Could James Cook have discovered Antarctica why? White space. The Age of Discovery and continued ocean exploration
The assumption of the existence of a mysterious Terra Australis Incognita- The southern unknown land - they spoke out long before the first real expeditions were equipped there. Ever since scientists realized that the Earth is spherical, they believed that the areas of land and sea in the northern and southern hemispheres were approximately the same. Otherwise, they say, the balance would be disrupted, and our planet would be oriented toward the Sun with the side with the greater mass.
Once again one has to be surprised at the foresight of M.V. Lomonosov, who in 1763, even before Cook’s expeditions, very clearly formulated his idea of the Southern Land: “In the vicinity of the Strait of Magellan and opposite the Cape of Good Hope, about 53 degrees of midday width, there is great ice, so there should be no doubt that in the great distance the islands and the hardened land are covered with many and never-falling snows, and that a large expanse earth's surface near the South Pole is occupied by them than in the north".
An interesting point: at first the prevailing opinion was that the southern continent was much larger than it actually was. And when the Dutchman Willem Janson discovered Australia, he gave it a name based on the assumption that it was part of that very Terra Australis Incognita…
Off the coast of Antarctica. Photo: Peter Holgate.
The first who managed, albeit against their own will, to cross the Antarctic Circle and, in all likelihood, see Antarctica, became the Dutch. In 1559, a ship commanded by Dirk Geeritz, in the Strait of Magellan was caught in a storm and was carried far to the south. Having reached 64 degrees south latitude, the sailors saw "high land". But apart from this mention, history has not preserved any other evidence of a possible discovery. As soon as the weather permitted, Geeritz immediately left the inhospitable Antarctic waters.
Dutch galleon of the 16th century.
It is possible that the incident with the ship Geeritsa was not the only one. Already in our time, shipwrecks, clothing and kitchen utensils dating back to the 16th-17th centuries have been repeatedly found on the coast of the Antarctic islands. One of these wrecks, belonging to an 18th-century Spanish galleon, is kept in the museum of the Chilean city of Valparaiso. True, skeptics believe that all this evidence of shipwrecks could have been brought to Antarctica waves and currents.
In the 17th-18th centuries, French navigators distinguished themselves: they discovered the islands of South Georgia, Bouvet and Kerguelen, located in "Roaring Forties" latitudes The British, not wanting to lag behind their competitors, also equipped two expeditions in a row in 1768-1775. They became an important stage in the study of the southern hemisphere.
Both expeditions were led by the famous captain James Cook. He repeatedly crossed the Arctic Circle, was covered with ice, crossed 71 degrees south latitude and was only 75 miles from the shores of the sixth continent, but an insurmountable wall of ice prevented him from reaching them.
Cook's expedition ship Endeavor, a modern replica.
Despite the failure to find mainland land, Cook's expeditions overall produced impressive results. It was found that New Zealand is an archipelago, and not part of the southern mainland, as previously thought. In addition, the coasts of Australia, vast areas of the Pacific Ocean were examined, several islands were discovered, astronomical observations were carried out, etc.
In Russian literature there are statements that Cook did not believe in the existence of the Southern Land and allegedly openly declared this. Actually this is not true. James Cook argued just the opposite: “I will not deny that there may be a continent or significant land near the pole. On the contrary, I am convinced that such a land exists, and it is possible that we have seen part of it. Great cold, a huge number of ice islands and floating ice - all this proves that there must be land in the south.".
He even wrote a special treatise "The Case for the Existence of Earth Near the South Pole", and named the open South Sandwich Islands Sandwich Land in honor of the First Lord of the Admiralty, mistakenly believing that it was a protrusion of the mainland of the southern continent. At the same time, Cook, faced with the extremely harsh Antarctic climate, came to the conclusion that further research was pointless. Since the mainland “being open and examined, it would still not be of benefit to navigation, geography, or other branches of science”. It was probably this statement that for a long time discouraged the desire to send new expeditions to the Southern Land, and for half a century the harsh Antarctic waters were visited mainly only by whaling and hunting ships.
Captain James Cook.
The next and perhaps most important discovery in history Antarctica was made by Russian sailors. In July 1819, the first Russian Antarctic expedition started, consisting of two Russian Imperial fleets "Vostok" and "Mirny". The first of them, and the detachment as a whole, was commanded by a captain of the 2nd rank, the second by a lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev. It is curious that the goals of the expedition were exclusively scientific - it was to explore the remote waters of the World Ocean and find the mysterious southern continent, penetrating "to the furthest latitude that can be reached".
