Where was Bellingshausen born? Brief biography of Thaddeus Bellingshausen
(1779-1852)
The outstanding Russian navigator Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen, who discovered the continent of Antarctica together with M. P. Lazarev and thereby established the priority of our Motherland in this remarkable geographical discovery, was born on September 20, 1779 near the city of Kingisepp (Arensburg) on the island of Saaremaa (Ezel), now forming part of Estonia.
From childhood, which young F. F. Bellingshausen spent on the shores of the Gulf of Riga, either in Arensburg or in its environs, he dreamed of becoming a sailor and constantly told himself: “I was born in the middle of the sea, and just as a fish cannot live without water, so and I cannot live without the sea.” It is not surprising, therefore, that when he was 10 years old, in 1789 he was assigned as a cadet to the Naval Corps, which was then located in Kronstadt. Thus, his dream was realized, and subsequently, until his old age, he sailed almost every year.
Thanks to F. F. Bellingshausen’s brilliant abilities, it was easy to study in the Naval Corps, but, according to his biographers, he was distinguished by a “somewhat frisky disposition,” as a result of which, upon graduating from the Naval Corps, he was not among the first in his class. In 1796, F. F. Bellingshausen was promoted to midshipman and, while still enrolled in the corps, set off on his first long overseas voyage to the shores of England. After being promoted to the first officer rank of midshipman in 1797, he was assigned to the Revel squadron, as part of which he sailed on various ships in the Baltic Sea for six years.
The young officer tried to improve his knowledge in the field of naval sciences and carried out his official duties with diligence. With these qualities, F. F. Bellingshausen attracted the attention of the fleet commander, Admiral Khanykov, who recommended him for appointment to the first Russian round-the-world expedition of Krusenstern-Lisyansky. In 1803, he was transferred to the ship Nadezhda, which was commanded by the head of the expedition himself, lieutenant commander. Under the leadership of the head of the expedition, F.F. Bellingshausen improved his maritime knowledge and took an active part in the marine inventory of the explored coasts and in the compilation of new nautical maps. I. F. Kruzenshtern gives the following assessment of his hydrographic and cartographic works: “Almost all the maps were drawn by this last skillful officer, who at the same time demonstrates the ability of a good hydrographer; he also drew up the general map.” The Central Naval Museum houses an entire atlas with numerous original maps of the young F. F. Bellingshausen.
During his voyage around the world, F. F. Bellingshausen received the rank of lieutenant, and upon returning from the voyage - the rank of lieutenant captain.
After returning from the expedition, F. F. Bellingshausen sailed until 1810 in the Baltic Sea, successively commanding various frigates. In 1809, he took part in the Russian-Swedish war, commanding the frigate Melpomene and carrying out a continuous six-month patrol in the Gulf of Finland to monitor the actions of the enemy, Swedish and English fleets. In 1811, F. F. Bellingshausen was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet, in which he remained until 1819 as commander of first the frigate Minerva and then the frigate Flora, and took part in hostilities off the Caucasian coast. On the Black Sea, he paid great attention to issues of hydrography and contributed greatly to the compilation and correction of maps, determining the coordinates of the main points of the eastern coast of the Black Sea. In 1816, F. F. Bellingshausen was promoted to captain of the 2nd rank.
In 1819, he was urgently summoned by the Minister of Marine to St. Petersburg to receive a responsible appointment.
At that time, two expeditions were urgently equipped in St. Petersburg, each consisting of two ships: one of them, the so-called first division, consisting of the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny”, was intended for research in the South Pole region; second expedition. representing the second division, consisting of the sloops “Otkrytme” and “Blagonamerenny” - in the North Pole area. The main task of both expeditions was scientific geographical research and discovery, and the first Russian Antarctic expedition was aimed at verifying the assertion of the English navigator James Cook, who, on the basis of his own voyage, denied the possibility of the existence of the continent in the high southern latitudes, in places accessible to navigation. This opinion of Cook was accepted by geographers and navigators around the world as an immutable truth, and his mistake was the reason for the refusal of further scientific expeditions to the Antarctic regions for more than 40 years.
