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Vitus Jonassen Bering
Born: August 1681, in Horsens, Jutland (Denmark) - Died: December 19th, 1741 at Bering Island near the Kamchatka Peninsula - Was married and had several children
Interesting Trivia:
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his name is sometimes spelled as Behring
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was known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich
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in 1715 he visited his homeland for the last time
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the Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, Bering Glacier and the Bering Land Bridge bear the explorer's name.
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Stamps were issued in Russia in memory of the 250 year anniversary of his voyages
His Story:
He went to sea at a young age and after a voyage to the East Indies, he joined the fleet of the Russian Navy as a sublieutenant in 1703. He served in the Baltic Sea (with the Baltic Fleet) and participated in the Great Northern War (Russia's war with Sweden) and the Russo-Turkish War.
Tsar Peter the Great had planned a series of explorations of the northern coast of Asia. In 1725, he sent Bering on the voyage. The aim was to seek out the eastern-most limits of the north coast of Asia. (at that time it was still not known whether Asia and America were connected or separate land masses and the easternmost extent of Russia was unknown.) He went overland to Okhotsk, crossed to Kamchatka, and on board the ship “Sviatoi Gavriil” (St. Gabriel) he pushed northward. In 1728, he had reached as far north as it was possible to observe the land extensions to the north and east. Sailing through the strait (which now bears his name) he proved that America and Asia were separate continents and proving the existence of the North East Passage. The expedition returned to St. Petersburg in 1730
A year later, again he search for mainland eastward and rediscovered on of the Diomede Islands (Ratmanov Island). The voyage took its toll, five of his children died on this trip and he himself became very ill.
Further expeditions followed and in 1735, upon returning to Okhotsk, he had two ships built; the “Sviatoi Piotr” (St. Peter) and “Sviatoi Pavel” (St. Paul). When they were finished he sailed with them to Kamchatka again and in 1740 established the settlement of Petropavlovsk there.
From there, he set out on his next expedition, he was the leader and overall organiser of what is known today as the Great Northern Expedition. This second Kamchatka Expedition was perhaps the largest scientific venture the world has ever known. It included 10,000 men, who in a series of sub-expeditions were to map the Russian-Siberian coast, and the western coast of America, as far south as Mexico. In 1741, he led (being separated from the “Sviatoi Pavel”) an expedition towards North America and he sighted the southern coast of Alaska, the volcano Mount Saint Elias in 1741, and sailed past Kodiak Island. Due to bad weather, he was forced to head back, but discovered Aleutian Islands. Again, Bering became very ill and the ship anchored on an uninhabited island in the Commander Islands group (Southwest Bering Sea). They believed to be on the coast of Kamchatka.
He died there on the 19th December 1741 of scurvy, one of 29 of his ship to die on this island. It now bears his name. In total, out of 77 men aboard “Sviatoi Piotr”, only 46 survived the hardships of the expedition. They managed to reach Kamchatka in the summer of 1742.
How accurate and valuable Bering’s work was, was not recognised until many years later when Captain James Cook verified and benefited from Bering's discoveries.
A Russian-Danish research team set out to find Bering’s grave. Although paintings existed of Bering, it was not sure what he looked like as portraits are often inaccurate. In August 1991, the scientists found 6 graves, one of them Bering’s. The forensic physicians in Moscow were able to recreate his appearance. He was then reburied on Bering Island.
Te Papa Whale exhibition in Washington, DC