Second Kamchatka expedition

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The Second Kamchatka expedition was led by Vitus Bering after being chosen by Peter I to lead the first Kamchatka expedition. The second expedition lasted roughly from 1733-1741. The goal of the expedition was to find and map the eastern reaches of Siberia, and to hopefully continue onto the western shores of North America to map them, as well.

Bering commanded one of the ships, the St. Peter, while another ship, the St. Paul was commanded by Aleksey Chirikov. The two ships were separated after founding the city of Petrapavlovsk in Kamchatka and Bering's ship continued northwards until the Saint Elias Mountains were sighted, on roughly July 16, 1741.

Bering set out west, and his ship was wrecked on the shore of Bering Island, which many of the crew thought to be the coast of Kamchatka. On December 8, 1741, Bering died on the island bearing his name. Some of the crew managed to actually reach the shore of Kamchatka in 1742, carrying word of the expedition.

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