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Covering an area of 1,405,000 km2, the Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located along the northern coasts of Norway and Russia.
www.worldatlas.com
Barents Sea
Covering an area of 1,405,000 km2, the Barents Sea (which includes the White- and Pechora Seas), is part of the Arctic Ocean, located along the northern coasts of Norway and Russia. It is bounded by the Svalbard archipelago in the northwest, Franz Josef Land islands in the northeast, the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the east, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea in the west, and by the Kola Peninsula in the south. The Barents Sea was one of the more difficult seas for the sailors and ocean rowers to cross - hence it also being called “The Devil’s Jaw” or “The Devil’s Dance Floor.”
The sea’s current name was first published in a chart in 1853, in the honor of the famous Dutch explorer, Willem Barentsz. A Dutch cartographer and navigator, Barentsz was born on the island of Terschelling and lived from about 1550 to 1597 in the region that would eventually become the Netherlands.
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Dutch Explorer - Willem Barentsz
“Find a Northern Passage to China”.
This order, issued by the Town Council of Amsterdam would be Willem Barentsz’s last chance to do so. Two previous expeditions which carried with them the high hopes of the States General of the Seventeen Provinces and that of the Dutch stadtholder, Prince Maurice of Orange, respectively, both resulted in failure and left these instances disappointed and disillusioned. No longer would they subsidize such voyages. Instead, it was replaced by a reward system in which expeditions would be compensated for, only if they returned with proof of a successful navigation to China.
Barentsz though, was still determined to accomplish this and fortunately for him, the Council of Amsterdam was willing to bankroll him. It also purchased the two small ships, crewed with Dutch mariners, on which Barentsz would set sail eastwards from Amsterdam in May of 1596.
To these Dutch traders it was imperative that an alternative had to be found to the Portuguese-and Spanish controlled southern route around the Cape of Good Hope. When Barentsz left Amsterdam, he did so right in the middle of the Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt (1568–1648), against the Spanish King.
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Planning the voyage – Willem Barentsz and Jacob Heemskerck
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Jacob Heemskerck
Navigator and later admiral, Jacob van Heemskerck (1567-1607), took part in two of Willem Barentsz’s expeditions to the far north in search of a northeast passage to Asia. He survived and would oversee the survivors’ successful return. In 1607, Admiral Van Heemskerck, engaged the Spanish armada near Gibraltar and led the Dutch fleet to a resounding victory. However, he took a shot in the leg from an enemy cannonball and died from his wounds shortly thereafter.
Why build the Willem Barentsz?
1. It attempted to establish the first contact between the Netherlands and China. (This sentence turned out prophetic for me - a South African (Dutch origin) in China.
2. I wanted to build a ship in the purest sense possible - devoid of all ornamentation and paraphernalia which could detract from its wooden construction.
3. After I had followed and read
@pietsan Piet Sanders's build log of the Willem Barentsz, I was amazed at how simple could so be so beautiful - I was hooked.
4. Piet has agreed to assist me - and thus indirectly any modeler who wants to build it. To those who are not familiar with Piet, let me say that I hold his work in the highest possible esteem.
5. It is a
@Kolderstok model and I know the superb back-up and support that I will receive from Hans.
In summary, enjoy these two pictures of Piet's superb build of the Willem Barentsz.
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Thank you all for watching and following. In the next posting (very soon) I will start the actual build of the ship. I hope you join me as I embark on this expedition of my own.
Take care, look after yourselves and your loved ones and enjoy your model building.
H