Outstanding navigators of that time took part in the organization of these expeditions, starting from the older generation in the person of the famous hydrographer Admiral Gavrila Andreevich Sarychev and ending with the young lieutenant O. E. Kotzebue, who had just returned from a circumnavigation of the world on the brig “Rurik”. A detailed note on this matter, relating mainly to the Antarctic expedition, was also compiled by I. F. Krusenstern, who then lived due to his illness in the vicinity of the city of Rakvere (Wesenberg). Kruzenshtern considered the Antarctic expedition a great Russian patriotic deed and dedicated the following words to it in his note: “We should not allow the glory of such an enterprise to be taken away from us: in a short time it will certainly fall to the British or French.” I. F. Kruzenshtern further drew attention to the need for the most thorough all-round preparation of the expedition, including its scientific part and the appointment of a suitable leader. I. F. Kruzenshtern considered the most worthy head of the “first division” intended for discoveries in the Antarctic region to be the outstanding navigator Captain 2nd Rank V. M. Golovnin, who, however, at that time was circumnavigating the world on the sloop “Kamchatka” . In view of this, I. F. Kruzenshtern proposed to appoint F. F. Bellingshausen instead, characterizing him with the following words: “he has special advantages for the leadership of such an expedition: an excellent naval officer and has rare knowledge of astronomy, hydrography and physics. Our fleet, of course, is rich in enterprising officers, however, of those I know, no one except Golovnin can compare with Bellingshausen.” The appointment of F. F. Bellingshausen took place: on June 4, 1819, he took command of the sloop “Vostok” and at the same time took command of the “first division”.
He was 40 years old at this time, and was in the full bloom of his strength and abilities. Service in his youth under the command of the experienced old sailor Admiral Khanykov, participation in the first Russian circumnavigation under the leadership of I. F. Krusenstern, and finally, 13 years of independent command of ships developed the basic business and personal qualities of F. F. Bellingshausen. Contemporaries portray him as a brave, decisive, knowledgeable commander, an excellent sailor and a learned hydrographer-navigator, a true Russian patriot. Remembering the joint voyage, M.P. Lazarev subsequently did not call him anything other than “a skilled, undaunted sailor,” and added to this that “he was an excellent, warm-hearted person.” Such a high assessment coming from the lips of one of the largest Russian naval commanders, M.P. Lazarev, is worth a lot. F. F. Bellingshausen was a strict but humane boss. He demonstrated his humanity more than once during the cruel age of Arakcheevism and during his voyage around the world he never used corporal punishment against the sailors subordinate to him, and was attentive to their living conditions and health.
For the final preparation of the expedition to leave for a dangerous and responsible long voyage, F. F. Bellingshausen had very little time - a little more than a month. The commander of the second of them, Mirny, Lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, who had been appointed much earlier and was a worthy subordinate and comrade of F. F. Bellingshausen, did a lot for the proper supply of both sloops.
Due to the hasty preparation of the expedition, it included not ships specially built for navigation in ice, but those already under construction and intended for other purposes. The sloop "Vostok", built at the Okhtenskaya shipyard in St. Petersburg, was of the same type as the sloop "Kamchatka", which was already on a circumnavigation of the world under the command of V. M. Golovnin (the latter gives the following data on the size of these sloops: displacement about 900 tons , length 39.5 m, width 10 m, draft at full load 4.5 m). "Vostok" had a number of design flaws (excessive mast height, insufficient hull strength, poor material, careless work), for which F. F. Bellingshausen directly blames the builder V. Stoke. The second ship of the expedition, commanded by M. P. Lazarev, was originally built as a transport for sailing in the Baltic Sea; it was built at the shipyard in Lodeynoye Pole by the Russian master Kolodkin. In preparation for the campaign, Lazarev made a number of changes to the design of the Mirny, as a result of which it turned out to be (according to its commander) “the most comfortable in terms of its strength, spaciousness and peace,” its only drawback was its low speed, which required special seamanship. . P. Lazarev, so as not to be separated during navigation from the faster Vostok (dimensions of the Mirny sloop: displacement 530 tons, length 36.5 m, width 9.1 m, draft 4.3 m). The personnel of the expedition included: on the sloop "Vostok" 9 officers and 117 sailors, on the sloop "Mirny" - 7 officers and 72 sailors. On the sloop “Vostok” there were also astronomer, professor of Kazan University I. Simonov and painter P. Mikhailov assigned to the expedition.
There was not a single foreigner on the ships of F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev. This circumstance is emphasized by expedition member Professor Simonov, who, in his speech delivered at a ceremonial meeting of the university after returning in July 1822, stated that all the officers were Russian, and although some of them bore foreign surnames, “being children of Russian subjects born and raised in Russia cannot be called foreigners.”
Among the officers of the expedition were many leading representatives of the Russian liberal intelligentsia, including the future participant in the Decembrist uprising, Lieutenant K. P. Thorson.
Despite the great rush to equip the expedition, it was, in general, well supplied. Particular attention was paid to providing ships with the best nautical and astronomical instruments of that time.