The Russian sailors completed their assigned tasks brilliantly. On January 28 (according to ship “mean astronomical” time, which was 12 hours ahead of St. Petersburg), 1820, they came close to the ice barrier of the Antarctic continent. According to them, there was "ice field dotted with mounds". Lieutenant Lazarev spoke more definitely: “we met hardened ice of extreme height... it extended as far as vision could reach... From here we continued our path to the east, trying to go south whenever possible, but we always met an icy continent”. This day is now considered the opening day Antarctica. Although, strictly speaking, the Russian sailors did not see the land itself then: they were 20 miles from the coast, later called Queen Maud Land, and only the ice shelf appeared before their eyes.
It is curious that just three days later, on the other side of the continent, an English sailing ship under the command of captain Edward Bransfield approached the Antarctic Peninsula, and land was allegedly visible from its side. The captain of the American hunting ship said the same thing. Nathaniel Palmer, who visited the same place in November 1820. True, both of these ships were engaged in fishing for whales and seals, and their captains were interested primarily in commercial gain, and not in the laurels of discoverers of new lands.
American whaling ships in Antarctic waters. Artist Roy Cross.
In fairness, we note that, despite a number of controversial issues, recognition and Lazarev discoverers Antarctica deservedly and fairly. January 28, 1821 - exactly one year from the date of meeting with "ice continent"- Russian sailors in sunny weather clearly saw and even sketched the mountainous coast. The last doubts disappeared: not just an ice massif, but snow-covered rocks extended to the south. The open land was put on the map as the Land of Alexander I. It is interesting to note that for a long time the Land of Alexander I was considered part of the mainland, and only in 1940 it turned out that it was an island: under a multi-meter layer of ice shelf, a strait was discovered separating it from the continent.
During the two years of sailing, the ships of the first Russian Antarctic expedition circumnavigated open continent, leaving more than 50 thousand miles behind the stern. 29 new islands were discovered, and a huge amount of various research was carried out.
The sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” off the coast of Antarctica. Artist E.V.Voishvillo.
The first person to set foot on the land - or rather, the ice - of the southern continent, in all likelihood, was the American hunter John Davis. On February 7, 1821, he landed from a fishing vessel on the shore in West Antarctica near Cape Charles. However, this fact is not documented in any way and is given only from the words of the sailor, so many historians do not recognize it. The first confirmed landing on the ice continent took place 74 years (!) later - on January 24, 1895. Norwegian
Only 120 years have passed since people began to explore the continent known as Antarctica (1899), and nearly two centuries have passed since sailors first saw its shores (1820). Long before Antarctica was discovered, most early explorers were convinced that there was a large southern continent. They called it Terra Australis incognita - Unknown Southern Land.
The origins of ideas about Antarctica
The idea of its existence came to the minds of the ancient Greeks, who had a penchant for symmetry and balance. There must be a large continent in the South, they postulated, to balance the large land mass in the Northern Hemisphere. Two thousand years later, great experience geographical research gave Europeans enough reason to turn their attention to the South to test this hypothesis.
16th century: first erroneous discovery of the Southern Continent
The history of the discovery of Antarctica begins with Magellan. In 1520, after sailing through the strait that now bears his name, the famous navigator suggested that its southern shore (now called the island of Tierra del Fuego) might be the northern edge of the great continent. Half a century later, Francis Drake established that Magellan's supposed "continent" was only a series of islands near the tip of South America. It became clear that if there really was a southern continent, it was located further south.
XVII century: one hundred years of approaching the goal
Subsequently, from time to time, sailors, carried off course by storms, again discovered new lands. They often lay further south than any previously known. Thus, while attempting to navigate around Cape Horn in 1619, the Spaniards Bartolomeo and Gonzalo García de Nodal veered off course, only to discover tiny pieces of land they called the Diego Ramírez Islands. They remained the southernmost of the discovered lands for another 156 years.
The next step on a long journey, the end of which was to be marked by the discovery of Antarctica, was taken in 1622. Then the Dutch navigator Dirk Gerritz reported that in the region of 64° south latitude he allegedly discovered a land with snow-capped mountains, similar to Norway. The accuracy of his calculation is doubtful, but it is possible that he saw the South Shetland Islands.
In 1675, the ship of the British merchant Anthony de La Roche was carried far to the southeast of the Strait of Magellan, where, at latitude 55°, he found refuge in an unnamed bay. During his stay on this landmass (which was almost certainly the island of South Georgia) he also saw what he thought was the coast of the Southern Continent to the southeast. In reality it was most likely the Clerk Rocks Islands, which lie 48 kilometers southeast of South Georgia. Their location corresponds to the shores of Terra Australis incognita, placed on the map of the Dutch East India Company, which at one time studied the reports of de La Roche.
