"Unsuccessful" expeditions of Willem Barents

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Maybe the representatives of the current generation, having read about the travels of Willem Barents, would consider the Dutch navigator a failure. How else? On behalf of the government, the captain made three expeditions in order to find the northern sea route to the Pacific Ocean, but he did not complete the task. Why is Willem Barents famous? What did he discover and why is his name included in the list of the world's greatest explorers?

The Age of Great Discoveries

By the beginning of the 16th century, the navigators of Spain and Portugal reigned supreme in the waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It was the Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama who had the honor of opening the sea route to Asia around the southern tip of Africa. The popular idea of the sphericity of the Earth made Christopher Columbus look for a western route to the alluring eastern lands, which led his ships to the shores of the American continent. True, the discoverer himself, until his death in 1506, was convinced that he had laid a new route to India.

Seafarers from the Nordic countries had to explore the territorypolar regions. A significant role in the study of these cold and inhospitable lands was played by the Dutch explorer Willem Barents.

Fisherman's son

The future navigator was born in 1550 on one of the islands of the West Frisian group (Terschelling, the Netherlands) in the family of a simple fisherman. The early biography of Willem Barents is full of "white spots". It is reliably known that the future captain received his education in the workshops of cartography and navigation (Amsterdam). During a trip to the south of Europe with his mentor, astronomer and cartographer Peter Planz, Willem Barents, improving his skills, compiled an atlas of the Mediterranean, perfectly mastered the craft of navigation. In subsequent years, outstanding abilities and vigorous energy allowed the Dutchman to master all the nuances of maritime affairs to perfection. Willem Barentsz is world famous for his discoveries made during his Arctic expeditions.

Looking for the northern route

The initiator of the study of the Eastern Arctic was the head of the Netherlands office in Russia, B. Moucheron. He proved to the members of the government the need to equip expeditions to find northern routes to the shores of Muscovy and Asian countries. Captain Willem Barents was appointed leader of the first ice voyage. Travel dates: 1594, 1595 and 1596

The four ships of the first expedition solemnly saw off from Amsterdam on June 5, 1594. Out on the open sea, the ships separated:"Mercury" and "Lebedev", under the leadership of Barents, headed north, the other two, led by captains Nye and Tegales - to the east. The results of the campaign were the mapping of about 800 km of the coastline of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and the achievement by navigators for the first time in the history of mankind of 78 ° N. sh. By the way, members of the Barents team were the first Europeans to see polar bears and walrus rookeries.

Idols of Vaigach Island

Captain K. Nye was appointed leader of the second expedition by the Senate, and Barents was given the role of chief navigator. The timing of the departure of the flotilla, consisting of seven ships, was chosen extremely poorly, and the results of the campaign were even less impressive. The travelers approached the Yugorsky Shar Strait at the moment when the latter was covered with a thick ice sheet. The navigators managed to enter the Kara Sea, but they had to turn back near the island of Local. The asset of the expedition can include the study and description of the inland lands of Vaygach Island. About four hundred idols of the pagan era were discovered at Cape Bolvansky Nose.

On his return to Amsterdam, Willem Barentsz's enthusiasm and perseverance convinced the Senate to allocate funds for a third expedition and award a prize of 25,000 guilders to the discoverer of the northern sea route to Asia.

Last hike

The third trip on two ships set off in May 1596. The nominal leader of the campaign was Jakob Gemskerk, the navigator was Barents, although expedition member Gerrit de Veer claims in his diaries that it was the latter who played the leading role in making all important decisions.

In June, sailors discovered and mapped the island of Svalbard, and by the end of July, the ships approached Novaya Zemlya. Having rounded Cape Shants, the ships, following near the coastline, headed to the northeast. At the end of the summer, at Cape Sporiy Navolok, the Barents ship was carried out by ice on pitfalls. All attempts by the sailors to free the ship were unsuccessful, and the expedition members began to prepare for the winter.

The Dutch built the "House of Salvation" (Behouden Huys) from the materials of the caravel and transferred all equipment and provisions there.

Posthumous glory

The brave travelers spent about a year in a relentless struggle against scurvy, polar predators and harsh nature. At the beginning of the summer of 1597, the Dutch set off on the return journey in two boats, and a month and a half later they were picked up by Russian coast-dwellers near the Kola Peninsula. During the voyage, Willem Barents died and the rocky shores of Novaya Zemlya became his last refuge. Only by the beginning of November, the surviving members of the expedition managed to return to Amsterdam. After the publication of de Veer's notes ("The Voyages of the Barents"), the whole world learned about the discoveries of the great Dutchman.

In 1853, the marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean received the name of its explorer - the Barents Sea. Diaries of Willem Barents with a description of his astronomical observations, measurements of depths and soil samples, found by a NorwegianE. Carlsen only 274 years later, were appreciated by the geographers of that time.