The expedition was well supplied with all kinds of anti-scorbutic food products, which included pine essence, lemons, sauerkraut, dried and canned vegetables; in addition, on every suitable occasion, the commanders of the sloops bought and exchanged (on the islands of Oceania with local residents) a large amount of fresh fruit, which was partly stored for future use for the upcoming voyage in Antarctica, and partly provided for use by the personnel. To warm sailors who froze while working on masts and yards during icy winds and frosts in the Antarctic, there was a supply of rum; Red wine was also purchased to add to drinking water when sailing in hot climates. All personnel, based on special instructions, were obliged to observe the strictest hygiene; living quarters were constantly ventilated and, if necessary, heated, frequent washing in the bathhouse was ensured, requirements were made for constant washing of linen and beds and for airing clothes, etc.; Thanks to the listed measures and the high qualifications of the ship's doctors, there were no serious illnesses on the sloops, despite the difficult climatic conditions of navigation and frequent transitions from heat to cold and back.
Each of the sloops had a significant library containing all published descriptions of sea voyages in Russian, English and French, nautical astronomical yearbooks, works on geodesy, astronomy and navigation, directions and instructions for navigation, various nautical tables, works on terrestrial magnetism , celestial atlases, notes of the Admiralty Department, etc.
The main goal of the expedition was determined by the instructions of the Minister of the Navy as follows: Bellingshausen was to, after exploring the island of New Georgia and the area of the so-called “Sandwich Land”, “set out to the south” and “continue his research to the distant latitude that he can reach”, use “every possible diligence and the greatest effort to reach as close as possible to the pole, searching for unknown lands,” and he was allowed to stop these searches only “in the event of insurmountable obstacles.”
The sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” left Kronstadt on July 16, 1819 and, after short stops in Copenhagen, Portsmouth and the Canary Islands, arrived on November 14 in Rio de Janeiro, where they spent three weeks resting the crew before a tiring and difficult voyage in Antarctica, to prepare sloops for storm voyages and to receive fresh provisions.
According to the instructions received, the expedition was to begin its research work from the island of South Georgia and the “Sandwich Land” discovered by Cook, the nature and extent of which were not determined. F. F. Bellingshausen examined the southern coast of the island of New Georgia and put it on the map, designating a number of geographical points with Russian names in honor of the expedition members.
Next, the expedition headed to the notorious “Sandwich Land”; on the way to this “Land”, the first major discovery was made on January 3, 1820 - a group of islands was discovered, which was named by Bellingshausen after the name of the then Russian Minister of the Sea, the Marquis de Traverse Islands, and individual islands of its - by the names of the expedition participants (Zavadovsky Island, Leskov Island and Thorson Island, renamed Vysoky Island after the Decembrist uprising). On January 11, the expedition approached the Sandwich Land area and discovered that the points that Cook considered its capes were in fact separate islands. F. F. Bellingshausen showed exceptional tact, preserving for the islands discovered by Russian navigators the names that Cook gave to the capes, and for the entire group - the name Sandwich (South Sandwich Islands). Then the expedition began those “attempts” to reach the mainland that the instructions prescribed for it.
With the entry of the expedition ships into the high southern latitudes, sailing conditions became very difficult, requiring from Russian navigators the greatest art of sailing ships, attention, observation, endurance and perseverance in achieving their goals. From the beginning of January 1820, the ships entered the zone of Antarctic floating ice and icebergs, maneuvering between which in conditions of fog and snow, stormy winds, strong waves and swell required great skill and courage. The difference in sailing speeds between both sloops made sailing together very difficult: the Vostok had to reduce its speed all the time, and the Mirny, on the contrary, despite the stormy winds, forced its sails. F. F. Bellingshausen in his reports repeatedly notes the merits of M. P. Lazarev, only thanks to whose seamanship the ships were never separated even in conditions of poor visibility and all dangerous areas passed together. The sloops were often close to death when, in stormy winds and fog, they made their way at great speed between huge floating ice and icebergs swaying on the swell, determining the location of the latter only by the noise of the breakers. Despite his own exceptional courage and experience, M.P. Lazarev believed that Bellingshausen was taking too many risks, maneuvering large passages between ice fields in conditions of poor visibility. In his comments, M.P. Lazarev said: “although we looked forward with the greatest care, walking at 8 miles per hour on a cloudy night did not seem entirely prudent to me.” To this remark F. F. Bellingshausen replied: “I agree with this opinion of Lieutenant Lazarev and was not very indifferent during such nights, but I thought not only about the present, but arranged my actions so as to have the desired success in our enterprises and not remain in the ice during the upcoming equinox" (during the equinox, strong storms are common). This was, perhaps, the only disagreement during the voyage between him and his companion, with whom he had cordial friendly relations.