18th century: the British and French get down to business
The first truly scientific search, the purpose of which was the discovery of Antarctica, took place at the very beginning of the 18th century. In September 1699, scientist Edmond Halley sailed from England to establish the true coordinates of ports in South America and Africa, take measurements of the Earth's magnetic field and search for the mysterious Terra Australis incognita. In January 1700, he crossed the border of the Antarctic Convergence Zone and saw icebergs, which he wrote down in the ship's log. However, cold stormy weather and the danger of colliding with an iceberg in the fog forced him to turn north again.
Next, forty years later, was the French navigator Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozières, who saw an unknown land at 54° south latitude. He named it "Cape of Circumcision", suggesting that he had found the edge of the Southern Continent, but it was actually an island (now called Bouvet Island).
The Fatal Misconception of Yves de Kergoulin
The prospect of discovering Antarctica attracted more and more sailors. Yves-Joseph de Kergoulin sailed with two ships in 1771 with specific instructions to search for the southern continent. On February 12, 1772, in the southern Indian Ocean, he saw land shrouded in fog at 49° 40", but was unable to land due to rough seas and bad weather. A firm belief in the existence of the legendary and hospitable southern continent blinded him to believe that that he actually discovered it, although the land he saw was an island. Returning to France, the navigator began to spread fantastic information about the densely populated continent, which he modestly called “New Southern France.” His stories convinced the French government to invest in another expensive expedition. Kergulen returned to the mentioned object with three ships, but never set foot on the shore of the island that now bears his name. Worse, he was forced to admit the truth and, returning to France, spent the rest of his days in disgrace.
James Cook and the search for Antarctica
The geographical discoveries of Antarctica are to a large extent connected with the name of this famous Englishman. In 1768 he was sent to the South Pacific to search for a new continent. He returned to England three years later with a variety of new information of a geographical, biological and anthropological nature, but found no signs of the southern continent. The sought-after shores were again moved further south from their previously assumed location.
In July 1772, Cook sailed from England, but this time, on instructions from the British Admiralty, the search for the southern continent was the main mission of the expedition. During this unprecedented voyage, which lasted until 1775, he crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time in history, discovered many new islands and went south to 71° south latitude, which no one had previously achieved.
However, fate did not give James Cook the honor of becoming the discoverer of Antarctica. Moreover, as a result of his expedition, he became confident that if there was an unknown land near the pole, then its area was very small and was of no interest.
Who was lucky enough to discover and explore Antarctica?
After the death of James Cook in 1779 European countries They stopped searching for the great southern continent of the Earth for forty years. Meanwhile, in the seas between the previously discovered islands, near the still unknown continent, whalers and hunters of sea animals were already in full swing: seals, walruses, fur seals. Economic interest in the circumpolar region grew, and the year of the discovery of Antarctica was steadily approaching. However, only in 1819, Russian Tsar Alexander I ordered an expedition to be sent to the southern circumpolar regions, and thus the search was continued.
The head of the expedition was none other than Captain Thaddeus Bellingshausen. He was born in 1779 in the Baltic states. He began his career as a naval cadet at the age of 10 and graduated from the Kronstadt Naval Academy at the age of 18. He was 40 when he was called to lead this exciting journey. His goal was to continue Cook's work during the voyage and move as far south as possible.
The then famous navigator Mikhail Lazarev was appointed deputy head of the expedition. In 1913-1914 he accomplished as captain trip around the world on the sloop "Suvorov". What else is Mikhail Lazarev known for? The discovery of Antarctica is a striking, but not the only impressive episode from his life dedicated to serving Russia. He was the hero of the Battle of Navarino at sea with the Turkish fleet in 1827, and for many years he commanded the Black Sea Fleet. His students were famous admirals - heroes of the first Sevastopol defense: Nakhimov, Kornilov, Istomin. His ashes deservedly rest with them in the tomb of the Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol.
Preparation of the expedition and its composition
Its flagship was the 600-ton corvette Vostok, built by English shipbuilders. The second ship was the 530-ton sloop Mirny, a transport ship built in Russia. Both ships were made of pine. The Mirny was commanded by Lazarev, who was involved in the preparations of the expedition and did a lot to prepare both ships for sailing in the polar seas. Looking ahead, we note that Lazarev’s efforts were not in vain. It was the Mirny that showed excellent performance and endurance in cold waters, while the Vostok was taken out of sailing a month ahead of schedule. Vostok had a total of 117 crew members, and 72 were on board Mirny.
