Vitus Bering facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vitus Jonassen Bering
|
|
|---|---|
Post-mortem reconstruction of Bering's face
|
|
| Born | 5 August 1681 Horsens, Denmark-Norway |
| Died | 19 December 1741 (aged 60) Bering Island, Russian Empire |
| Allegiance | Russian Empire |
| Service/ |
Imperial Russian Navy |
| Years of service | 1704–1741 |
| Spouse(s) | Anna Bering |
| Signature |  |
Vitus Jonassen Bering (born August 5, 1681 – died December 19, 1741) was a Danish explorer and mapmaker. He worked for the Russian Navy. He is famous for leading two big trips, called the First Kamchatka Expedition and the Great Northern Expedition.
During these trips, he explored the northeastern coast of Asia. He also explored the western coast of North America. Many places are named after him, like the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, the Bering Glacier, and Vitus Lake.
Bering started sailing at age 15. He traveled a lot for eight years. He also trained to be a naval officer in Amsterdam. In 1704, he joined the Russian navy. This navy was growing very fast under Tsar Peter I, also known as Peter the Great.
After serving in the navy for many years, Bering left in 1724. He wanted to avoid embarrassment about his low rank. He was promoted to First Captain when he retired. He rejoined the navy later that same year, keeping his new rank.
The Tsar chose him to lead the First Kamchatka Expedition. This trip aimed to sail north from Russian areas on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The goal was to map new lands. They also wanted to find out if Asia and America were connected by land.
Bering left Saint Petersburg in February 1725. He led 34 men, helped by Lieutenants Martin Spanberg and Aleksei Chirikov. They faced many problems, especially a lack of food. They finally reached Okhotsk. From there, they sailed to the Kamchatka Peninsula. They built new ships there and sailed north.
In August 1728, Bering decided they had enough proof. There was clear sea between Asia and America. He did not see America on this trip. For his first expedition, Bering received money and a promotion. He became a Captain Commander. He immediately started planning a second trip.
Bering returned to Okhotsk with a much larger and better-prepared team. In 1741, he set off for North America. On this trip, they saw Mount Saint Elias and sailed past Kodiak Island. A storm separated their ships. But Bering saw the southern coast of Alaska. They landed near Kayak Island.
Bad weather forced Bering to turn back. On his way, he mapped some of the Aleutian Islands. A sailor died and was buried on one of these islands. Bering named the group Shumagin Islands after him. Bering himself became too sick to command his ship.
His ship found shelter on an uninhabited island. This island was in the Commander Islands group in the southwest Bering Sea. Vitus Bering died on December 19, 1741. The island was named Bering Island after him. He died near the Kamchatka Peninsula, likely from scurvy. Twenty-eight of his men also died.
Contents
Bering's Life Story
Vitus Bering was born in Horsens, Denmark. He was baptized on August 5, 1681. His family was financially stable. Two of his older half-brothers went to the University of Copenhagen. But Vitus chose a different path.
At age 15, he became a ship's boy. Between 1696 and 1704, Bering traveled the world. He visited India and the Dutch East Indies. He also completed naval officer training in Amsterdam. In 1704, he joined the Russian navy. He became a sub-lieutenant.
Bering was promoted many times in Peter the Great's growing navy. By 1720, he was a second captain. He did not fight in sea battles. But he commanded ships on important missions. These included moving a ship from the Sea of Azov to the Baltic Sea.
On October 8, 1713, Bering married Anna Christina Pülse. They had nine children over 18 years. Four of them lived past childhood. Bering spent little time with Anna because of his navy duties. This was especially true during the Great Northern War.
After the war ended in 1721, Bering was not promoted. This was embarrassing for him and his wife. In 1724, Bering decided to retire from the navy. He received two months' pay and a promotion to first captain. He moved with his family to Vyborg.
After five months without a job, Bering rejoined the navy. He was accepted the same day. By October 2, 1724, Bering was back at sea. He commanded a large ship called the Lesnoe. Soon, the Tsar had a new, very important command for him.
