Although Barents explored the west coast of Novaya Zemlya in great detail on his first voyage, in neither his first or second voyage did Barents succeed in his ultimate objective. In his third expedition, which departed from the port of Amsterdam in May 1596, Barents pressed further eastward, discovering Bear Island and Svalbard. Unfortunately for Barents, his vessel was beset in sea ice and unavoidably beached. Afterward, though most of his crew returned to the Netherlands alive, Barents himself never saw his homeland again.
Not long after Barents' adventures in the northeast, the English captain Henry Hudson set off in search of a new passage. Marshaling his experience from the Muscovy Company, in May 1607 Hudson set sail in the 80-ton Hopewell in search of a route to Japan and China across the Arctic Ocean. Pressing northward as far as the 73rd parallel, Hudson explored the east coast of Greenland, then pressed even further north to plot the west coast of Svalbard at 81｡? latitude. In his report to his sponsors, Hudson noted that the seas in this region were excellent whaling grounds, and indeed for many years thereafter the far north Atlantic was a paradise for the whaling fleet. His next two expeditions were less successful. On his second voyage in 1608, Hudson was unable to find any trace of the open polar sea he had expected to encounter, and his 1609 outing in search of a Northeast Passage, bankrolled by the Dutch East India Company, was frustrated by unfavorable winds. Hudson resolved to turn his prow westward and seek a Northwest Passage instead. In 1610, once again under English patronage, Hudson undertook an exploratory voyage that yielded the discovery of a vast inland sea that still bears his name-Hudson Bay. The explorer wintered on the shores of Hudson Bay and set sail for England the following spring, only to be meet a bitter end when mutinous sailors forced Hudson, his son and a few loyal crewmembers into a small launch. Nothing is known of what became of Hudson and his small party. This terrible episode is today remembered as one of the most grievous tragedies in the long and bloodstained history of the Northwest Passage.
Hudson was followed in his quest for the Northwest Passage by a long list of illustrious adventurers, such as John Davis, Robert Bylot, William Baffin and Thomas Button. As repeated attempts to push east of the Kara Sea failed, explorers gave up hope for the Northeast Passage. From the time of Barents onward, except for a few traders still intent on a coastal route to Russia, a century would pass before anyone would brave the Northeast Passage again.
The expeditions of Vitus Bering
In 1725 Peter the Great, Tsar of the Russian Empire, decreed that the coast of Siberia was to be explored and mapped. Vitus Bering, a Dane serving as an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, conducted numerous expeditions to fulfill the imperial decree. Between 1733 and 1743, Bering carried out an exploratory program of breathtaking proportions. Over the course of the "Great Northern Expedition," as it was called, Bering explored the Kamchatka Peninsula, the East Siberian Sea and the Bering Sea, then advanced as far east as the Aleutian Islands and the west coast of Alaska. The objectives of the expedition were to investigate the feasibility of a Northern Sea Route, to explore the American coast, and to reconnoiter a sea route from Kamchatka to Japan. Bering's exploits yielded highly reliable information on sea routes as well as new hunting grounds for whalers and sealers. Unfortunately the Danish captain's findings held out scant prospect of a viable NSR.
Thanks to the explorations of Bering and other officers of the Imperial Russian Navy, a wealth of geographical data on the Siberian coast was accumulated. Yet despite these efforts the Northeast Passage remained as elusive as ever. A real breakthrough would have to wait for the voyages of Adolf Erik Nordenskjold in 1878-79.