Beginning of the expedition
She started on July 4, 1819. In the third week of July, the ships arrived in Portsmouth, England. During a short stay, Belingshausen went to London to meet with the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. The latter sailed with Cook forty years ago and now supplied the Russian sailors with books and maps left over from the campaigns. On September 5, 1819, Bellingshausen's polar expedition left Portsmouth, and by the end of the year they were near the island of South Georgia. From here they headed southeast to the South Sandwich Islands and conducted a thorough survey of them, discovering three new islands.
Russian discovery of Antarctica
On January 26, 1820, the expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time since Cook did so in 1773. The next day, her log shows that the sailors sighted the Antarctic continent while 20 miles away. The discovery of Antarctica by Bellingshausen and Lazarev took place. Over the next three weeks, the ships plied continuously in coastal ice, trying to approach the mainland, but they failed to land on it.
Forced voyage across the Pacific Ocean
On February 22, “Vostok” and “Mirny” suffered from the most severe three-day storm during the entire voyage. The only way to save the ships and crews was to return to the north, and on April 11, 1820, the Vostok arrived in Sydney, and the Mirny entered the same harbor eight days later. After a month of rest, Bellingshausen led his ships on a four-month exploratory voyage to Pacific Ocean. Arriving back in Sydney in September, Bellingshausen was informed by the Russian consul that an English captain named William Smith had discovered a group of islands at the 67th parallel, which he named South Shetland and declared them part of the Antarctic continent. Bellingshausen immediately decided to take a look at them himself, hoping at the same time to find a way to continue further movement to the south.
Return to Antarctica
On the morning of November 11, 1820, the ships left Sydney. On December 24, the ships crossed the Antarctic Circle again after an eleven-month break. They soon encountered storms that pushed them north. The year of the discovery of Antarctica ended hard for Russian sailors. By January 16, 1821, they had crossed the Arctic Circle at least 6 times, each time a storm forced them to retreat north. On January 21, the weather finally calmed down, and at 3:00 am they noticed a dark speck against the background of the ice. All the telescopes on the Vostok were aimed at him, and, as the daylight grew, Bellingshausen became convinced that they had discovered land beyond the Arctic Circle. The next day, the land turned out to be an island, which was named after Peter I. Fog and ice did not allow landing on land, and the expedition continued its journey to the South Shetland Islands. On January 28, they were enjoying fine weather near the 68th parallel when land was once again sighted about 40 miles to the southeast. Too much ice lay between the ships and land, but a number of mountains free of snow were seen. Bellingshausen called this land the Alexander Coast, and it is now known as Alexander Island. Although it is not part of the mainland, it is nevertheless connected to it by a deep and wide strip of ice.
Completion of the expedition
Satisfied, Bellingshausen sailed north and arrived in Rio de Janeiro in March, where the crew remained until May, making major repairs to the ships. On August 4, 1821 they dropped anchor in Kronstadt. The journey lasted two years and 21 days. Only three people were lost. The Russian authorities, however, turned out to be indifferent to such a great event as the discovery of Antarctica by Bellingshausen. Ten years passed before the reports of his expedition were published.
As with any great achievement, Russian sailors found rivals. Many in the West doubted that Antarctica was first discovered by our compatriots. The discovery of the mainland was once attributed to the Englishman Edward Bransfield and the American Nathaniel Palmer. However, today practically no one questions the primacy of Russian navigators.
IN early XIX For centuries there have been contradictory legends about this continent. The first guesses about the existence of a mysterious continent dawned on travelers on the expedition of Amerigo Vespucci back in 1502.
But the cold stopped the Portuguese sailors many miles from the expected mainland. James Cook penetrated further into Antarctic waters than others, but he was also stopped by great frosts. Cook believed in the existence of Antarctica.
Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen was born on the island of Ezel, into a noble German family. There were many of them in Russian service - glorious Ostsey (Baltic) Germans.
At birth, the future sea pioneer had a name that was unusual for Russian ears: Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen. Nowadays, the island of Ezel is called Saaremaa and is located in Estonia. There were serious battles there during the First and Second World Wars.
Bellingshausen could not imagine any other calling for himself than naval service. “I was born at the sea, the sea is my whole life,” was the captain’s credo.
Bellingshausen took part in the first Russian trip around the world - and gained the trust of Krusenstern. But he was not seen as the leader of the first Antarctic expedition.
Sea voyage idea South Pole had been in the air for a long time, but only at the beginning of 1819 did Russian sailors turn to the government with detailed plan expeditions.
