page_title: First Russian Antarctic Expedition
section_title: Commanders and crew
hierarchical_section_title: First Russian Antarctic Expedition / Planning and organization / Equipment and staff / Commanders and crew
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Двойной портрет начальников русской антарктической экспедицииБългарски: Портретни снимки на руските мореплаватели и изследователи Фадей Белингсхаузен и Михаил Лазарев.
context_page_description: The First Russian Antarctic Expedition took place in 1819–1821 under the direction of Fabian Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The expedition aimed to reach the Southern Ocean in order to prove or disprove the existence of a suspected sixth continent, Antarctica. The sloop Vostok was under the command of Bellingshausen, while Lazarev commanded the sloop Mirny. Overall, the crew consisted of 190 people.
  Due to extreme haste in equipping the voyage, it was impossible to assemble a science team. Thus, almost all scientific observations in the fields of geography, ethnography, and natural history were conducted by officers and the only scientist on board – associate professor Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov, who taught at the Imperial Kazan University. A novice painter, Pavel Mikhailov, was hired to depict the events, landscapes, and biological species encountered during the expedition. His paintings of the South Shetland Islands were used in English sailing directions until the 1940s.
  The Russian Antarctic expedition ended in complete success and became the second expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica after James Cook's expedition a half century earlier.
context_section_description: Judging by the available archival documents, appointing a commander was a very complicated process. Traversay constantly delayed his decision on the matter. On March 15 (27), orders of appointment of Shishmaryov and Lazarev were released. Lazarev was given command of the sloop Mirny. Lazarev's brother Alexei Lazarev served as a lieutenant on Blagonamerennyi. Finally, on April 22 (May 4), Vasilyev was appointed as commander of the second division. Initially, Traversay wanted to appoint Makar Ratmanov as head of the Southern (first) division. According to the order dated the beginning of May (which is stored at the Russian State Archive of the Navy), Ratmanov was supposed to head the Northern (second) division, but his name was later crossed out. Krusenstern claimed that Bellingshausen's appointment was entirely based on merit. However, Bellingshausen stated that he owed his place to Ratmanov's recommendation.
  At that time, Bellingshausen was serving as a Captain of the 2nd rank and commander of the frigate Flora in Sevastopol. His order of appointment was released on May 4. He arrived in Saint Petersburg on May 23, presumably alone, on a tarantass. On June 16, he received instructions and took the sloop under his command. In addition to funds issued by the treasury for travel on mail horses and the railway, he also received a bonus of 1,000 rubles. After his appointment, Bellingshausen received the ship's treasury of 10,000 silver rubles for unforeseen expenses.
  The expedition officers and crew were recruited as volunteers. However, there were strict selection criteria: perfect health, age not exceeding 35 years, knowledge beyond any specialty or shipboard skill, and, finally, the ability to shoot rifles well. There were six officers on board Vostok, including Ivan Zavadovsky, Arkady Leskov, Konstantin Torson, physician Jacob Berg, astronomer Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov, and painter Pavel Mikhailov. The expedition also included 36 non-commissioned officers, artillerymen and artisans (including 4 officers' batmen), and 71 sailors from the first and second article. The Murny was staffed by five officers, including Mikhail Annenkov, Ivan Kupreyanov, physician Galkin, and hieromonk Dionysius, hired at the insistence of the Minister of the Sea Forces, as well as 22 non-commissioned officers, artillerymen, a servant, and 45 first and second article sailors.
  The crew received a generous bonus – even before going to the sea, Bellingshausen received 5,000 rubles from the Emperor, Lazarev received 3,000, and all officers and privates were awarded an annual salary that "did not count". The Emperor ordered the salary increased by eight times, even though the standard salary of the sailor of the first article was 13 rubles 11 kopecks per year. However, Bellingshausen never mentioned concrete sums in his reports. Michman Novosilsky claimed that an increased salary was paid only two times, in silver; the other amounts were paid in assignation rubles that increased allowance by 250%. Besides that, officers and scientists received 30 golden Dutch chervonets Russian coinage food installments per month, which was equal to 70 silver rubles.
caption: Expedition commanders Fabian Bellingshausen (left) and Mikhail Lazarev (right)
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