First Kamchatka Expedition: The Journey Begins
On December 29, 1724, Peter I of Russia ordered Bering to lead a trip east. The goal was to map the lands and seas between Russia and North America. Peter I was very sick and wanted the trip to start quickly. Bering was chosen because he knew about the Indian Ocean and North America's eastern coast. He was also good at transporting goods.
His main helpers for this journey were Martin Spanberg and Aleksei Chirikov. Spanberg was an experienced Danish sailor. Chirikov was a smart but less experienced Russian naval instructor. Bering would earn 480 rubles a year. His lieutenants would earn 180 rubles.
Peter's instructions were clear. Bering needed to go to the Kamchatka Peninsula. There, he would build one or two ships. Then, he would sail north, keeping land on his left. He had to keep going until the land turned west. This would prove that Asia and North America were separate. The trip was planned to last three years.
The expedition would travel by land and river from St. Petersburg to Okhotsk. Okhotsk was a small port on Russia's eastern coast. From Okhotsk, they would travel by sea to Kamchatka. On January 24, Chirikov left with 26 men. Bering and the rest followed on February 6. Bering had the few maps Peter had.
Both groups used horse-drawn sleds. They made good progress at first. They met in Vologda on February 14. Then, they traveled east over the Ural Mountains. They reached Tobolsk on March 16. They had already traveled over 1,750 miles.
In Tobolsk, Bering added more men. He needed 54 more men to help with the difficult journey ahead. He also needed carpenters and blacksmiths. The governor could only give him 39 men. On May 14, the larger group left Tobolsk. They traveled along the Irtysh River.
The journey to Yakutsk was long and hard. Bering's large group struggled and fell behind schedule. They reached Surgut on May 30 and Makovsk in late June. They arrived in Yeniseysk in August. Bering said "few were suitable" among the new men. They left Yeniseysk on August 12. They needed to catch up on lost time.
On September 26, they reached Ilimsk. The river froze three days later. Bering traveled to Irkutsk to learn about the conditions. He also sought advice on how to cross the mountains to Okhotsk.
In the spring of 1726, the party left Ust-Kut. They traveled quickly down the Lena River. They reached Yakutsk in June. The governor was slow to give them supplies. Bering had to threaten him. On July 7, Spanberg left with 209 men and much of the cargo. On July 27, Fyodor Kozlov led a small group to Okhotsk. They would prepare food and repair the Vostok ship. They also built a new ship, the Fortuna.
Bering left on August 16. Chirikov would follow next spring with fresh flour. The journeys were very difficult. Men and horses died. Many men deserted with their horses and supplies. They struggled to build roads through swamps and rivers. Bering's group reached Okhotsk in October.
Spanberg's group had an even harder time. Their heavily loaded boats moved very slowly. When rivers froze, they used sleds. They faced blizzards and deep snow. Even food left by Bering did not stop starvation. On January 6, 1727, Spanberg reached Okhotsk. Ten days later, sixty more men joined him, many of them sick. Bering seized flour from local villagers to feed his men. This caused the whole village to face starvation. The arrival of Chirikov's group in June with 27 tons of flour saved them.
From Okhotsk to Kamchatka and Beyond
The Vostok was prepared, and the Fortuna was built quickly. The first group of 48 men, led by Spanberg, left in June 1727. They needed to start building ships in Kamchatka right away. Chirikov arrived in Okhotsk soon after with more food. His trip had been easier.
On August 22, the rest of the group sailed for Kamchatka. They landed on the west coast. They had a very hard trip from Bolsheretsk in the southwest. They went north to the Upper Kamchatka Post. Then, they went east along the Kamchatka River to the Lower Kamchatka Post. Spanberg's group did this before the river froze. Bering's group then completed the 580-mile land trip. Finally, Chirikov's group reached the Lower Kamchatka Post in spring 1728.
This outpost was 6,000 miles from St. Petersburg. The journey had taken about three years. The lack of food slowed Spanberg's group. But progress sped up when Bering's and Chirikov's groups arrived with supplies. They built a ship called the St. Gabriel. It was ready by June 9, 1728. It was fully ready by July 9.