Emperor Alexander I approved the idea. He was not a fleet enthusiast, but in this endeavor he saw a continuation of the great deeds of Peter. And the plan was not shelved; they got down to business energetically.
Who should be appointed as the boss? Kruzenshtern was going to entrust this mission to Vasily Golovnin, but during the preparation of the expedition Golovnin was on a trip around the world.
The candidacy of Bellingshausen arose, but the government proposed Makar Ivanovich Ratmanov, a famous brave man and experienced captain.
But it was then that Ratmanov suffered a shipwreck, returning to his homeland from a voyage to Spain. He had to stay in a Danish hospital. So Bellingshausen stood at the head of the expedition, dreaming of discovering the mysterious continent.
We approached preparation thoroughly, although we did not avoid mistakes. The sloops were built according to the designs of Russian engineers. The craftsmen thoroughly strengthened them in case of a possible fight with ice.
The restructuring of the ships was led by Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, the second captain, the second man in the expedition. Lazarev recruited the team, meticulously checking experienced sailors. The best went on the expedition.
The sloop “Vostok” was commanded by Bellingshausen, the other sloop, which was called “Mirny”, was commanded by Lazarev. It truly was a peaceful mission that required dedication and courage from the participants. Many years later, the first Soviet Antarctic stations would be named after these ships. “Vostok” showed itself to be a faster ship, “Mirny” was more reliable and required repairs much less often.
The ministerial instructions instructed Bellingshausen not just to step into the unknown, but to record all observations: “Try to write down everything in order to communicate this to future readers of your journey.” Quite a suitable program for the sons of the Age of Enlightenment.
In August the ships headed to the Atlantic. On November 2, we dropped anchor in Rio and rested for three weeks in Brazil. We replenished supplies and repaired the sloops. And - the ocean again.
In mid-December, Bellingshausen and Lazarev saw the islands discovered by Cook - primarily South Georgia. From there we went to Sandwich land. Icebergs appeared. It became frosty - like winter in the Russian north.
It was here that they refuted Cook's assumption, who stated: “The risk involved in sailing in these unexplored and ice-covered seas in search of Southern mainland, so great that I can safely say that not a single person will ever dare to penetrate further south than I did.”
IN last days In 1819, Russian ships were already making their way through the ice - to the South, to the South! On January 15, they crossed the southern polar circle.
On January 22, 1821, an unknown island appeared before the eyes of travelers. Bellingshausen called it the island of Peter I - “the high name of the culprit of existence in Russian Empire navy."
Finally, on January 28 (16th old style), the sailors saw a bright strip of solid ice and at first mistook it for a bank of clouds. No one had seen this picture before: Antarctica! Bellingshausen led the ships along the ice mass. He was not yet sure that the mainland was in front of him.
"Here, beyond the ice fields fine ice and islands a continent of ice is visible, the edges of which are broken off perpendicularly and which continues as we see, rising to the south like a shore. The flat ice islands located near this continent clearly show that they are fragments of this continent, for they have edges and an upper surface similar to the mainland,” wrote Thaddeus Faddeevich.
They walked for a long time along the icy shores - towards danger. New islands were discovered and explanations were given for natural phenomena. The name of Emperor Alexander the First was also immortalized. The existence of Antarctica has been proven.
A remarkable scientist, at that time still a young astronomer, Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov, took part in the expedition. He stoically endured all the hardships of the journey. During the voyage, within a year and a half, Simonov became a competent sailor. He was the first to establish that Southern magnetic pole The Earth is located at 76° south latitude and 142.5° east longitude - for that time these were accurate data. He will continue his research at Kazan University; the experience of the expedition will be useful to him for the rest of his life.
The voyage lasted 751 days. “Vostok” and “Mirny” covered almost 50 thousand miles.
Bellingshausen showed unprecedented determination: he went towards the cold, did not take into account the warnings of Cook and other predecessors. At that time it was an unheard of dangerous journey. Wooden sloops had to maneuver in the fog among ice and icebergs.
Experienced sailors said that Bellingshausen and Lazarev were accompanied by the blessing of the Lord. They went through all the adversity with minimal losses, achieved the most daring goal - and returned alive. This was perceived as a miracle.
This was a miracle - bold but prudent navigation. Two captains, two outstanding naval commanders, they knew how to tame ambition for the common cause. How often do contradictions between commanders appear during campaigns, how often does this interfere with success? Bellingshausen and Lazarev worked in concert.
Russian ships circumnavigated the entire Antarctic continent. Dozens of new islands were discovered and mapped, and unique natural science and ethnographic collections were collected, which are stored at Kazan University. Excellent sketches of Antarctic species and the animals living there were made.
