''Vostok'' was a 28-gun

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' en ...

of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

, the lead ship of the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1819–1821, during which

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimatel ...

(commander of the ship) and

Mikhail Lazarev Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (russian: Михаил Петрович Лазарев, 3 November 1788 – 11 April 1851) was a Russian fleet commander and an explorer. Education and early career Lazarev was born in Vladimir, a scion of ...

(commanding '' Mirny'', the second ship)

circumnavigated Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the ...

the globe, discovered the continent of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

and twice circumnavigated it, and discovered a number of islands and archipelagos in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smal ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

.Шлюп "Восток"
(''tr. "Sloop "Vostok""'') at sailhistory.ru

History

''Vostok'' was launched in 1818 at Okhta Admiralty shipyard,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. On ''Vostok'' under the command of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, the leader of the expedition, alongside ''Mirny'' under the command of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Mikhail Lazarev left

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

and on reached the shore of

, which was sighted for the first time in history. After repair in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, the expedition explored the tropical parts of the Pacific, and on again turned to Antarctica. On the sloops reached the southernmost point of their voyage at 69° 53' S and 92° 19' W. On they returned to Kronstadt. In 751 days they covered 49,723 miles (circa 92,300 km). Apart from the discovery of the world's sixth continent,

, 29 islands were mapped and complex oceanographic works carried out. A medal was issued by the Russian Admiralty to commemorate the expedition. In 1828 sloop ''Vostok'' was excluded from navy lists and scrapped.

Named in honor

Vostok Island Vostok Island is an uninhabited coral island in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the Line Islands belonging to Kiribati. Other names for the island include Anne Island, Bostock Island, Leavitts Island, Reaper Island, Wostock Island or Wostok ...

in the

Line Islands The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, ''Aono Raina'') are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Haw ...

group (

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

), discovered by Bellingshausen during the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1820. *

Cape Vostok Cape Vostok () is a rocky headland which forms the west extremity of the Havre Mountains and the northwest extremity of Alexander Island in Antarctica. It was discovered by the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1821, led by Fabian Gottlieb von ...

, the western extremity of the

Havre Mountains The Havre Mountains () are a large group of mountains forming the northwestern extremity of Alexander Island, Antarctica, extending in an east–west direction between Cape Vostok and the Russian Gap. They were first seen in 1821 by a Russian ex ...

and the northwestern extremity of

Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...

in Antarctic, discovered by Bellingshausen in 1821. * Vostok Rupes, a mountain chain on planet Mercury. * Vostok Station, a Russian Antarctic research station located on the

Pole of Cold The Poles of Cold are the places in the southern and northern hemispheres where the lowest air temperatures have been recorded. Southern hemisphere In the southern hemisphere, the Pole of Cold is currently located in Antarctica, at the Russian ...

amid the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, established on 16 December 1957 (during the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific i ...

) by the

2nd Soviet Antarctic Expedition The Second Soviet Antarctic Expedition was led by Aleksei Treshnikov on the continent; the marine expedition on the "Ob" was led by I. V. Maksimov. The "Ob" left Kaliningrad on 7 November, 1956. Three ships were used to transport the expedition, al ...

.Deep drilling at Vostok station, Antarctica: history and recent events
/ref> * Vostok Subglacial Highlands, an east extension of Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in Antarctica.Vostok Subglacial Highlands: Antarctica
''geographic.org'', accessed 23 September 2022 * Vostok Lake, the largest subglacial lake in the world is named after Vostok Station.Полвека в глубине Антарктиды
(''tr. "Half a century in the depths of Antarctica"'')

Vokrug Sveta ''Vokrug sveta'' (russian: Вокруг света, literally: "Around the World") is a Russian geographic magazine. It is the longest running magazine in the Russian language. The first issue was printed in Saint Petersburg, in December 1861, ...

, accessed 23 September 2022 The existence of a subglacial lake in the Vostok region was first suggested by Russian geographer Andrey Kapitsa based on seismic soundings made during the

Soviet Antarctic Expedition The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or SovAE) (russian: Советская антарктическая экспедиция, САЭ, ''Sovetskaya antarkticheskaya ekspeditsiya'') was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the S ...

s.Скончался первооткрыватель озера Восток в Антарктиде
(''tr. "Discoverer of Lake Vostok in Antarctica dies"'') Lenta.ru , accessed 23 September 2022 * Vostok 1, the Soviet

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, ...

which carried the first man into space,

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

, on 12 April 1961.

References

Sources

* Морской энциклопедический словарь. Л.: Судостроение, 1991.
Vostok, with model scheme
at hobbyport.ru

External links

{{Authority control Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy Exploration ships Sloops 1818 ships 19th century in Antarctica