Both sloops still did not avoid a collision with the ice fields and received serious damage to their hulls. The “Vostok” received especially serious damage; the condition of this sloop at the end of the expeditions generally raised concerns: its hull was very loose and took in a lot of water, dampness and rot developed in the interior, the crew had to continuously pump out the water entering the ship through the hole with hand pumps. F. F. Bellingshausen, in describing his voyage, writes on this occasion that he found “one consolation in the thought that courage sometimes leads to success.”
During the voyage, the expedition members took advantage of every opportunity to astronomically determine their location. In addition to the navigators and astronomer Simonov, both commanders also took part in the observations. The accuracy of the observations of Russian navigators still surprises participants in modern Antarctic expeditions.
The Russian expedition first came close to the mainland of Antarctica on January 16, 1820, during its first “attempt” to penetrate the south, and we consider this day as the date of its discovery. Visibility conditions, however, were not good enough, and exceptional honesty and strictness regarding the reliability of the discovery did not allow the Russian sailors to claim that they actually saw the low-lying part of the continent, and not the icy coastal fast ice. Now, however, no one doubts that F. F. Bellingshausen and M. P. Lazarev discovered a sixth of the world on this very day. For the second time, the expedition was close to the mainland on February 2, 1820. In the same place in 1948, the Soviet whaling expedition “Slava” was located, which, subject to excellent visibility, clearly saw the entire coast and mountain peaks in the interior of the continent. He characterizes his impressions of the ice that F. F. Bellingshausen saw in front of him from February 17 to 18 during his next approach to the mainland with the following words: “Here, behind the ice fields of fine ice and islands, there is a continent of ice, the edges of which are broken off perpendicularly and which continues along as far as we can see, rising to the south like a shore.” This characteristic shows that F. F. Bellingshausen himself doubted whether he was seeing the shore in front of him. The very description of the ice made by the Russian navigator is quite consistent with the appearance of the Antarctic coast in this area, as we know it from later research. Many of the expedition officers were confident in the proximity of the coast. Perhaps the most convincing in this regard is the conclusion of F. F. Bellingshausen, made by him at the end of the voyage, after the discovery of the island of Peter I by the expedition. This conclusion is, as it were, the result of his ideas about the circumpolar regions. He writes: “I call the huge ice, which rises into sloping mountains as it gets closer to the South Pole, hardened, assuming that when on the best summer day the frost is 4°, then further south the cold, of course, does not decrease, and therefore I conclude that this ice goes through the pole and must be motionless, touching in places shallow waters, or islands like the island of Peter I, which are undoubtedly located in high southern latitudes and are also adjacent to the coast that exists (in our opinion) in the vicinity of that latitude and longitude , in which we met sea swallows" [vol. e. February 5-7, 1820].
During this period, the expedition crossed the southern polar circle three times.
At the beginning of March 1820, due to unfavorable weather and the need to stock up on fresh provisions and firewood and give rest to the personnel, F. F. Bellingshausen decided (which was in accordance with the instructions) to leave the high southern latitudes and head to the Australian Port Jackson (Sydney) for long stay, and after that, according to the instructions, during the winter of the southern hemisphere, begin exploring the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean.
After a month's stay in Sydney, both sloops headed to the area of the Tuamotu archipelago and the Society Islands on May 22, 1820. To the east of the island of Tahiti, a Russian expedition in June 1820 discovered a whole group of islands, called the Russian Islands (the islands of Kutuzov, Lazarev, Raevsky, Ermolov, Miloradovich, Greig, Volkonsky, Barclay de Tolly, Wittgenstein, Osten-Sacken, Moller, Arakcheev ). After this, the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” visited the island of Tahiti and went back to Sydney for rest, repairs and receiving various supplies before a new trip to Antarctic waters. On the way to Sydney, the expedition discovered a number of islands (Vostok, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, Ono, Mikhailov and Simonov).
At the beginning of September 1820, the expedition returned to Sydney, where it began to repair both ships as thoroughly as possible, especially the sloop Vostok. The expedition stayed in Sydney for almost two months and on November 11, 1820, it again went to sea to reach high latitudes in other, not yet visited sectors of Antarctica. Since the end of November, the expedition has resumed its attempts to reach the Antarctic mainland. Four “attempts” to penetrate further south were made during this period, and three times the ships penetrated the southern polar circle.
However, in this sector of the Antarctic, the continent is far from reaching the southern polar circle, and only the fourth attempt was crowned with success: on January 21, 1821, the island of Peter I was discovered, and on January 18, the Coast of Alexander I, about which F. F. Bellingshausen writes: “I I call this finding a shore because the remoteness of the other end to the south has disappeared beyond the limit of our vision.” On February 1, Bellingshausen headed for the South Shetland Islands archipelago, the discovery of which he learned about while in Australia. From February 5 to 8, the expedition explored the southern shores of the archipelago, discovering that it consists of a dozen larger islands and many smaller ones. All the South Shetland Islands were put on the map, and all of them were given names (Borodino, Maly Yaroslavets, Smolensk, Berezina, Polotsk, Leipzig, Waterloo, the island of Vice Admiral Shishkov, etc.). After examining the South Shetland Islands, the expedition set off on the return journey to their homeland, calling at Rio de Janeiro, where a thorough repair of the sloops was again carried out, and to Lisbon.
