Bellingshausen and the Russian Antarctic Expedition, 1819–21

305 Pages·2014·6.83 MB·English

by  Rip Bulkeley (auth.)

Bellingshausen and the Russian Antarctic Expedition,
1819–21
Also by Rip Bulkeley
THE ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY AND WORLD SECURITY
(with H. G. Brauch)
SPACE WEAPONS: Deterrence or Delusion? (with G. Spinardi)
THE SPUTNIKS CRISIS AND EARLY UNITED STATES SPACE POLICY
Bellingshausen and
the Russian Antarctic
Expedition, 1819–21
Rip Bulkeley
© Rip Bulkeley 2014
Foreword © Ian R. Stone 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-0-230-36326-7
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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ISBN 978-1-349-59576-1 ISBN 978-1-137-40217-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-40217-2
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2014
For Igor,
who told m e – about eight years ago –
that it was needed urgently
In the distant future Ocean will set all things free,
and the vastness of Earth will lie open. Navigators
will discover new worlds, so that Thule shall no longer
be the uttermost land of all.
LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA
Medea, ll. 375–9, about 50 CE
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Maps x
List of Tables xi
Foreword by Ian R. Stone xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgements and Sources xxi
Chronology of Bellingshausen’s Life and European Events xxvi
List of Abbre viations xxix
Part I Imperial Quest
1 Port Jackson, April 1820 3
2 The Commander 9
3 Southward Ho! 25
4 Wanted on Voyage 41
Part II Reports
Translator’s Note 67
5 First Season: December 1819 to September 1820 73
B1: First report 74
B2: Second report 75
B3: Third report 76
B4: Fourth report 76
B5: Covering letter 77
B6: Personal letter 78
B7: Fifth report 79
B8: Sixth report 88
V1: Covering letter 98
6 Second Season: November 1820 to August 1821 99
B9: Seventh report 100
T1: Memorandum 101
B10: Final (eighth) report 102
vii
viii Contents
7 The Able Seaman 125
K1: Diary of Yegor Kisilëv 130
8 The Astronomer 141
S1: Journal of I. M. Simonov 144
S2: Duties of the astronomer 158
9 The Lieutenant 163
L1: Letter to Captain Lieutenant Shestakov, 1821 166
L2: Letter to Captain Lieutenant Shestakov, 1834 (excerpt) 174
10 Other Witnesses 178
11 Homecoming 185
O1: News report from Otechestvennyye Zapiski, July 1821 186
Part III Findings
12 Achievements 193
13 Future Research 208
14 Afterwords 212
Appendix 1 Crew Lists of HIMS Vostok and Mirnyi 214
Appendix 2 Four Deaths 218
Appendix 3 Measurements and Money 222
Appendix 4 The Sizes of the Ships 225
Appendix 5 How Accurate Were They? 228
Appendix 6 Ice Vocabulary 231
Glossary 233
Notes 236
Bibliography 247
Index 267
List of Figures
1 Profile sketch of Captain Bellingshausen, 1820 2
2 Statue of Admiral Bellingshausen, 1870 22
3 HIMS Vostok 27
4 Lines of latitude and longitude on a sphere 46
5 Continuous ice: the corvette Astrolabe temporarily beset,
5 February 1838 56
6 Main ice? Mirnyi and Vostok in front of ice cliffs 60
7 ‘I met with no signs anywhere of a great southern land’ 88
ix