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 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. 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