Finally, on July 6, 1821, the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” anchored in the Small Kronstadt roadstead in the places from which they set off on their glorious and dangerous journey more than two years ago.
The expedition lasted 751 days (of which 527 sailing days and 224 anchor days); The ships traveled about 49,000 nautical miles, which is 2.25 times the length of the equator.
What were the results of the first Russian Antarctic expedition? The expedition discovered the continent of Antarctica and walked around it. In addition, she rediscovered 29 previously unknown islands, including 2 in Antarctica, 8 in the southern temperate zone and 19 in the hot zone.
The enormous merit of the Expedition was the precise determination of the geographical location of islands, capes and other points and the compilation of a large number of maps, which was the favorite specialty of F. F. Bellingshausen himself. These definitions have not lost their significance and differ very little from the newest definitions made on the basis of more accurate methods and more advanced nautical instruments. The map of the South Shetland Islands was the most accurate until the second half of the twentieth century, and sketches of the islands made by the artist Mikhailov are still used today. Astronomer Simonov made systematic observations of changes in air temperature, navigators - of the elements of earth magnetism. The expedition produced many important oceanographic studies; she was the first to take water samples from the depths with a primitive bathometer made from improvised means; experiments were carried out with lowering the bottle to depth; For the first time, water transparency was determined by lowering a white plate to the depth; depths were measured as far as the length of the available line allowed (apparently up to 500 m); an attempt was made to measure temperature at depth; the structure of sea ice and the freezing of water of different salinities were studied; the deviation of compasses at various courses and the direction of the wind at various altitudes were determined using balloons, which was a novelty at that time.
The expedition collected rich ethnographic, zoological and botanical collections, which were then transferred to various museums in Russia, where they are still stored.
The expedition was greeted at home with great solemnity. Her discoveries were given enormous importance. In foreign countries, the priority of the Russian discovery was undeniably recognized.
Only more than 20 years later was the first foreign expedition sent to Antarctic waters. The leader of this English Antarctic expedition of 1839-1843. James Ross wrote: “The discovery of the southernmost known continent was valiantly conquered by the fearless Bellingshausen, and this conquest remained with the Russians for a period of more than 20 years.”
In 1867, the German geographer Petermann, noting that in world geographical literature the merits of the Russian Antarctic expedition are completely insufficiently appreciated, points to the fearlessness of F. F. Bellingshausen, with which he went against the opinion of Cook that had prevailed for 50 years: “For this merit the name Bellingshausen can be placed along with the names of Columbus, Magellan and James Ross, with the names of those people who did not retreat in the face of difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were destroyers of barriers to discoveries that eras are indicated."
Academician Yu. M. Shokalsky, comparing the achievements of the Antarctic expeditions of Cook and Bellingshausen, made the following calculation: the first of them was south of the 60° parallel for 75 days, the second - 122 days; Cook was in the ice for 80 days, Bellingshausen for 100 days; Cook's ships were separated, and both Russian sloops sailed together in difficult conditions all the time.
F. F. Bellingshausen himself showed himself on this voyage not only as a talented leader of the expedition, an outstanding sailor and an excellent comrade, but as a highly educated scientist and observer.
F. F. Bellingshausen solved many complex physical and geographical problems, however, unfortunately, scientific fame went not to him, but to foreign scientists who dealt with the same issues much later. Thus, long before Darwin, F. F. Bellingshausen completely correctly explained the origin of coral islands, which had been a mystery before him; he gave a correct explanation of the origin of seaweed in the Sargasso Sea, challenging the opinion of such an authority in the field of geographical science of the time as A. Humboldt; he has many correct thoughts on issues of the theory of ice formation that have not lost their significance; They also resolved many issues of oceanography. Finally, one cannot ignore the statements of F. F. Bellingshausen, directed directly against racial theory and concerning Australians (in the description of his voyage he says: “the consequence showed that the natural inhabitants of Australia are capable of education, despite the fact that many Europeans in their offices are completely deprived them of all abilities").