The harshest continent on earth has become related to Russia. It was in Antarctica, at the Soviet Vostok station, on July 21, 1983, that scientists noted the most low temperature air on Earth for the entire history of meteorological measurements: 89.2 degrees below zero.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen finished his major work “Twice explorations in the Arctic Ocean and sailing around the world on the sloops Vostok and Mirny...” Thaddeus Bellingshausen finished in 1824, but had to wait seven years for publication. The book was translated into several languages, it aroused the admiration of specialists, and has been republished more than once in our time.
Bellingshausen will finish his service with the rank of admiral, in the post of military governor-general of Kronstadt. Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev will also rise to the rank of admiral, become commander of the Black Sea Fleet, and train a galaxy of outstanding naval commanders: Nakhimov, Kornilov, Putyatin.
And still finest hour of both outstanding navigators - this is precisely January 1820, the blinding ice of the mysterious continent. A discovery that is not subject to cancellation or revision. The names of the heroes are forever written in the ice. They were far ahead of their time: attempts to explore Antarctica will begin only in 70 - 75 years!
The bicentenary of the glorious expedition, which is associated with perhaps the most famous of Russian geographical discoveries, is just around the corner.
There is still no worthy feature film about the exploits of Columbus in Antarctica, but a short cartoon from 1972 based on the script by Leonid Zavalnyuk, in which an old sailor tells the children about the expedition of Bellingshausen and Lazarev, remains in my memory.
There are also some good children's books about brave travelers. This means that the memory of the pioneering sailors lives on for generations.
Which traveler discovered Antarctica? You will find out the answer from this article. Its reliable, final discovery occurred in 1820. This is the year that the history of Antarctica begins. At first, people could only assume that this continent existed.
Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth. The average surface height above sea level in Antarctica is more than 2 thousand meters. It reaches four thousand meters in the center of the continent.
Before we talk about which of the travelers discovered Antarctica, let's say a few words about the sailors who came close to this great discovery.
The first guesses about the existence of the mainland
The participants of the expedition carried out by Portugal in 1501-1502 had their first guesses. took part in this voyage. This Florentine traveler, thanks to a very bizarre confluence of various circumstances, gave his name to the name of two huge continents. However, the aforementioned expedition was unable to advance further than Fr. South Geograia, which is quite far from Antarctica. Vespucci testified that the cold was so severe that travelers could not bear it.
Antarctica has long attracted people. Travelers assumed that there was a huge continent here. James Cook was the first to penetrate Antarctic waters. He debunked the existing myth that the Unknown Southern Land of enormous size was located here. However, this navigator was forced to only assume that there might be a continent near the pole. He believed that its presence was evidenced by many ice islands, as well as floating ice.
Lazarev and Bellingshausen
Antarctica was discovered by an expedition led by sailors from Russia. Two names were forever inscribed in history: F.F. Bellingshausen (life years - 1778-1852) and M.P. Lazarev (1788-1851).
Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen was born in 1778. He was born on the island of Saaremaa, which today belongs to Estonia. He studied as a navigator in the Naval Cadet Corps.
Bellingshausen dreamed of the sea from early childhood. He wrote that he was born in the middle of the sea, therefore, like a fish without water, he could not live without him. Thaddeus Faddeevich in 1803-1806 took part in a trip (the first around the world made by Russian sailors) on the ship "Nadezhda", led by Ivan Kruzenshtern.
Lazarev was 10 years younger. He committed 3 in his life. The navigator took part in 1827 in Navarino naval battle, after which for almost twenty years he was commander Black Sea Fleet. Among his students were such outstanding Russian naval commanders as Vladimir Istomin, Pavel Nakhimov, Vladimir Kornilov.
"Vostok" and "Mirny"
Fate brought Lazarev and Bellingshausen together in 1819. Then the Navy Ministry wanted to equip an expedition to the Southern Hemisphere. Two well-equipped ships had to make a difficult journey. Bellingshausen was appointed commander of the sloop Vostok. Lazarev directed Mirny. Many decades later, the first Antarctic stations of the USSR would be named in honor of these ships.
First discoveries
The expedition began its voyage in 1819, on July 16. Its goal was briefly formulated as follows: discoveries near the Antarctic Pole. The navigators were instructed to explore Sandwich Land (today it is the South Land, which was once discovered by Cook), as well as South Georgia, after which the research should continue to the most distant latitude that could be reached.
