50 Fun Facts About Vitus Bering

In which country was Vitus Bering born?

Russians knew him as Ivan Ivanovich Bering.

In which Danish port town was Bering baptised in August 1681?

He was named after a maternal great-uncle who had been a chronicler at the royal court.

Whose navy did Bering join in 1704?

He served under Norwegian-born admiral Cornelius Cruys and rose to second captain by 1720.

At what age did Bering first go to sea as a ship's boy?

Before joining Russia he had reached India and the Dutch East Indies and trained as an officer in Amsterdam.

Why did Bering briefly retire from the Russian Navy in 1724?

His wife's younger sister had just married a rear-admiral with a far shorter service record.

Which two continents was Bering ordered to determine were separated by sea?

Peter signed the order in December 1724, weeks before his death.

Which two lieutenants accompanied Bering on the First Kamchatka Expedition?

They were paid 180 roubles a year to Bering's 480.

Which Pacific port town did Bering's party reach overland before sailing to Kamchatka?

The route via the Lena tributaries was ruled out after the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk.

What was the ship Bering built on the Kamchatka River and sailed north in 1728?

It set sail on 13 July 1728, three years after the party had left St. Petersburg.

Which island did the ship's log record sighting in 1728?

Language barriers stopped Bering from asking local people about the geography.

Why did Bering turn back on 16 August 1728 without sighting Alaska?

On a clear day the Alaskan coast would have been visible to the east.

Which islands did Bering sight on 16 August 1728, a saint's day that gave them their name?

The two islands sit either side of the International Date Line, so one is nicknamed Tomorrow Island.

Which 17th-century Russian had sailed through the strait some 80 years before Bering?

His 1648 voyage was so poorly documented that Bering knew nothing of it.

What rank did Bering receive in December 1731 after the first expedition?

Spanberg and Chirikov were promoted to captain at the same time.

Which empress was on the Russian throne while Bering planned the second expedition?

Bering waited for her to secure her grip on power before proceeding.

Roughly how many people were involved in the Great Northern Expedition?

It cost about 1.5 million roubles, roughly a sixth of Russian state income in 1724.

Which country did Martin Spanberg's ships reach in 1739, the first Russians to land there?

Russia had never before had contact with Japan.

Which Kamchatka city did Bering name after his two ships in 1740?

Navigator Ivan Yelagin had laid the foundations a few months earlier on Bering's orders.

Which German naturalist did Bering recruit for the 1741 voyage to America?

Steller was horrified when Bering's men tortured Koryaks in the hunt for murderers of Russians.

Which volcano did the St. Peter's crew sight on 16 July 1741?

At 5,489 metres it is the second-highest peak in both Canada and the United States.

On which island did Steller land in July 1741, the first non-native footfall in Alaska?

Steller found a cellar of dried fish and left gifts in exchange for what he took.

Roughly how long was Steller allowed ashore in Alaska in July 1741?

Bering wanted only enough time to take on fresh water.

Which large marine mammal, described by Steller in 1741, was extinct within 27 years?

Steller's sea cow reached about nine metres and eight to ten tonnes.

Which type of North American bird did Steller become the first European to describe?

Steller's jay bears his name, as does Steller's sea eagle, typically the heaviest eagle in the world.

Which island group did Bering discover on his way back and name after a dead sailor?

Bering discovered several of the Aleutians during the same storm-battered return.

Who took command of the St. Peter when Bering became too ill from scurvy?

Waxell himself was still ill when the crew wintered on the island.

Where did Bering die on 19 December 1741?

Twenty-eight of his men also died there; the crew survived on sea otters, seals and sea cows.

How many of the St. Peter's 77 men survived the expedition?

The survivors built a new vessel from the wreck and reached Avacha Bay in August 1742.

How did Steller help cure his shipwrecked companions' scurvy?

Steller died on the journey home in 1746, aged just 37.

Which captain saw the Alaskan coast on 15 July 1741, a day before Bering's ship?

Commanding the St. Paul, he got back to Petropavlovsk in October with water critically low.

Which Russian had actually sighted North America before Bering, in the 1730s?

News of Gvozdev's feat had not reached St. Petersburg when Bering's orders were written.

Which British explorer named the Bering Strait after Bering, in 1778?

Cook visited the strait on his third voyage.

Roughly how wide is the Bering Strait at its narrowest point?

Numerous crossings without a boat have been recorded since the early 20th century.

Who named the submerged plain between Alaska and Chukotka 'Beringia' in 1937?

The land bridge was up to 1,000 km wide and let humans and animals cross into the Americas.

Which distinction does the Bering Glacier hold, together with the Bagley Icefield?

It surges roughly every 20 years, most recently in the winter of 1994-95.

Which is the only permanently inhabited settlement on Bering Island?

Roughly half of the island's people identify as Aleuts.

Which sea does the strait connect to the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea?

The Alaska Peninsula separates it from the Gulf of Alaska.

Which river did Dezhnev sail from in 1648 before rounding Asia's eastern cape?

The easternmost cape of Asia now bears Dezhnev's name.

Which three academics did the Academy of Sciences attach to the second expedition in 1732?

Ivan Kirilov hoped the expedition would also map the whole Arctic coast and find a route to Japan.

Whom did Bering marry in a Lutheran church at Vyborg in 1713?

They had nine children, four of whom survived childhood.

Where did Bering leave his two eldest sons when he set out east in 1733?

Anna returned to St. Petersburg in 1740; Bering never saw her again.

Which sum did the second expedition end up costing, against a budget of 12,000?

Bering's own salary was halved in 1737 when the planned four years ran out.

Which Norwegian-born Russian admiral guided Bering to his first officer's commission?

Bering entered the navy as a sub-lieutenant in 1704 and rose to second captain by 1720 without ever fighting a sea battle.

Which 90-gun ship was Bering commanding in October 1724, just before his Kamchatka orders?

The name means 'Forest'. Bering had only just rejoined the navy after a brief face-saving retirement over his low rank.

What was the new ship built at Okhotsk in 1726-27 to carry the party across to Kamchatka?

The crossing landed on the wrong side of the peninsula, forcing a gruelling overland trek from Bolsheretsk to the Lower Kamchatka Post.

What name did Chirikov give the headland where the Asian coast finally turned westwards in 1728?

On 13 August 1728 Bering asked his lieutenants whether the land was turning west for good; three days later he turned the ship around.

Bering was named after a maternal great-uncle who held what position?

The elder Vitus Pedersen Bering had died not long before the explorer's birth; two half-brothers went on to the University of Copenhagen.

What happened to Bering's salary in 1737, when the expedition's planned four years ran out?

Delays at Okhotsk also bred friction: Chirikov felt constrained and Spanberg thought Bering too weak with the local peoples.

Which large Alaskan island did Bering's return voyage discover in 1741?

A storm then separated the St. Peter from the St. Paul, and Bering went on to sight the southern Alaskan coast.

How many children did Bering and his wife Anna have over 18 years of marriage?

Only four survived childhood. Anna, about 11 years younger than Bering, was the daughter of a Swedish merchant.