As a reward for the successful completion of the assignment, F. F. Bellingshausen “was promoted to captain-commander and received a number of other awards. From 1822 to 1825, he held coastal positions, apparently in order to be able to process the materials of his voyage for publication. For this purpose, he used his diaries and notes, the logbooks of the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” and the notes of all the expedition participants, as well as the observations of the astronomer Simonov and the maps and drawings of the artist Mikhailov. This work was completed in 1824, when the author presented a manuscript containing 10 notebooks to the Admiralty Department. However, this work was published under the title “Twice explorations in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world during 1819, 1820 and 1821, completed on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” only in 1831. This first edition consisted of two volumes without all sorts of illustrations, and all the maps and drawings were collected in the Atlas attached to it (19 maps, 13 views. 2 types of ice islands and 30 different drawings depicting various animals, birds and fish, etc.).
The entire subsequent service of F. F. Bellingshausen took place in almost continuous voyages, combat and combat service, and in senior command positions. In 1821-1827 we see him commanding a detachment of ships in the Mediterranean. In 1828, being a rear admiral and commander of the guards crew, he and the latter set out from St. Petersburg by land and went to the Danube to participate in the war with Turkey. On the Black Sea, he played a leading role in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Varna, and then, having his rear admiral's flag on the ships Parmen and Paris, in the capture of this fortress, as well as a number of other cities and fortresses. In 1831, already as Vice Admiral F. F. Bellingshausen, he became the commander of the 2nd Fleet Division and annually cruises with it in the Baltic Sea.
In 1839, the last stage of his life and career began: he was appointed to the highest military post on the Baltic Sea - the chief commander of the Kronstadt port and the Kronstadt military governor. This position was combined with an annual appointment as commander of the Baltic Fleet during his summer voyages, and until his death (at the age of 73), F. F. Bellingshausen continued to go to sea for combat training of the fleet entrusted to him.
As the main commander of the Kronstadt port, Admiral (since 1843) F. F. Bellingshausen took an exceptionally large part in the construction of new granite harbors, docks, granite forts, preparing the Baltic stronghold to repel an enemy invasion, just as he performed a similar task former co-voyager Admiral M.P. Lazarev in the south - in Sevastopol. F. F. Bellingshausen diligently trained his fleet and, to improve the quality of artillery shooting, developed and calculated special tables, published under the title “On the aiming of artillery guns at sea.” As already noted, F. F. Bellingshausen was an excellent sailor and until the end of his days he skillfully trained his commanders in maneuvering and evolutions. Contemporaries who participated in these evolutions gave him certification as a “master of his craft,” and Swedish Admiral Nordenskiöld, who was present at the naval maneuvers of 1846, exclaimed: “I bet anyone that these evolutions will not be made by a single fleet in Europe.” To the credit of the old admiral, it must be said that he highly appreciated the courage and initiative of young commanders, and when (in 1833) during an autumn voyage at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland on a stormy autumn night, the commander of the frigate Pallada, the future famous naval commander P.S. Nakhimov raised a signal to his admiral “the fleet is heading towards danger,” the latter unquestioningly changed the course of the wake column, thanks to which the squadron was saved from an accident on the rocks.
F. F. Bellingshausen was interested in geographical issues all his life, re-read all the descriptions of circumnavigations and transferred all new discoveries to his map. His name is listed among the first elected full members of the Russian Geographical Society.
When he was the chief commander in Kronstadt, he showed a lot of concern for raising the cultural level of naval officers; in particular, he was the founder of one of the largest Russian libraries of that time - the Kronstadt Maritime Library. Russian round-the-world expeditions of the period when he was in charge of their equipment in Kronstadt owe much of their success to his extensive practical experience.
F. F. Bellingshausen was also involved in naval architecture: during the overhaul of ships in Kronstadt, their lines were improved, and he himself was the author of the design of the large military schooner “Whirlwind,” for which he himself made all the drawings and calculations.
F. F. Bellingshausen is characterized by his humanity towards the sailors and his constant concern for them. In Kronstadt, he significantly improved the living conditions of the teams by building barracks, setting up hospitals, and landscaping the city; He did especially a lot to improve the nutrition of sailors in the sense of increasing meat rations and the widespread development of vegetable gardens to supply them with vegetables. After the death of the admiral, a note was found on his desk with the following content: “Kronstadt should be surrounded by trees that would bloom before the fleet goes to sea, so that the sailor gets a piece of the summer woody smell.”
Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen died on January 25, 1852 in Kronstadt and was buried here. In 1870, a monument was erected in Kronstadt in memory of F. F. Bellingshausen. Subsequently, the following geographical objects were named after F. F. Bellingshausen: 1) Bellingshausen Sea - in Antarctica, in the area of the islands of Peter I and Alexander I discovered by the Russian expedition, and 2) Bellingshausen Island - in the group of the South Sandwich Islands. Bellingshausen left a noticeable mark on the history of the Russian fleet and highly raised the world authority of Russian navigators and Russian oceanographic and hydrographic science with his remarkable voyage to the shores of Antarctica.
