Bering Island [SEP] named after
Bering, sailing in "Svyatoy Pyotr" ("St. Peter") for the Russian Navy, was shipwrecked and died of scurvy on Bering Island, along with 28 of his men. His ship had been destroyed by storms as they returned from an expedition that discovered mainland Alaska as well as the Aleutian Islands. The survivors under the command of the Swedish born lieutenant were stranded on the island for 10 months, and managed to survive by killing seals and birds. They were able to build a boat out of their
reached an island, which Bering named St. Lawrence Island. In turn, Chirikov named the place of meeting the boat as Cape Chukotsky.
After Cape Chukotsky, the land turned westwards, and Bering held a discussion with his lieutenants on 13 August 1728 whether they could reasonably claim it was turning westwards for good: that is to say, whether they had proven that Asia and America were separate land masses. The rapidly advancing ice prompted Bering to make the controversial decision not to deviate from his remit: the ship would sail