On July 13, they set sail. On July 14, Bering's group began exploring. They sailed along the coast, heading northeast. The ship's log recorded many landmarks. They named many of them, including St. Lawrence Island. Language problems made it hard to talk to local people.
Sailing further north, Bering entered the strait that would later be named after him. They reached a cape, which Chirikov named Cape Chukotsky. The land then turned west. On August 13, 1728, Bering asked his lieutenants if they had proven Asia and America were separate. The ice was forming quickly. Bering decided not to go further. The ship would sail for a few more days, then turn back.
Bering had not reached the easternmost point of Asia. He also had not seen the Alaskan coast of America. On August 16, Bering turned the St. Gabriel around. They headed back to Kamchatka. After a storm, the ship was back at the mouth of the Kamchatka River. This was 50 days after they left.
The mission was over. But the party still needed to return to St. Petersburg. They had to document the voyage. This would prevent their journey from being forgotten. In spring 1729, the Fortuna returned to Bolsheretsk. Soon after, the St. Gabriel also returned. Bering had made a four-day trip east to search for North America, but found nothing.
By July 1729, both ships were back in Okhotsk. The group traveled quickly back from Okhotsk. By February 28, 1730, Bering was back in the Russian capital. In December 1731, he received 1,000 rubles. He was promoted to captain-commander, a noble rank. Spanberg and Chirikov were also promoted.
It was a long and costly expedition. Fifteen men died. Relations with native peoples became difficult. But it gave new information about Eastern Siberia. It also showed that Asia and North America were separated by sea. However, Bering had not proven the separation beyond all doubt.
Second Kamchatka Expedition and Bering's Last Voyage
Planning the Grand Expedition
Bering soon suggested a second Kamchatka expedition. This one was much bigger than the first. Its main goal was to sail east and find North America. The political situation in Russia was tricky, causing delays.
During this time, the Berings enjoyed their new wealth and status. Bering even tried to create a family coat of arms. When the proposal was accepted, it became a huge project. It involved 600 people at the start. Hundreds more joined later.
Bering was mainly interested in reaching North America. But he knew other goals were important. The list of goals grew quickly. These included mapping the Arctic coast and finding a good route to Japan. They also wanted to land on the Shantar Islands and contact Spanish America.
In 1732, Bering was still planning in Moscow. On June 12, the Senate approved money for scientists. Three academics were chosen: Johann Georg Gmelin (a natural historian), Louis De l’Isle de la Croyère (an astronomer), and Gerhard Friedrich Müller (an anthropologist).
Bering worried about the expedition's huge size. He remembered the food shortages from the first trip. Ideas to send goods by sea around Cape Horn were not approved. Bering's personal instructions were simple. He was to repeat his first expedition. But this time, he had to head east and find North America.
The Long Journey to Kamchatka
Spanberg left St. Petersburg in February 1733 with the first small group. They were headed for Okhotsk. Chirikov followed on April 18 with the main group. This group started with 500 people and grew to about 3,000. Bering followed on April 29 with his wife Anna and their two youngest children. Their two older sons stayed with friends. The scientists left in August.
Bering and Chirikov led the group east. They spent the winter in Tobolsk. Such a large group caused problems for the town. Bering left Tobolsk in February. He stopped in Irkutsk for gifts for native tribes. He reached Yakutsk in August 1734.
Chirikov's main group left Tobolsk in May 1734. Their journey was harder. They had to use strict rules to stop people from leaving. They reached Yakutsk in June 1735. Spanberg headed east to Okhotsk. Bering stayed in Yakutsk for a long time. He prepared two ships on the Lena River. These ships would sail north to map the Arctic coast.
Bering got stuck in Yakutsk. Two groups sent east to find a better route to the Sea of Okhotsk failed. Bering decided to use a similar land route to his first expedition. He built huts along the way. But this work was still not finished by summer 1737.
In Okhotsk, things were not much better. It was not a good permanent port. Spanberg, however, was able to get the ships ready. By late 1737, the St. Gabriel was repaired. Two new ships, the Archangel Michael and the Nadezhda, were built. They were quickly prepared for a trip to Japan. Russia had never contacted Japan before.