Bibliography
- Shwede E. E. Faddey Faddeevich Bellingshausen / E. E. Shvede // People of Russian Science. Essays on outstanding figures of natural science and technology. Geology and geography. – Moscow: State Publishing House of Physical and Mathematical Literature, 1962. – P. 419-431.
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 the 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. Bellingshausen first met the family of his future wife when he was preparing a trip to the South Pole, and the wedding of 18-year-old Anna Baikova and 48-year-old Thaddeus Bellingshausen took place in Kronstadt after the trip - 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 September, in the Soviet Park near the Bellingshausen monument, a celebration of initiation into cabin boys takes place.
This is how our city tries to preserve the connection between times.
Svetlana Kislyakova,
Museum of the History of Kronstadt
BELLINGHAUSEN, FADDEY FADDEEVICH(1778-1852), Russian naval leader, navigator, admiral (1843), discoverer of Antarctica.
Born on the island of Ezel (now the island of Saaremaa, Estonia) on September 9, 1778 in a family of Baltic nobles. Since childhood, I dreamed of becoming a sailor, writing about myself: “I was born among the sea; just as a fish cannot live without water, so I cannot live without the sea.”
In 1789 he entered the Kronstadt Naval Cadet Corps. He became a midshipman and in 1796 sailed to the shores of England. He successfully sailed around the Baltic on ships of the Revel squadron, and in 1797 he was promoted to midshipman (the first officer rank). The love for science was noticed by the commander of the Kronstadt port, who recommended Bellingshausen to I.F. Kruzenshtern.
In 1803-1806, Bellingshausen served on the ship Nadezhda, which participated in the expedition of Krusenstern and Yu.F. Lisyansky, which made the first Russian circumnavigation. On this journey, he compiled and graphically executed almost all the maps included in Atlas for the journey around the world of captain I.F. Kruzenshtern.
In 1810-1819 he commanded a corvette and a frigate in the Baltic and Black Seas, where he also conducted cartographic and astronomical research.
When preparing a new round-the-world expedition, Kruzenshtern recommended Bellingshausen, who had already become captain of the 2nd rank, as its leader: “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 him." At the beginning of 1819, Bellingshausen was appointed “chief of an expedition to search for the sixth continent,” organized with the approval of Alexander I.
In June 1819, the sloops “Vostok” under the command of Bellingshausen and “Mirny” under the command of the young naval lieutenant M.P. Lazarev left Kronstadt. On November 2, the expedition arrived in Rio de Janeiro. From there Bellingshausen headed south. Having rounded the southwestern coast of the island of New Georgia, discovered by Cook (about 56 degrees south latitude), he examined the southern Sandwich Islands. On January 16, 1820, the ships of Bellingshausen and Lazarev in the area of the Princess Martha Coast approached an unknown “ice continent”. This day marks the discovery of Antarctica. Three more times this summer, the expedition explored the coastal shelf of the open sixth continent, crossing the Antarctic Circle several times. At the beginning of February 1820, the ships approached the Princess Astrid Coast, but due to snowy weather they were unable to see it well.
In March 1820, when navigation off the coast of the mainland became impossible due to the accumulation of ice, both ships headed to Australia in different ways and met in the port of Jackson (now Sydney). From there they went to the Pacific Ocean, where 29 islands were discovered in the Tuamotu archipelago, which were named after prominent Russian military and government figures.
In September 1820, Bellingshausen returned to Sydney, from where he again set off to explore Antarctica in part of the Western Hemisphere.
In January 1823 he discovered the island of Peter I and a coast called the Coast of Alexander I. Next, the expedition reached the group of the South Shetland Islands, where a new group of islands was discovered and explored, named in honor of the major battles of the Patriotic War of 1812 (Borodino, Smolensk, etc.), as well as the names of prominent maritime figures in Russia. At the end of July 1821, the expedition returned to Kronstadt, having traveled 50 thousand miles in two years and conducting extensive hydrographic and climatic research. She brought with her valuable botanical, zoological and ethnographic collections. The success of the expedition was largely determined by the extraordinary personality of the leader of the trip. He had a brilliant command of the pen and vividly described in his diary both his scientific discoveries and the customs of the peoples he met. His book “Twice explorations in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world in the continuation of 1819-1821, carried out on the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” awakened a passion for travel in many future Antarctic explorers.
Bellingshausen's expedition is still considered one of the most difficult: the famous Cook, the first to reach the south polar ice in the 70s of the 18th century, having encountered them, even believed that it was impossible to move further. Almost half a century after Cook's expedition, Bellingshausen proved the inaccuracy of his statement and sailed to Antarctica on two small sailing ships not suitable for navigation in ice.
