellingshausen for the role of commander. The purpose of the upcoming trip was simple and at the same time difficult to achieve - a thorough exploration of the Antarctic Pole.
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The expedition consisted of two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok". In the summer of 1819, the ships left Kronstadt and headed for Rio de Janeiro. Then the Russian navigators headed south, where they explored the Sandwich Islands and along the way discovered three new islands.
Rice. 2. Bellingshausen expedition.
In January 1820, the ships reached the shores of Antarctica and, moving east, explored the continental shelf covered with ice. So Bellingshausen discovered a previously unknown continent, which he dubbed “ice”.
After this important event, the ships separated and set off for Australia: one along the water surface of the Indian Ocean, the second along the Southern Ocean. During this journey, new islands and picturesque atolls were discovered.
In the fall, the expedition again headed towards the south polar seas, and crossed the Arctic Circle three times. Having encountered an obstacle in the form of solid ice, the sailors were forced to change course and head north. In the summer of 1821, the expedition returned safely to Kronstadt.
Bellingshausen's voyage can rightfully be called one of the most difficult and dangerous. He was able to prove to the whole world that exploration of the polar regions is possible even on two modest sloops, completely unsuitable for passage in ice.
Rice. 3. Antarctica.
During his trip around the world, Bellingshausen discovered 29 islands and one coral reef in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In total, the brave sailors covered 92 thousand km and brought back rich naturalistic collections.4.5. Total ratings received: 230.