Where is Cape Chelyuskin? When looking for the northernmost continental point of Eurasia on a geographical map, turn your eyes to the Taimyr Peninsula, which stretches between the water spaces of two cold seas jutting into the land: the Kara (Yenisei Bay) and Laptev (Khatanga Bay).
Great North
These were the years of great geographical discoveries. The main member of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, navigator Semyon Ivanovich Chelyuskin, was in the prime of his life: he was not even forty. Unfortunately, the exact date of birth of this brave and purposeful person is unknown. Having studied biographical information, Nikolai Chernov (a connoisseur of history and a specialist in literary criticism) named the year 1704. There are other opinions as well. A graduate of the school of mathematical and navigational sciences, who served on the ships of the B altic Fleet, was full of strength and determination to conquer the spaces covered with snow and ice, to reach the tip of Eurasia, despite any difficulties.
There were enough problems even when Chelyuskin started as a navigator in the Great Northern Expedition(1733-1743) under the leadership of Vitus Jonassen Bering (Russian navigator of Danish origin). Scientific research began with the approval of the Admir alty Board. It was supposed to explore Russia from Pechora to Chukotka.
On the verge of opening
During the Second Kamchatka Expedition, I had to fight not only with natural and climatic disasters, but also with bureaucratic indifference, and sometimes outright sabotage. It was already difficult for the researchers: every second there was a traffic delay due to the weather, followed by death in the white silence.
But cases of downtime and loss of life also occurred due to bureaucratic red tape. The schedule for supplying groups with everything necessary for work and life was violated. However, the difficulties were overcome. It remained to make the last throw and reach the extreme northern point. This is how the dream of the conquerors of ice looks today - Cape Chelyuskin (a photo of the modern lighthouse can be seen in the article).
The event was supposed to coincide with the end of 1741. Later it turned out that the dates are shifted due to weather conditions. Nevertheless, for 12 months of the year, navigator Semyon Chelyuskin and Lieutenant Khariton Laptev did a titanic job. They described the shores, passing through the spaces between the places where the Pyasina River flows into the Kara Sea, and the Lower Taimyr into the Taimyr Bay of this marginal space of the Arctic Ocean. Surveyor Chekin mapped the east coast. It remained to pass and "record" the north.
Shared with servants
Forimplementation of the final stage, Chelyuskin was allocated about 700 rubles of state money. For those times, it was not just a solid, but a colossal amount. Semyon Ivanovich knew about the sad situation of service people from the Yenisei province and district, as well as the Turukhansk region. They lived in poverty for years without money or food.
He decided to take a risky step: he spent most of the funds on their support. The sovereign's servants did not forget about this and also helped at the right moment. Going on a hike, the navigator counted on five sleds and forty sled dogs.
The unusual “transport fleet” was strengthened by Turukhansk Cossacks Fyodor Kopylov and Dementy Sudakov: several more teams (dog and deer) loaded with food joined it.
Dog and horse-drawn carts were also singled out by the local governor. Semyon rushed to implement the following plan: reach the northeastern tip of Taimyr, turn west and walk along the coast, recording all the details in scientific diaries.
Forty miles a day
The way to the future Cape Chelyuskin was akin to a feat. It was very cold. A little over 42.5 kilometers (40 versts) were covered a day. Sometimes it seemed to travelers that the Taimyr Peninsula had neither end nor edge. When, having passed along the rivers Khete and Khatanga, the Chelyuskinites reached the Popigai winter quarters, the date on the calendar was February 15, 1742.
At the end of March, we decided to split into groups. The one that was loaded with food went towards the sea. Chelyuskin went tonorth. People led by Nikifor Fomin (a Yakut by nationality) headed to the mouth of the river called Lower Taimyr in order to rush from there to meet the navigator along the western coast of the Taimyr Peninsula.
Having reached Cape St. Thaddeus, Semyon Ivanovich set up a lighthouse, recording information about this in the travel log. He kept records carefully: he described in detail the weather, the condition of the dogs (they were very tired). Oddly enough, he did not leave a single line about what people are going through, as if he deliberately ignored the topic.
Victory is near
On the sixth of May, according to the old style, the navigator recorded that the weather was clear, the sun was shining. Further indicated the location: 77027 'northern latitude. Today everyone knows: Cape Chelyuskin has the following coordinates: 780 north latitude and 1040 east longitude. That is, the goal was very close!
According to diary information, on this day the Chelyuskinites successfully conducted a bear hunt, replenishing food supplies. This allowed them to eat in the last five miles, especially since such a snowstorm arose that the researchers stopped for a whole day. With the meager supplies they had, they would not have survived in the cold.
We set off again in the late afternoon, at five o'clock in the afternoon, in cloudy weather, in fog, under the incessant snow. And here it is, the end point. The cape turned out to be stone, medium high, on a steep bank.
East North
Around the ice lay without debris and heaps, smooth and endless. Chelyuskin called the ledge VostochnyNorthern. He built a lighthouse from a log, which he specially brought with him. Many of those who read the diary decades later were surprised by the dry, matter-of-fact presentation. Semyon Ivanovich did not emphasize either the magnitude of the discovery or the difficulties experienced.
The voices of the brave men of the current Cape Chelyuskin were not announced for long. The navigator with two companions, soldiers Anton Fofanov and Andrey Prakhov, stayed here for about an hour. Then they set off on their way back to Lower Taimyr, to the very mouth of the river.
Semyon, son of Ivan
The northern tip of Eurasia became Cape Chelyuskin on the 100th anniversary of the significant discovery. It markedly stimulated the development of geographical science.
In 1878, the Swedish explorer of the Arctic, geographer, geologist and navigator Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld visited him on the steamer Vega. From a floating forest on a pile of stones, he built a lighthouse. In 1893, the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen was the first to round the ledge.
There is Cape Chelyuskin on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. It's a small dot on the map. To reach it, the members of the Second Kamchatka Expedition had to endure exorbitant hardships. The kingdom of cold and ice, which breaks into the ocean by one of the spurs of the Byrranga Mountains, was once cast a bright look by the simple Russian Semyon, the son of Ivan. His name lives on through the ages.
