On November 15, 1741, the packet boat "Saint Peter" under the command of the legendary captain-commander Vitus Bering landed on the shores of an unknown uninhabited island off the coast of Kamchatka. Behind were months of arduous sailing as part of the second Kamchatka expedition, the discovery of the Alaskan coast, severe storms and a deadly disease - scurvy, which literally destroyed the crew.
The sailors, exhausted to the limit, mistook this harsh land for the coast of Kamchatka. The mistake was discovered too late: soon a fierce storm ran the ship aground and wrecked it, cutting off the men's way home.
The crew was forced to spend the winter in trenches dug right in the sand, escaping the freezing wind and attacks by arctic foxes. For Bering himself, this coast became the last refuge - the great navigator died here, in December 1741, not knowing that the land he discovered would forever bear his name.
But the story does not end there. The surviving sailors showed incredible strength: in the spring they built a new ship from the wreckage of the broken "St. Peter" and in August 1742 managed to reach Petropavlovsk, bringing with them invaluable scientific data and maps.
Today Bering Island is the largest of the Commander Islands, a harsh and incredibly beautiful land of wild nature, reminiscent of the price of great geographical discoveries.
No one forgets! Nothing is forgotten!
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