Bellsund is a long sound on the west coast of

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...

, part of the

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

archipelago of Norway. It is separated from

Van Mijenfjorden Van Mijenfjorden is the third-longest fjord in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. It lies in the southern portion of Spitsbergen island, south of Nordenskiöld Land and north of Nathorst Land. The fjord is long, being separated from Bellsund further ...

by the islands of Akseløya and Mariaholmen. Bellsund is located south of

Nordenskiöld Land Nordenskiöld Land is the land area between Isfjorden and Van Mijenfjorden on Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The area is named after Finnish-Swedish explorer and geologist Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. The coastal region of Nordenskiöld Land (Nordensk ...

and north of

Wedel Jarlsberg Land Wedel Jarlsberg Land is the land area between Van Keulenfjorden and Hornsund on the southwestern part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Nor ...

.Norwegian Polar Institut
Place Names of Svalbard Database

History

Bellsund was first seen by William Barents in 1596. He simply referred to it as ''Inwyck'' (inlet). In 1610 Jonas Poole explored Bellsund, giving the fjord the name it retains to this day. He named it after a nearby bell-shaped mountain. In 1612 the Dutchman

Willem Cornelisz. van Muyden Willem Cornelisz. van Muyden (1573, in Muiden – 1634, in Amsterdam) was an early 17th-century mariner. He is known in the Netherlands as ''De Eerste Walvisvanger'' ("The First Whaleman") (1613). Van Muydenbukta and Van Mijenfjorden on the west ...

was the first to attempt to catch whales here, but he wasn't very successful as he didn't have any Basque whalemen among his crew. In 1613, Basque, Dutch, and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

whaling vessels resorted to Bellsund, but were either ordered away by armed English vessels or forced to pay a fine of some sort.Purchas, S. 1625. ''Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells by Englishmen and others''. Volumes XIII and XIV (Reprint 1906 J. Maclehose and sons).Conway, W. M. 1904. ''Early Dutch and English Voyages to Spitsbergen in the Seventeenth Century''. London.Conway, W. M. 1906. ''No Man's Land: A History of Spitsbergen from Its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country''. Cambridge: At the University Press. In 1614 the Dutch agreed to give Bellsund to the English, but only for one season. In 1615 the Dutch built the first semi-permanent whaling station in Spitsbergen at the mouth of Schoonhoven ( Recherche Fjord), on the south side of Bellsund. It was appropriated by the English the following year. In 1626 this station was damaged by York and

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

whalers, who then sailed to their whaling station in Midterhukhamna, just across the entrance of

Van Keulenfjorden Van Keulenfjorden is a 30 km long fjord on the west coast of Spitsbergen separating Nathorst Land to the north and Wedel Jarlsberg Land to the south. Van Keulenfjorden is separated from Bellsund by Forsbladodden in the north and Richardodde ...

. Here they were found by the heavily armed flagship of the London whaling fleet, the ''Hercules'', under admiral

William Goodlad William Goodlad ( 1576–1639) was a 17th-century English whaler. He was admiral of the Muscovy Company's London whaling fleet for nearly two decades, participating in several of the disputes involving the right to catch whales in Spitsbergen. Th ...

. A two-hour battle ensued, resulting in defeat for the Hull and York fleet and their expulsion from Spitsbergen.Appleby, John C. "Conflict, cooperation and competition: The rise and fall of the Hull whaling trade during the seventeenth century". ''The Northern Mariner'', XVIII No. 2, (April 2008), 23-59. Hull continued to send whaling vessels to occupy this station for the next 25 years, while the English as a whole probably resorted to Bellsund at least until the late 1650s.

References

Fjords of Spitsbergen {{Spitsbergen-geo-stub