Luck favored Mirny and Vostok. The island of South Georgia was described in detail. Navigators have established that Sandwich Land is an entire archipelago. Bellingshausen called Cook Island the largest island of this archipelago. The first instructions received were fulfilled.
Discovery of Antarctica
Ice expanses were already visible on the horizon. The ships continued along their edge from west to east. In 1820, on January 27, the expedition crossed the Antarctic Circle. And the very next day its participants came close to the Antarctic continent, its ice barrier. Only more than 100 years later these places were visited again. This time it was Norwegian explorers of Antarctica. They gave them the name Princess Martha Coast.
Bellingshausen wrote in his diary on January 28 that, continuing to move south, the expedition discovered ice at noon, which appeared as white clouds through the falling snow. The sailors, having gone to the southeast another two miles, found themselves already “in solid ice". A huge field dotted with hillocks stretched around. So Antarctica was discovered by an expedition led by the navigators Bellingshausen and Lazarev.
Lazarev's ship was in conditions of much better visibility. The ship's captain observed "ice of extreme height" that stretched to the horizon. It was part of the ice sheet that covered Antarctica. And January 28 of the same year went down in history as the date when Bellingshausen and Lazarev discovered the Antarctic continent. Twice more (February 2 and 17) "Mirny" and "Vostok" came close to the shores of Antarctica. According to the instructions, it was necessary to find “unknown lands”. However, even the most determined of the drafters of this document could not have foreseen such a successful completion of the task.
Repeated voyage to Antarctica
Winter was approaching in the Southern Hemisphere. The ships, having shifted to the north, plied the waters of the Pacific Ocean in temperate and tropical latitudes. So a year passed. Then "Mirny" and "Vostok", commanded by Bellingshausen and Lazarev, headed towards Antarctica again. They crossed the Antarctic Circle three times.
Peter I Island
In 1821, on January 22, an unknown island appeared to the eyes of travelers. It was named Bellingshausen Island on January 28, that is, exactly a year from the discovery of Antarctica; in sunny, cloudless weather, the crews observed a mountainous coast that extended beyond visibility to the south.
Land of Alexander I
For the first time on geographical maps The Land of Alexander I arose. There was no longer any doubt: Antarctica is not just an ice massif, but a real continent. Bellingshausen, however, never mentioned the discovery of the mainland. It was not a matter of false modesty. The navigator understood that it was possible to draw final conclusions only after conducting the necessary research on the shores of Antarctica. He could not form even an approximate idea of the outlines or size of the continent. Many decades have been spent on research.
Exploring the South Shetland Islands
Completing the “odyssey”, the sailors explored the South Shetland Islands in detail. Previously, all that was known about them was that W. Smith, an Englishman, observed them in 1818. These islands were mapped and described. IN Patriotic War 1812, many satellites of Lazarev and Bellingshausen participated. Therefore, individual islands in memory of her battles received the following names: Waterloo, Leipzig, Berezina, Smolensk, Maloyaroslavets, Borodino. However, later the English navigators renamed them, which does not seem entirely fair. On Waterloo, by the way (King George is its modern name), the northernmost scientific station USSR in Antarctica called "Bellingshausen".
Return to Kronstadt
In 1821, at the end of January, Thaddeus Faddeevich sent ships to the north, pretty battered by sailing in ice and storms. The voyage of Russian ships continued for 751 days. The length of the journey was approximately 100 thousand kilometers (that is, as much as it would be if you circled the Earth along the equator two and a quarter times). 29 new islands were mapped. This was the beginning of the exploration and exploration of Antarctica.
Following the Russians
So, Antarctica was discovered by an expedition led by sailors from Russia. Two weeks after in 1820, on January 16, the Russian expedition led by Lazarev and Bellingshausen approached Antarctica, Edward Branzfield, who was moving south from the Southern Scottish Islands, saw a high coast covered with snow. It was called by this navigator the Earth Trinity (that is, the Trinity). Antarctic explorers also saw two mountain peaks. This was the Antarctic Peninsula, its northern protrusion, stretching 1200 km in the direction of South America. There is no other peninsula on Earth that is as long and narrow.
For the first time since the Russians, Antarctica was seen by the sailors of the Enderby company, two hunting ships from England, which made a round-the-world trip under the leadership of John Biscoe. In 1831, at the end of February, these ships approached the mountainous land. They took it for an island. Subsequently, this land was identified as a protrusion of East Antarctica. The names Mount Biscoe (the highest peak on it) and Enderby Land appeared on the map. This is how the navigator John Biscoe discovered Antarctica.