After the expedition, Bellingshausen was awarded the rank of rear admiral. He commanded a naval crew for two years, held staff positions for three years, and in 1826 led a flotilla in the Mediterranean Sea. Participating in the Turkish campaign of 1828-1829, he was among those who besieged and took the fortress of Varna from the sea. Afterwards he commanded a division of the Baltic Fleet. In 1839 he was appointed military governor of Kronstadt, chief commander of the Kronstadt port. In this post, he did a lot for the port, founded a maritime library, and by the end of his life he rose to the Order of Vladimir, 1st degree, and the rank of admiral. In personal interactions he was friendly and calm in extreme situations. He married late but had four daughters
On May 11, 1852 he died and was buried in Kronstadt; in 1870 a monument was erected to him there. A sea and an island in the Pacific Ocean, a cape on Sakhalin Island, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, an Antarctic ice shelf, as well as a discovery on February 22, 1968 on the southwestern tip of Antarctica - Cape Fidles (62°12" S, 58) are named after Bellingshausen. °56" W) is a scientific station in the South Shetland Islands group. This was the first Soviet station off the coast of West Antarctica.
Essays: Bellingshausen F.F. Double exploration in the Arctic Ocean and voyages around the world in 1819, 20 and 21, carried out on the sloops "Vostok" and "Mirny". Ed. 3rd. M., 1960.
Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva
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. From 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 on their way, 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: 245.
Date of birth: September 9, 1778
Date of Death: January 13, 1852
Place of birth: Livonia province of the Russian Empire
Bellingshausen Faddey Faddevich- famous Russian navigator. Also Thaddeus Bellingshausen known as the man who discovered Antarctica.
Thaddeus (Fabian) was born into a family of Baltic Germans in September 1778; his father was a nobleman. After the birth of the boy, he was named Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen. He became Thaddeus for ease of pronunciation in the Russian-speaking environment.
At the age of 10, the boy entered the Kronstadt Naval Cadet Corps. Six years later he became a midshipman. In this rank, a year later he went by sea to England.
The experience gained in sailing helped him become a junior officer and receive his first assignment to the Revel squadron. He took part in cruises on the ships of this squadron for four years.
During preparations for the first Russian voyage around the world, a need arose for well-proven young sailors. Vice Admiral P. Khanykov, who knew Thaddeus well, recommended him for service on the Nadezhda.
Thaddeus spent the next three years traveling around the world under the command of I. Krusenstern, sailing on a sloop. Following the voyage, he received the rank of captain-lieutenant.
A few years later, Thaddeus was in command himself - a corvette-class ship sailed under his command. This was followed by the frigates Minerva and Flora.
All the experience came in handy in 1819, when the Arctic circumnavigation took place. Two sloops set off from Kronstadt, reached Rio de Janeiro in five months, and then moved south. Several islands were discovered along the way, but soon ice began to form, making further travel difficult.
However, the expedition discovered the coast of Antarctica. Then followed a long journey to Sydney, during which several islands were also discovered. After a short break, Thaddeus sent the ships again towards South America, and then across the Atlantic to the shores of the Russian Empire. For this campaign, Thaddeus was awarded both the rank of captain-commander and the Order of St. George.
Subsequently, during the reign of Nicholas I, he commanded several ships in the Mediterranean Sea, and then, after the outbreak of the war with Turkey, he distinguished himself there as well. For the capture of several Turkish cities he received a military award - the Order of St. Anne. This was followed by command of a division in the Baltic.
Years later, the honored sailor returned to his native Kronstadt and became its governor-general. For his services in naval affairs, he became an admiral and received the highest awards of the Russian Empire.
The admiral died in 1852.
Achievements of Thaddeus Bellingshausen:
Commanded one of the most difficult expeditions ever undertaken
Discovered the coast of Antarctica and concluded that there was a continent
Participated in the collection of unique biological and geographical collections of the northern lands
Dates from the biography of Thaddeus Bellingshausen:
1789 entered the cadet corps of Kronstadt
1795 became a midshipman
1797 received the rank of midshipman
1803 was recommended for the ship "Nadezhda"
1806 became lieutenant commander
1809 took command of the corvette Melpomene
1812 captain of the Minerva
1819 took command of the expedition to Antarctica
1821 returned to Russia
1826 took command of ships in the Mediterranean Sea
1828 participation in the war with Turkey
1830 became vice admiral
1852 died
Interesting facts about Thaddeus Bellingshausen:
The circumnavigation lasted two years and one month.
During the voyage, about 60 new geographical objects were discovered
Objects discovered in Antarctica received Russian names
Not only islands, a sea and a glacier on Earth, but also a lunar crater are named after the admiral.
The navigator is depicted on stamps of the USSR and Hungary.