In the same year, Bering moved to Okhotsk. It was the fifth year of the expedition. The costs were much higher than planned. The extra costs (300,000 rubles instead of 12,000) caused poverty in the region. On June 29, 1738, Spanberg sailed to the Kuril Islands with the three ships.
After Spanberg left, there were more delays. Bering was criticized more often. His salary was cut in half in 1737. The delays also caused problems between Bering, Chirikov, and Spanberg. The important people who helped Bering in St. Petersburg had died. There were talks of ending the expedition or replacing Bering.
Meanwhile, a fourth ship, the Bolsheretsk, was built. Spanberg led the four ships on a second trip. This trip saw the first Russians land in Japan. In August 1740, Anna Bering returned to St. Petersburg with her younger children. Bering never saw his wife again. Those without a place on a ship also began the long journey home.
The Final Sea Voyage and Bering's Legacy
Time was short. The Okhotsk left for Bolsheretsk, arriving in mid-September. Another new ship, the St. Peter, captained by Bering, also left. It was with its sister ship, the St. Paul, and the Nadezhda. The Nadezhda hit a sand bank and was damaged by a storm. It had to stay in Bolsheretsk. The other two ships reached Avacha Bay in Kamchatka on October 6.
A settlement called Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky had been built there. Bering named it after his ships. Over the winter, Bering hired naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller. He also finished the report he promised to send.
However, native tribesmen murdered several Russians under Bering's command. Bering sent armed men north. They were told not to use force if possible. But they killed several Koryaks and enslaved the rest. Steller was horrified to see the Koryaks tortured. His complaints were ignored. From Petropavlovsk, Bering led his expedition toward North America.
The expedition saw the volcano Mount Saint Elias on July 16, 1741. They landed there briefly. Bering had completed his goal. He was sick and tired. He turned the ship back toward port. On the way back, they discovered Kodiak Island. A storm separated the ships. But Bering saw the southern coast of Alaska. They landed near Kayak Island.
Under Aleksei Chirikov's command, the second ship found the shores of northwest America. Steller made sure they recorded the wildlife. He discovered and described several new plants and animals. These included the Steller's sea cow and Steller's jay.
Bering was forced to return due to bad weather. He discovered some of the Aleutian Islands on his way back. A sailor died and was buried on one of these islands. The group was named the Shumagin Islands after him. Bering became too sick to command the ship. He passed control to Sven Waxell.
Storms forced the crew of the St. Peter to seek shelter. They landed on an uninhabited island in the Commander Islands group. This was in the southwest Bering Sea. On December 19, 1741, Vitus Bering died on this island. It was later named Bering Island in his honor. Like 28 of his men, Bering likely died from scurvy.
The situation was still bad for Bering's expedition, now led by Waxell. Many were still sick, and the St. Peter was in poor condition. By April 1742, they knew they were on an island. They decided to build a new ship from the old one's parts. By August, it was ready. They successfully reached Avacha Bay later that month.
There, they found out that Chirikov had led a rescue mission in 1741. He came very close to their stranded group. Out of 77 men on the St. Peter, only 46 survived the hardships. The last victim died just one day before reaching home. The ship's builder, Starodubtsev, received government awards. He later built several other good ships.
It is hard to fully measure Bering's achievements. He was not the first Russian to see North America. That was Mikhail Gvozdev in the 1730s. He was also not the first Russian to pass through the strait named after him. That honor goes to Semyon Dezhnev in the 17th century.
Reports from Bering's second voyage were kept secret by the Russian government. This meant his story was not fully known for about 100 years after his death. Still, Bering's achievements are seen as very important. He was a great explorer and leader. Because of him, the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, Bering Glacier, and the Bering Land Bridge are all named in his honor.
See also
In Spanish: Vitus Bering para niños
- Johann Georg Gmelin
- Stepan Krasheninnikov
- Gerhardt Friedrich Müller
- Georg Wilhelm Steller
- Great Northern Expedition
- Exploration of the Pacific
- Russian America
Images for kids
-
Vitus Bering's signature