This traveler makes another discovery next year. He encounters several small islands, behind which were the mountains of Graham Land (that’s how this land was named by him), which continued the Land of Alexander I to the east. A chain of small islands was named after this navigator, although the lands he discovered were also considered islands for a long time afterwards.
In the next decade of navigation in the Southern Ocean, two or three more “shores” were discovered. However, the travelers did not approach any of them.
In the history of the study of Antarctica, a special place is occupied by the French expedition, led by J.S. Dumont-D'Urville. In 1838, in January, two of his ships (Zele and Astrolabe) sailed to the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic, skirting America from the south. The explorer went in search of ice-free water far to the south, approaching the Antarctic Peninsula, its northern tip, which was called Louis Philippe Land by this navigator. Dumont-D'Urville, having entered the Pacific Ocean, sent his ships to tropical waters. However, from Tasmania he then turned south and encountered an icy coast at the latitude of the Arctic Circle, called Adélie Land after his wife. This happened in 1840, January 20. The French landed on the island on the same day. We can say that people set foot on the land of Antarctica for the first time on this day, although it was still not a mainland, but only an island near it.
After reading the article, you found out in what year Antarctica was discovered. Only in 1956, on January 5, did the first Russian explorers set foot on the shores of this continent. This happened, therefore, 136 years after Antarctica was discovered by an expedition led by navigators Lazarev and Bellingshausen.
Antarctica is a mysterious and cold land that for several centuries has haunted researchers and travelers from all over the world. So who discovered Antarctica, and in what year did this happen?
History of Antarctic exploration
Antarctica was discovered by two Russian navigators F. Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev in 1820. However, even before this great discovery, other sea vessels with equally famous scientists approached its shores, or knew about the existence of the mainland.
Rice. 1. Fadey Bellingshausen and M. Lazarev.
At the beginning of the 16th century in 1501-1502, the Portuguese discoverer Amerigo Vespucci put forward a guess about the existence of the mainland. By chance he was lucky enough to give the name Northern and South America, but failed to get closer to Antarctica. He reached the island of South Georgia, which is located quite far from Antarctica, but did not dare to advance further due to the extreme cold that shackled all members of the team. Fearing for his men, Vespucci retreated.
Rice. 2. Amerigo Vespucci.
In the second half of the 18th century, he became interested in Antarctica English traveler James Cook. He approached the South Pole closer than his predecessors, practically confirming his guesses about the existence of a southern land bound by ice. Cook returned to his homeland, confident that no one would advance further to the South Pole due to harsh weather conditions.
Rice. 3. James Cook.
When was Antarctica discovered?
So in what year was Antarctica discovered? In 1819, by order of Tsar Alexander I, a round-the-world expedition was launched under the leadership of Fadey Bellingshausen and his deputy M. Lazarev. They were faced with the task of confirming or denying the existence of the sixth continent. The expedition was carried out on two ships – “Vostok” and “Mirny”.
On January 16, 1820, the crew of Bellingshausen and Lazarev were the first to reach the shores of Antarctica. In honor of his king, Thaddeus Bellingshausen named these lands the lands of Alexander I. Also, as a result of this sea voyage, other discoveries were made. For example, the Antarctic Peninsula was discovered, on which the northernmost and only extreme point mainland - Cape Sifre (Cape Prime Head).
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On June 24, 1821, after spending 751 days on the expedition, the ships “Vostok” and “Mirny” returned to their homeland in Kronstadt. Their mission was accomplished and satisfied the wildest wishes of the navigators.
However, Mikhail Lazarev and Thaddeus Bellingshausen only reached the shores of Antarctica and described them. The American crew of the ship Cecilia entered the mainland for the first time. This happened in 1821.
After the discovery of Antarctica by Russian navigators, at the end of January and November 1820, the whaling ships of Bransfield and Palmer reported that they had seen the Southern Continent. Did they really see southern lands or simply glaciers, remained unknown. In other respects, this was no longer important, since these events occurred after the discovery of Russian travelers.
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Currently, there are no states on the territory of Antarctica, and the number of people on the mainland does not exceed 4 thousand. In 1959, the Antarctic Act was signed, which allows the use of the mainland's lands only for peaceful purposes. Representatives of 145 countries monitor the implementation of the law.
What have we learned?
Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth. That is why, due to the harsh conditions, it was the most difficult to open. This happened only in the 19th century. Amerigo Vespucci and James Cook thought about the existence of Antarctica. They tried to make their way to the shores of Antarctica, but they failed. Only in 1820 were Russian travelers Bellingshausen and Lazarev able to reach the shores of the mainland. From this moment on, a new era of study and development of a previously unknown continent began.
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